Fawlty Towers at 30

mlocco · 19-09-2005, 21:14

It's been 30 years since the classic comedy Fawlty Towers was first broadcast on television.

The antics of Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, hapless Spanish waiter Manuel and the ever-sensible Polly grabbed the imagination when it first went out on BBC Two on 19 September 1975.

Subsequent re-runs of Fawlty Towers have confirmed its position as one of the finest British sit-coms.

And while it continues to be in many people's top 10 lists, the origins of Torquay's hotelier from hell have also become stuff of television legend.

In 1971, John Cleese and some other members of Monty Python's Flying Circus stayed at a hotel in Devon, which was run by an ill-tempered manager.

Cleese was struck by the comedic irony of an angry and frustrated person running a hotel where a winning smile and a calm conduct are time-honoured traits.

So when the BBC asked Cleese to come up with a sitcom some years later, the irrepressible Basil Fawlty was born.

He wrote the series with his then-wife, Connie Booth.

"At the start, Connie wrote the Polly and Sybil roles, and she and I wrote Basil together," Cleese said in a recent interview.

The speed of Fawlty Towers has lasted the distance

Prunella Scales

"We used to ache with laughter and feel awful about the life we were giving him. "

While Cleese played the snobbish Basil, Booth took on the role of Polly and Andrew Sachs played Manuel.

Manuel was often the target of Basil's wrath, receiving punishment for mistakes he was usually unaware he had committed.

But it was the interplay between Basil and his formidable wife Sybil, played by Prunella Scales, that provided some of the most memorable scenes.

Scales described filming Fawlty Towers as "challenging".

"John, quite rightly, was extremely rigorous about learning the script, and if you didn't he could get quite cross, which was fair enough," Scales told the BBC News website.

"Each episode was done in a week so it was quite hard work but John and Connie were absolutely wonderful to work with.

"I had known Andrew Sachs since before I was married, so it was an excellent team."

There were no wasted words in Fawlty Towers

Alison Graham, Radio Times
Scales said she believed the secret of the show's longevity lay in the writing.

"John and Connie wrote 12 episodes about 12 things in hotel management that made them mad and very angry, and they wrote passionately," she said

"When you watch some old sitcoms, however charming they are, they have often lost speed over the years. The speed of Fawlty Towers has lasted the distance."

It is a view shared by Alison Graham, TV editor of Radio Times magazine and long-time Fawlty Towers fan.

"There were no wasted words in Fawlty Towers," she said.

"It is so well-written and has such a brilliant central character. It is a 'character-com' and not a 'sitcom'.

"Characters like Basil Fawlty simply endure."

'Timeless'

Ms Graham compared the series to other popular modern-day comedies.

"Fawlty Towers could be set at any point in time, not just 30 years ago, in the same way that One Foot In The Grave or The Office could have been 30 years ago or just last week."

Such was the success of the first series, audience demand for more led to a second series four years later.

But Scales explained that it was not always clear to everyone how much of a hit Fawlty Towers would prove to be.

"I remember when we recorded the first episode," she said.

Manuel would shake with fear every time Basil was around
"It was a Sunday night and the BBC producer was striding up and down saying 'I don't know what John is thinking of'.

"But of course he did know, and it has been very successful."

And one of the other reasons for that success, many believe, is that Fawlty Towers burned brightly then went out with a bang.

After the second series Cleese called it a day, leaving just 12 episodes of the sitcom.

"I think if it had still been going on today then it would not be as special as it is," said Ms Graham.

"We didn't have time to get tired of it and it left people wanting more."

Basil's relationship with the ever-coiffured Sybil - whom he affectionately called a "little nest of vipers" - provided some of the most memorable interplay.

Scales said she had firm ideas about their dynamics as a couple.

Cleese wrote Fawlty Towers with his then wife Connie Booth
"I think it was my idea that she (Sybil) should be less posh than he was.

"I thought what she went for in him was his poshness, but that her parents had run a small boarding house and therefore knew about hotel management which he didn't.

"She was the professional one, but he had grander plans than hers.

"I don't remember ever talking to John about this, but my idea was that Basil had completed his National Service and, with his de-mob money, went out and met Sybil in a bar in Eastbourne or somewhere.

"He thought she was a glamorous barmaid, she thought he was posh, and it went from there."

And what would Basil be doing now, 30 years after Fawlty Towers first opened its doors?

"Still trying to run a hotel and getting it wrong," Cleese concluded.

Fizzbin · 19-09-2005, 22:23

You speak English well, did you learn it from a book?

satman5000 · 19-09-2005, 23:12

Is this a piece of your brain!?

suestorm · 19-09-2005, 23:19

"I'm sorry if its confusing"
"My god you're ugly"
"This is mine...."
"Who's a naughty boy-don't do it again Fawlty"
"Fawlty,Basil Fawlty,we met once at a fete"
"Do you really think a girl like that would be interested in an aging brilliantine stick insect like you?"

