TV SERIES · 1975–1979 · UK
Fawlty Towers
- Created by
- Connie Booth, John Cleese
- Network
- BBC Two
- Seasons
- 2
- Episodes
- 12
- Studio
- BBC
128 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
Owner Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, a chambermaid Polly, and Spanish waiter Manuel attempt to run their hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding guests.
128 Interesting Facts About Fawlty Towers
Interesting Facts (25)
- #001
The character of Manuel is often criticised as an openly xenophobic stereotype that would not be permitted in a modern television series. Andrew Sachs rejected claims that Manuel was based on Spanish stereotypes, arguing that he could have been any "foreign" worker in the United Kingdom at the time. Sachs added that Manuel insults Spaniards, while Basil insults the English at least as much. According to John Cleese, Manuel was not intended as a joke about stupid foreigners, because Manuel is a very likeable man who genuinely does his best to get everything right; Manuel's problem is his inadequate English and the fact that small hotel and restaurant owners, a parody of whom the character is, hire cheap people desperate for work without giving them proper training.
- #002
- #003
Basil and Sybil Fawlty were based on Donald and Beatrice Sinclair, real hoteliers who ran the 41-bed Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, where John Cleese stayed in early May 1970 while filming on location with the Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) team. Mr Sinclair's angry antics included: scolding Terry Gilliam for eating his meals in a "too American" way (for example, with knife and fork in the 'wrong' hands); throwing Eric Idle's briefcase against a wall because of a "bomb scare" (the most feared thing was Idle leaving the case in reception, though the owner attributed his concerns to recent staffing problems); disbelieving Michael Palin's request to reserve the hotel television to watch a programme; bringing Graham Chapman an omelette with three fried eggs on top after Chapman asked for a three-egg omelette (and refusing to offer him brandy); arguing with Cleese and not hurrying to call a taxi when Cleese asked him to call one; and feigning a sudden movement whenever guests came into view. Mrs Sinclair later complained that the sitcom had been unfair to her husband and described John Cleese as an "utter fool" who had "made millions out of our unhappiness". Under new ownership, the Gleneagles Hotel ran Fawlty Towers once a month, with guests served by actors playing the roles of Basil, Sybil and Manuel. The building, which opened in 1963, closed permanently in February 2015 and was demolished, with retirement flats built on the site. Cleese later used the name "Donald P. Sinclair" for the eccentric billionaire character in the film Rat Race (2001).
- #004
- #005
- #006
In the DVD commentary, John Cleese says that Prunella Scales was so unlike the character she played, the harpy Sybil Fawlty, that they struggled to make the soft-hearted Scales hit hard enough to seem realistic against Basil or any character subjected to Sybil's displeasure, and they constantly had to reshoot her scenes.
- #007
- #008
- #009
Each script took six weeks to write (with no dialogue script written for at least the first two and a half weeks, primarily to sort out the plot), five days of rehearsal and one evening to record in the studio before a live audience — a total of 42 weeks to produce each six-episode series.
- #010
- #011
John Cleese was paid £6,000 (roughly equivalent to $31,000 in 2019) to write, realise and film the first series. The series required 43 weeks of work in 1975. Cleese stated: "If people who love Fawlty Towers should thank all the advertisers who offered me commercials, because that was what supported my ability to devote so much time to scriptwriting."
- #012
- #013
In an interview, Cleese explained that Basil was meant to be a thoroughly unlikeable character, who is only nice to people who could improve the hotel's situation and is rude to them once he learns they cannot. According to Cleese, people can sympathise with Basil because he "makes them laugh", yet they would hate him if they met him in real life.
- #014
- #015
- #016
- #017
- #018
- #019
- #020
- #021
- #022
- #023
Although it is considered timeless, Fawlty Towers was far more topical than John Cleese's previous show, Monty Python's Flying Circus. The first series mentions the United Kingdom joining the European Common Market, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and re-elected Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The second series, made in 1979, references labour strikes (in fact the final episode, Basil The Rat, was postponed because of a BBC strike) and newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
- #024
John Cleese said he originally wrote Polly as a Philosophy student (stating that she was doing a doctorate on Ludwig Wittgenstein) but decided to change this to an Art student only after the pilot episode had been filmed but not yet broadcast. Small portions of dialogue for A Touch of Class (1975) were re-filmed after The Hotel Inspectors (1975) was finished in the studio, in order to include Polly's art studies as a plot device that would last for the rest of the series' run.
