It shames me to have to admit that I missed the first three 'Fawlty Towers' episodes on its original run as I was hooked on the I.T.V. series 'Beryl's Lot' ( starring Carmel McSharry ). My first encounter with Basil was Episode Four - 'The Hotel Inspectors'. Even now I can feel the pain in my side from laughing too hard. I spent the next few days telling everyone how great this show was.
'Fawlty Towers' takes place in a hotel in Torquay, run by the world's rudest man - Basil Fawlty ( John Cleese ) and his henpecking wife Sybil ( Prunella Scales ) who has a laugh like someone machine-gunning a seal. The permanently overworked staff includes American art student Polly Shearman ( Connie Booth, then Cleese's wife ), Cockney chef Terry ( the late Terry Hall ) and, of course, Manuel ( Andrew Sachs ), a Spanish waiter whose command of the English language leaves a lot to be desired. Among the regular guests are the senile Major Gowen ( Ballard Berkeley ). What gives the show much of its humour is that Basil is snobbish and quick-tempered, barely disguising his contempt for the guests.
'Fawlty' was based on the late Donald Sinclair, owner of 'The Gleneagles' in Torquay. He was so rude that the Python cast, there on a location shoot, moved out! Cleese remembered him when writing for the L.W.T. sitcom 'Doctor At Large'. The episode 'No Ill Feeling!' was a success and it was clear that there was a series based around its setting and characters.
The show debuted on B.B.C.-2 less than a year after the final season of 'Monty Python'. It was not an immediate hit. Repeats came to the rescue. When it moved over to B.B.C.-1 on Sunday evenings a year later, ratings skyrocketed.
It got off to a fantastic start with 'A Touch Of Class' in which Basil is taken in by a confidence trickster ( Michael Gwynn ). Other classic episodes include 'The Hotel Inspectors' ( boasting a marvellous guest performance from Bernard Cribbins ), 'Gourmet Night' in which Basil tries to make the hotel famous for its cooking, and, memorably, 'The Germans' with a concussed Basil offending a party of Germans by making constant references to the war.
It was a triumph, yet a second season did not appear until 1979. The first was a tough act to follow, but the second managed it. Memorable episodes include 'Communication Problems' with Joan Sanderson as a fussy old woman who uses her deafness to get her own way, 'Waldorf Salad' in which a loud American ( Bruce Boa ) tries to bribe Basil into keeping the chef working, 'The Kipper & The Corpse' has Basil trying to conceal the fact one of the guests has died, and the final edition - 'Basil The Rat' - involves the staff hunting for an escaped rodent before a Health Inspector is due to call.
It goes without saying that 'Fawlty Towers' is the most perfectly realised British sitcom of them all. Excellent scripts superbly performed by a top-notch cast. It has not diminished with the passage of time.
'Fawlty Towers' takes place in a hotel in Torquay, run by the world's rudest man - Basil Fawlty ( John Cleese ) and his henpecking wife Sybil ( Prunella Scales ) who has a laugh like someone machine-gunning a seal. The permanently overworked staff includes American art student Polly Shearman ( Connie Booth, then Cleese's wife ), Cockney chef Terry ( the late Terry Hall ) and, of course, Manuel ( Andrew Sachs ), a Spanish waiter whose command of the English language leaves a lot to be desired. Among the regular guests are the senile Major Gowen ( Ballard Berkeley ). What gives the show much of its humour is that Basil is snobbish and quick-tempered, barely disguising his contempt for the guests.
'Fawlty' was based on the late Donald Sinclair, owner of 'The Gleneagles' in Torquay. He was so rude that the Python cast, there on a location shoot, moved out! Cleese remembered him when writing for the L.W.T. sitcom 'Doctor At Large'. The episode 'No Ill Feeling!' was a success and it was clear that there was a series based around its setting and characters.
The show debuted on B.B.C.-2 less than a year after the final season of 'Monty Python'. It was not an immediate hit. Repeats came to the rescue. When it moved over to B.B.C.-1 on Sunday evenings a year later, ratings skyrocketed.
It got off to a fantastic start with 'A Touch Of Class' in which Basil is taken in by a confidence trickster ( Michael Gwynn ). Other classic episodes include 'The Hotel Inspectors' ( boasting a marvellous guest performance from Bernard Cribbins ), 'Gourmet Night' in which Basil tries to make the hotel famous for its cooking, and, memorably, 'The Germans' with a concussed Basil offending a party of Germans by making constant references to the war.
It was a triumph, yet a second season did not appear until 1979. The first was a tough act to follow, but the second managed it. Memorable episodes include 'Communication Problems' with Joan Sanderson as a fussy old woman who uses her deafness to get her own way, 'Waldorf Salad' in which a loud American ( Bruce Boa ) tries to bribe Basil into keeping the chef working, 'The Kipper & The Corpse' has Basil trying to conceal the fact one of the guests has died, and the final edition - 'Basil The Rat' - involves the staff hunting for an escaped rodent before a Health Inspector is due to call.
It goes without saying that 'Fawlty Towers' is the most perfectly realised British sitcom of them all. Excellent scripts superbly performed by a top-notch cast. It has not diminished with the passage of time.