Lion · 19-09-2005, 23:20

A timeless classic, absolutely superb, will never tire of it.

suestorm · 19-09-2005, 23:21

"You tell him you're gonna bust his ass"
"Bust his........"
"ASS"

jimboc · 19-09-2005, 23:23

Would it not have been easier to post a link to the BBC news article you got all that from?

And slightly less plagiaristic too?

Fab show though!

Fizzbin · 20-09-2005, 00:26

"What is witnit?"

zx50 · 20-09-2005, 01:11

I absolutely love this series. I was totally laughing my head off at the way John cleese was going on. It's such a shame that there was only 12 episodes ever made, because it would have been an even bigger classic had more been made. But i have to admit, John Cleese is definitely the one who made this series, without him i don't think it would have been what it is today. This is an absolute scream to watch, it might not be for everybody, but it's certainly for me. It's certainly good for people who might be down in the dumps that's for sure

stirlingguy1 · 20-09-2005, 05:45

The funniest lines ever are in 'Communication Problems' with the deaf Mrs Richards:
"What did you expect to see out of a Torquay Hotel Bedroom window....Sydney Opera House perhaps, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon..."
Classic

weedledeedle · 20-09-2005, 08:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by stirlingguy

The funniest lines ever are in 'Communication Problems' with the deaf Mrs Richards:
"What did you expect to see out of a Torquay Hotel Bedroom window....Sydney Opera House perhaps, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon..."
Classic

".............a herd of wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain.........."

NathalieR · 20-09-2005, 09:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fizzbin

"What is witnit?"

"You know nothing about the horse Nitwit...Dragonfly!"

Also,

"Don't drive over any mines, dear"

Old Ladies : Don't do anything we wouldn't do
Fawlty :A little breathing surely

toastie · 20-09-2005, 09:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by stirlingguy

The funniest lines ever are in 'Communication Problems' with the deaf Mrs Richards:

"I excpect to be able to see the sea"

"it's over there madam between the land and the sky"

Cloud9 · 20-09-2005, 10:00

Just sitting here now thinking about those 12 episodes of pure comedy perfection, a smile has beamed across my face as I try in vain to try and pick my fave - and I can't - they're all too damn funny <although the image of Basil beating his mini with a branch and shaking his fist at never fails to make me crease with laughter>

Lion · 20-09-2005, 10:02

The Mrs Richards Communication Problems is probably my all time favourite, all are top notch though, the only slightly weak one out of the 12 was the one where Polly pretended to be Sybil ill in a room on their wedding aniversary, but even that was good but not in the same league to the others IMO.

zx50 · 20-09-2005, 10:05

Another classic scene is where Basil starts blaming himself after O'Riley's men make a hash job of the building work in the builders episode. He starts smacking his backside, and even just thinking about it whilst typing this out makes me laugh

weedledeedle · 20-09-2005, 11:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by zx50

Another classic scene is where Basil starts blaming himself after O'Riley's men make a hash job of the building work in the builders episode. He starts smacking his backside, and even just thinking about it whilst typing this out makes me laugh

and when Sybil tells Basil NOT to employ O'Riley's men as they are cowboys (and they are already working in the hotel

)

Basil claims that it ISN'T O'Riley but Orriley

and I worked with a guy called Tony O'Riley and he was always known as Tony Orriley from that moment on

realllllly funny episode

Lion · 20-09-2005, 11:30

Quote:

Another classic scene is where Basil starts blaming himself after O'Riley's men make a hash job of the building work in the builders episode. He starts smacking his backside, and even just thinking about it whilst typing this out makes me laugh

"Oh I see, it's my fault is it?"

"Your a naughty boy fawlty don't do it again"

NathalieR · 20-09-2005, 12:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by toastie

"I excpect to be able to see the sea"

"it's over there madam between the land and the sky"

"Madam that is Torquay"

"Well its not good enough"

"Well may i ask what you were expecting to see outside a Torquay bedroom window? The hanging gardens of Babylon, herds on wildebeest sweeping majestically across the plain.."

sidekick67 · 20-09-2005, 16:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedledeedle

and when Sybil tells Basil NOT to employ O'Riley's men as they are cowboys (and they are already working in the hotel

)

Basil claims that it ISN'T O'Riley but Orriley

and I worked with a guy called Tony O'Riley and he was always known as Tony Orriley from that moment on

realllllly funny episode

I hate to be an anorak but that's not correct !! The pronunciation Orriley was by Manuel.