- #025
Ironically, Ballard Berkeley had no military past: he was a young teenager during the First World War and in his mid-thirties during the Second World War. However, he served as a police officer in London during the Blitz and personally witnessed some of the worst bombings and civilian casualties.
Production Story (63)
- #026
The series was remade three times for American television, each time unsuccessfully. * The first, Snavely (1978), was made for ABC in 1978 and starred Harvey Korman and Betty White as Basil and Sybil respectively. Moving the action to a roadside hotel, it never got past the pilot stage. * The next attempt for ABC was Amanda (1983), in which Bea Arthur played a gender-swapped Basil. This version moved the story to the California coast and even copied the hotel's layout. However, Arthur's character lacked Basil's innate paranoia and cruelty, and the series was cancelled after half a season. * CBS's third version, Payne (1999), was made in 1999 and starred John Laroquette and JoBeth Williams. Also set in California, this version had the approval of John Cleese, who planned to play a rival hotelier if the series succeeded. (Ironically, Cleese would have played an endlessly kind host). This version was notable only for changing the character of Manuel into an East Indian bellboy, which made Royal Payne's exploitation of the character look racist rather than ignorant xenophobia.
- #027
During the series' first broadcast, Richard Ingrams, then editor of "Private Eye," wrote a scathing review of the show. John Cleese had known Ingrams for years and was also friends with the magazine's owner, Peter Cook, so he was furious about the review. Cleese's revenge was to write a character named Mr. Ingrams into the second-season episode The Kipper and the Corpse (1979); Basil finds this character in his hotel room in pajamas, inflating an inflatable sex doll.
- #028
In an interview, John Cleese inadvertently revealed that he based Basil Fawlty on Donald Sinclair, the owner of a hotel on the south coast of England where he stayed during filming of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969). The press quickly found the hotel and Sinclair, but Sinclair refused to speak. According to Cleese, Sinclair's daughter spoke to some journalists and said she had never watched an episode of Fawlty Towers. After watching Cleese's portrayal, her reaction was "Yes, that's my father."
- #029
Basil and Sybil Fawlty were inspired by Donald and Beatrice Sinclair, the real operators of the 41-bed Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, where John Cleese stayed in May 1970 while filming with the Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) team. Mr. Sinclair's grumblings included: scolding Terry Gilliam for eating his meals in an "overly American" style (using his knife and fork in the 'wrong' hands); throwing Eric Idle's briefcase over a wall because of a "bomb scare" (the scare was Idle leaving the bag in the reception, but the owner attributed his concerns to recent staffing problems); refusing to believe that Michael Palin wanted to reserve the hotel television in advance to watch a program; when Graham Chapman asked for a three-egg omelette, Sinclair bringing an omelette with three fried eggs on top (and refusing to serve him brandy); when Cleese was asked to call a taxi, arguing with Cleese and dragging his feet about calling it; and suddenly pretending to be busy when guests appeared. Mrs. Sinclair later complained that the series was unfair to her husband and described John Cleese as "a complete idiot who made millions out of our unhappiness." Under new owners, the Gleneagles Hotel held Fawlty Towers weekends once a month; guests were served by actors playing the roles of Basil, Sybil and Manuel. The hotel, which opened in 1963, closed permanently in February 2015 and was demolished to build retirement flats on the site. Cleese later used the name "Donald P. Sinclair" for the eccentric billionaire character in the film Rat Race (2001).
- #030
- #031
- #032
- #033
- #034
John Cleese was paid £6,000 (equivalent to about $31,000 in 2019) to write, act in and film the first season. The season required 43 weeks of work in 1975. Cleese said: "So if people love Fawlty Towers, they should thank all the advertisers who offered me commercials, because that subsidized the time I spent writing all these scripts."
- #035
- #036
In June 2020, the BBC-owned British broadcasting service UKTV announced that it had removed the episode The Germans (1975) from its service because of sensitive racial slurs. In the episode, the Major uses crude racist language about a West Indian cricket team. John Cleese criticized the move on Twitter, saying "the BBC is now run by a mixture of a marketing person and a minor bureaucrat." He called the removal "cowardly and gutless" and added that although the language is offensive and outdated, it should be handled in the context of both the character and the period. UKTV later announced that it would restore the episode with additional guidance about the offensive language.
