Fawlty Towers 

Hotel owner Basil Fawlty's incompetence, short fuse, and arrogance form a combination that ensures accidents and trouble are never far away.

Stars:

John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs

Top Rated TV #50 | 5 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
John Cleese	...	Basil Fawlty 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Prunella Scales	...	Sybil Fawlty 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Andrew Sachs	...	Manuel 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Connie Booth	...	Polly Sherman 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Agatha Tibbs 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Ursula Gatsby 12 episodes, 1975-1979
Brian Hall	...	Terry 6 episodes, 1979

Storyline

Inept and manic English hotel owner and manager, Basil Fawlty, isn't cut out for his job. He's intolerant, rude and paranoid. All hell frequently breaks loose as Basil tries to run the hotel, constantly under verbal (and sometime physical) attack from his unhelpful wife Sybil, and hindered by the incompetent, but easy target, Manuel; their Spanish waiter.

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Plot Keywords:

manic | guest | snob | class prejudice | hotel | 

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

19 September 1975 (UK)

Also Known As:

Das verrückte Hotel - Fawlty Towers

Filming Locations:

294 Preston Road, Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (12 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The building used for the exterior shots, on the grounds of Buckinghamshire's Wooburn Grange Country Club, was severely damaged by a fire in March of 1991. The building was subsequently demolished and 8 homes were later built on the grounds.

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Goofs

The layout of the hotel from interior shots would place the windowless kitchen hard against the front left of the building, as seem from the outside (if there were space for it at all). In exterior shots there is a large bow window here.

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Quotes

Basil Fawlty: Crecy? Poitiers? Yom Kippur?

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Crazy Credits

In the titles sequence of each episode, some of the letters on the Fawlty Towers sign are usually mixed up or missing altogether. The signs appear as follows: 1. Fawlty Towers 2. Fawlty Tower 3. Fawty Tower 4. Fawty Toer 5. Warty Towels 6. NO SIGN 7. Fawlty Tower 8. Watery Fowls 9. Flay Otters 10. Fatty Owls 11. Flowery Twats 12. Farty Towels

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Connections

Referenced in Holy Flying Circus (2011)

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Soundtracks

Fawlty Towers
Written by Dennis Wilson
Performed by Dennis Wilson Quartet

User Reviews

Hilarious! Classic British comedy.

Fawlty Towers is one the best, most popular but sadly slightly overshadowed comedies in Britain. it has the ingredients for perfect comedy and contains perfect characters. It is about this misanthropic arrogant man, Basil Fawlty, played brilliantly by the genius John Cleese, who is totally in the wrong job. He runs hotel and is rude to nearly everyone within a ten mile radius of him, but determined to make a success of his business. His wife Sybille played by Prunella Scales, whom he despises to the nth degree because she rules him with a rod of iron. Then there is Polly the waitress played by Connie Booth, the most intelligent character in the show who always ends up sorting out all the problems and keeps the hotel running. There is Manuel played by Andrew Sachs, the lovable gormless Spanish waiter who Basil bullies and tries to kill in nearly every episode. Other additional characters are the batty Major Gowen played by Ballard Berkeley, the dotty old ladies Miss Gatsby and Miss Tibs played by Renee Roberts and Gilly Flower and Terry the chef played by Brian Hall. All played very well.

One thing this programme didn't do like others is go on for series after series and eventually become far-fetched like several British sitcoms seem to do (cough, Last of the Summer Wine). It only ran for two series and left the audience starving for more. I think that it was a wise move not to do more, even though I would have loved it if they had. This is probably what John Cleese might be best remembered for in Britain, he not only stared in it he wrote it as well with wife Connie Booth. He based the character on a hotel proprietor in while staying at a hotel in England with the Python Gang.

I have no issues with this show at all, brilliant work. This kind of stuff needs to be treasured in Britain because it captures British humour perfectly. Whether you know the show or not, treat yourself to a DVD of series one or two (or both if want) and enjoy. And to those of you who haven't seen it before, I guarantee that you'll be in stitches within the first ten minutes of any episode.

QUOTE:- Basil Fawlty (trying to start his car)-Come on! Come on, start....START YOU VICIOUS BASTARD!