Sybil tells Basil not to employ O'Reilly. They go away while the builders are in - that's when Basil has the conversation with Manuel. When they get back the place is a mess and Basil tries to fob it off as the work of another builder - don't remember their name. Sybil insists that it was O'Reilly and Basil launches into one of his rants which ends with him asking why she thinks O'Reilly did it - Sybil's response "because his van's outside". Basil, typical thinking on his feet "Well he's here now......of course he's here now that's why his van's outside" claiming he's here to fix the mess the "other builders" made !!

Classic.

S.

djsteven · 20-09-2005, 16:36

I think one of my favourite episodes must be the psychiatrist episode. So much confusion, making it so funny! Just thinking about Basil 'checking the walls' makes me laugh!

zoot · 20-09-2005, 17:03

"Yes but where were you born? Scavenger, or down here in the West Country?"

most_haunted · 20-09-2005, 17:11

Totally love it, and Fawlty Towers @ 30 Weekend on UKTV Gold just reminded me what a great program it is.

zx50 · 20-09-2005, 17:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lion

"Oh I see, it's my fault is it?"

"Your a naughty boy fawlty don't do it again"

Yeah, this had me absolutely in stitches last night

Orion · 20-09-2005, 18:19

Great to see the bloke who played Mr O'Reilly playing such a big part in the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie (along with Liz Smith!).

19-09-2005, 21:14	#1
mlocco Banned User Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: West Sussex Services: Telewest Posts: 703	Fawlty Towers at 30 It's been 30 years since the classic comedy Fawlty Towers was first broadcast on television. The antics of Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, hapless Spanish waiter Manuel and the ever-sensible Polly grabbed the imagination when it first went out on BBC Two on 19 September 1975. Subsequent re-runs of Fawlty Towers have confirmed its position as one of the finest British sit-coms. And while it continues to be in many people's top 10 lists, the origins of Torquay's hotelier from hell have also become stuff of television legend. In 1971, John Cleese and some other members of Monty Python's Flying Circus stayed at a hotel in Devon, which was run by an ill-tempered manager. Cleese was struck by the comedic irony of an angry and frustrated person running a hotel where a winning smile and a calm conduct are time-honoured traits. So when the BBC asked Cleese to come up with a sitcom some years later, the irrepressible Basil Fawlty was born. He wrote the series with his then-wife, Connie Booth. "At the start, Connie wrote the Polly and Sybil roles, and she and I wrote Basil together," Cleese said in a recent interview. The speed of Fawlty Towers has lasted the distance Prunella Scales "We used to ache with laughter and feel awful about the life we were giving him. " While Cleese played the snobbish Basil, Booth took on the role of Polly and Andrew Sachs played Manuel. Manuel was often the target of Basil's wrath, receiving punishment for mistakes he was usually unaware he had committed. But it was the interplay between Basil and his formidable wife Sybil, played by Prunella Scales, that provided some of the most memorable scenes. Scales described filming Fawlty Towers as "challenging". "John, quite rightly, was extremely rigorous about learning the script, and if you didn't he could get quite cross, which was fair enough," Scales told the BBC News website. "Each episode was done in a week so it was quite hard work but John and Connie were absolutely wonderful to work with. "I had known Andrew Sachs since before I was married, so it was an excellent team." There were no wasted words in Fawlty Towers Alison Graham, Radio Times Scales said she believed the secret of the show's longevity lay in the writing. "John and Connie wrote 12 episodes about 12 things in hotel management that made them mad and very angry, and they wrote passionately," she said "When you watch some old sitcoms, however charming they are, they have often lost speed over the years. The speed of Fawlty Towers has lasted the distance." It is a view shared by Alison Graham, TV editor of Radio Times magazine and long-time Fawlty Towers fan. "There were no wasted words in Fawlty Towers," she said. "It is so well-written and has such a brilliant central character. It is a 'character-com' and not a 'sitcom'. "Characters like Basil Fawlty simply endure." 'Timeless' Ms Graham compared the series to other popular modern-day comedies. "Fawlty Towers could be set at any point in time, not just 30 years ago, in the same way that One Foot In The Grave or The Office could have been 30 years ago or just last week." Such was the success of the first series, audience demand for more led to a second series four years later. But Scales explained that it was not always clear to everyone how much of a hit Fawlty Towers would prove to be. "I remember when we recorded the first episode," she said. Manuel would shake with fear every time Basil was around "It was a Sunday night and the BBC producer was striding up and down saying 'I don't know what John is thinking of'. "But of course he did know, and it has been very successful." And one of the other reasons for that success, many believe, is that Fawlty Towers burned brightly then went out with a bang. After the second series Cleese called it a day, leaving just 12 episodes of the sitcom. "I think if it had still been going on today then it would not be as special as it is," said Ms Graham. "We didn't have time to get tired of it and it left people wanting more." Basil's relationship with the ever-coiffured Sybil - whom he affectionately called a "little nest of vipers" - provided some of the most memorable interplay. Scales said she had firm ideas about their dynamics as a couple. Cleese wrote Fawlty Towers with his then wife Connie Booth "I think it was my idea that she (Sybil) should be less posh than he was. "I thought what she went for in him was his poshness, but that her parents had run a small boarding house and therefore knew about hotel management which he didn't. "She was the professional one, but he had grander plans than hers. "I don't remember ever talking to John about this, but my idea was that Basil had completed his National Service and, with his de-mob money, went out and met Sybil in a bar in Eastbourne or somewhere. "He thought she was a glamorous barmaid, she thought he was posh, and it went from there." And what would Basil be doing now, 30 years after Fawlty Towers first opened its doors? "Still trying to run a hotel and getting it wrong," Cleese concluded.