- #037
- #038
John Cleese wrote the premise of Fawlty Towers in an episode titled No Ill Feeling! (1971); that episode of the series Doctor at Large (1971) was about a badly run hotel and its rude, henpecked owner. Producer Humphrey Barclay suggested to the writer that a series could be developed from this premise.
- #039
- #040
The series was remade three times for American television, each time unsuccessfully. The first, Snavely (1978), was made for ABC in 1978 and starred Harvey Korman and Betty White as Basil and Sybil respectively. This production, which moved the action to a roadside hotel, failed to get past the pilot stage. The second, again for ABC, Amanda's (1983), aired in 1983 with Bea Arthur as a gender-swapped Basil. This version moved the story to the California coast and even copied the hotel's layout. However, Arthur's character lacked Basil's natural paranoia and cruelty, and the series was cancelled after half a season. The third version, Payne (1999), was made for CBS in 1999 and starred John Laroquette and JoBeth Williams in the lead roles. Also set in California, this version received John Cleese's approval; Cleese planned to play a rival hotelier if the series succeeded. (Ironically, Cleese would have played an infinitely kind host.) This version drew attention for turning the character of Manuel into an East Indian bellhop, so that Royal Payne's mistreatment of the character seemed racist rather than merely ignorant xenophobia.
- #041
None of the 12 episodes were given original names, so no episode title ever appears on screen in any episode's opening. When it first aired, the series appeared in TV listings only as Fawlty Towers. In later broadcasts, working titles were used for some episodes: "U.S.A" for Waldorf Salad (1979), "Rat" for Basil the Rat (1979) and "Mrs. Richards" for Communication Problems (1979). Such working titles also appeared in the series' first BBC cassette releases. It was not until a VHS box set of the series was released in the 1980s that each episode was given the proper titles known today.
- #042
- #043
- #044
In May 1974, John Cleese and Connie Booth's first scripts for the series were assessed by Ian Main, Comedy Script Editor of the BBC Light Entertainment Department. Main described the proposed series as "as bad as its title" and "a kind of 'Hamlet' of the hotel world". He concluded that the series was "a collection of clichés and stock characters" and "could be nothing but a disaster". Cleese has always been greatly amused by this first assessment of the series.
- #045
When season 1 first aired on Swedish television in late summer 1976, the second episode "The Builders" was not included for an unknown reason, so the season's other five episodes were broadcast. When season 2 aired in autumn 1979, the final episode "Basil the Rat" was again not included for an unknown reason. This episode first aired in Sweden in spring 1980, but "The Builders" was not broadcast until December 1984, during a repeat of the entire series, and only as the last of the twelve episodes. In the repeats in 1989 and 1990, these two episodes were broadcast in their correct season order, and have been ever since.
- #046
The actor known for his role as Manuel, Andrew Sachs, was injured by a jacket that the special effects team treated with acid so that his costume would appear to be on fire. The jacket really did burn down to his skin, and the scars took a long time to fade. The BBC paid Sachs compensation.
- #047
- #048
- #049
- #050
- #051
- #052
The character of Manuel is frequently criticised as an excessively xenophobic stereotype that would not be allowed in a modern television series. Andrew Sachs rejected claims that Manuel was a stereotype of Spaniards, arguing that the character could have been any 'foreign' worker in Britain at the time. Sachs added that if Manuel is thought to insult Spaniards, then Basil insults the English at least as much. According to John Cleese, Manuel was not a joke about stupid foreigners, because Manuel is a very lovable man who does his utmost to do everything right. Manuel's problem is his poor English, which is a parody of stingy hotel and restaurant owners who employ cheap labour and fail to train them properly.
- #053
- #054
In the DVD commentary, John Cleese says that Prunella Scales is nothing like the peevish Sybil Fawlty she played, that they struggled to get the tender-hearted Scales to hit Basil or another character hard enough to look realistic when on the receiving end of Sybil's displeasure, and that they constantly had to reshoot scenes.
- #055
- #056
In an interview, Cleese said that his favourite episode was the final one, Basil the Rat (1979). Cleese noted that this episode was a genuinely collective effort by the cast. Every member of the hotel staff contributes equally to the absurd story, because the only real antagonist is the rat, which has no lines at all.