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19-09-2005, 22:23	#2
Fizzbin Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: East London Services: TV comedians, don't nick my jokes. Posts: 20,863	You speak English well, did you learn it from a book?

19-09-2005, 23:12	#3
satman5000 Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: North East Services: Sky Digital, Virgin Media, 8Mb ADSL, Freeview, DAB Posts: 1,321	Is this a piece of your brain!?

19-09-2005, 23:19	#4
suestorm Banned User Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 450	"I'm sorry if its confusing" "My god you're ugly" "This is mine...." "Who's a naughty boy-don't do it again Fawlty" "Fawlty,Basil Fawlty,we met once at a fete" "Do you really think a girl like that would be interested in an aging brilliantine stick insect like you?"

19-09-2005, 23:20	#5
Lion Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wiltshire Services: Virgin Broadband & Freeview Posts: 204	A timeless classic, absolutely superb, will never tire of it.

19-09-2005, 23:21	#6
suestorm Banned User Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 450	"You tell him you're gonna bust his ass" "Bust his........" "ASS"

19-09-2005, 23:23	#7
jimboc Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Brighton Services: Freeview: HUMAX FOX T2 Posts: 882	Would it not have been easier to post a link to the BBC news article you got all that from? And slightly less plagiaristic too? Fab show though!

20-09-2005, 00:26	#8
Fizzbin Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: East London Services: TV comedians, don't nick my jokes. Posts: 20,863	"What is witnit?"

20-09-2005, 01:11	#9
zx50 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Next to Consett. Services: BE* 24Mbit (11.1Mbit) Inspiron N5050 Posts: 54,084	I absolutely love this series. I was totally laughing my head off at the way John cleese was going on. It's such a shame that there was only 12 episodes ever made, because it would have been an even bigger classic had more been made. But i have to admit, John Cleese is definitely the one who made this series, without him i don't think it would have been what it is today. This is an absolute scream to watch, it might not be for everybody, but it's certainly for me. It's certainly good for people who might be down in the dumps that's for sure

20-09-2005, 05:45	#10
stirlingguy1 Forum Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Porstmouth Posts: 6,093	The funniest lines ever are in 'Communication Problems' with the deaf Mrs Richards: "What did you expect to see out of a Torquay Hotel Bedroom window....Sydney Opera House perhaps, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon..." Classic

20-09-2005, 10:00	#14
Cloud9 Forum Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: West London Posts: 1,371	Just sitting here now thinking about those 12 episodes of pure comedy perfection, a smile has beamed across my face as I try in vain to try and pick my fave - and I can't - they're all too damn funny <although the image of Basil beating his mini with a branch and shaking his fist at never fails to make me crease with laughter>

20-09-2005, 10:02	#15
Lion Forum Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Wiltshire Services: Virgin Broadband & Freeview Posts: 204	The Mrs Richards Communication Problems is probably my all time favourite, all are top notch though, the only slightly weak one out of the 12 was the one where Polly pretended to be Sybil ill in a room on their wedding aniversary, but even that was good but not in the same league to the others IMO.

20-09-2005, 10:05	#16
zx50 Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Next to Consett. Services: BE* 24Mbit (11.1Mbit) Inspiron N5050 Posts: 54,084	Another classic scene is where Basil starts blaming himself after O'Riley's men make a hash job of the building work in the builders episode. He starts smacking his backside, and even just thinking about it whilst typing this out makes me laugh

20-09-2005, 16:36	#21
djsteven Forum Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Ayr, Scotland Posts: 100	I think one of my favourite episodes must be the psychiatrist episode. So much confusion, making it so funny! Just thinking about Basil 'checking the walls' makes me laugh!

20-09-2005, 17:03	#22
zoot Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 1,503	"Yes but where were you born? Scavenger, or down here in the West Country?"

20-09-2005, 17:11	#23
most_haunted Forum Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: United Kingdom Services: NTL Posts: 1,041	Totally love it, and Fawlty Towers @ 30 Weekend on UKTV Gold just reminded me what a great program it is.

20-09-2005, 18:19	#25
Orion Forum Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 5,475	Great to see the bloke who played Mr O'Reilly playing such a big part in the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie (along with Liz Smith!).

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