- #057
In an interview, Cleese explained that Basil was designed as a thoroughly unlikable character who is polite only to people who might raise the hotel's status and who turns rude the moment he learns they cannot. According to Cleese, people may sympathise with Basil because 'he makes them laugh', but if they met him in real life they would hate him.
- #058
- #059
- #060
John Cleese said that he originally wrote Polly as a Philosophy student (noting that she was doing a doctorate on Ludwig Wittgenstein), but that after the pilot episode was filmed and before it was broadcast he decided to change her to an Art student. Some dialogue for A Touch of Class (1975) was reshot after The Hotel Inspectors (1975) was completed in the studio, so that Polly's art studies were added as a plot device that would continue through the rest of the series.
- #061
- #062
- #063
- #064
- #065
During the show's first broadcast, the then-editor of Private Eye, Richard Ingrams, wrote a scathing review of the series. John Cleese had known Ingrams for years and was also friends with the magazine's owner, Peter Cook, so he was furious about the review. Cleese's revenge was to write a character named Mr Ingrams into the second-season episode The Kipper and the Corpse (1979); Basil finds this character in his hotel room in his pyjamas, inflating an inflatable sex doll.
- #066
In an interview, John Cleese inadvertently revealed that he had based Basil Fawlty on Donald Sinclair, the owner of a hotel on the south coast of England where he had stayed during filming of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969). The press quickly found the hotel and Sinclair, but Sinclair refused to talk. According to Cleese, Sinclair's daughter spoke to some journalists and said she had never watched an episode of Fawlty Towers. After watching Cleese's portrayal, her reaction was "Yes, that's my dad."
- #067
Basil and Sybil Fawlty were inspired by Donald and Beatrice Sinclair, the real operators of the 41-bed Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, where John Cleese stayed in May 1970 while filming with the Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) team. Mr Sinclair's grumblings included: scolding Terry Gilliam for eating his meals in an "over-American" style (using his knife and fork in the 'wrong' hands); throwing Eric Idle's briefcase over a wall because of a "bomb scare" (the scare being Idle leaving the case at reception, though the proprietor attributed his concerns to recent staffing problems); refusing to believe that Michael Palin wanted to reserve the hotel television in advance to watch a programme; when Graham Chapman asked for a three-egg omelette, Sinclair bringing an omelette with three fried eggs on top (and refusing to serve him brandy); when asked by Cleese to call a taxi, arguing with Cleese and dragging his feet about calling it; and pretending to be suddenly busy when guests appeared. Mrs Sinclair later complained that the series had been unfair to her husband and described John Cleese as "a complete idiot who made millions out of our misery." Under new owners, the Gleneagles Hotel held Fawlty Towers weekends once a month; guests were served by actors playing the roles of Basil, Sybil and Manuel. The hotel, which opened in 1963, closed permanently in February 2015 and was demolished to make way for retirement flats. Cleese later used the name "Donald P. Sinclair" for the eccentric billionaire character in Rat Race (2001).
- #068
- #069
- #070
- #071
John Cleese was paid £6,000 (equivalent to about $31,000 in 2019) to write, perform in and film the first season. The season required 43 weeks of work in 1975. Cleese said: "So if people like Fawlty Towers, they should thank all the advertisers who offered me commercials, because that subsidised the time I spent writing all these scripts."
- #072
- #073
In June 2020, the BBC-owned British streaming service UKTV announced that it had removed the episode The Germans (1975) from its service because of sensitive racial slurs. In the episode, the Major uses crude racist language about a West Indian cricket team. John Cleese criticised the move on Twitter, saying "the BBC is now run by a mixture of a marketing person and a minor bureaucrat." He called the removal "cowardly and gutless" and added that although the language is offensive and outdated, it should be dealt with in the context of both the character and the period. UKTV later announced that it would restore the episode with additional guidance about the offensive language.
- #074
- #075
John Cleese wrote the premise of Fawlty Towers in an episode titled No Ill Feeling! (1971); that episode of the series Doctor at Large (1971) was about a badly run hotel and its rude, henpecked owner. Producer Humphrey Barclay suggested to the writer that a series could be built from this premise.
- #076
The series was remade three times for American television, each time unsuccessfully. The first, Snavely (1978), was made for ABC in 1978 and starred Harvey Korman and Betty White as Basil and Sybil respectively. This production, which moved the action to a roadside hotel, did not get past the pilot stage. The second, again for ABC, Amanda's (1983), aired in 1983 with Bea Arthur as a gender-swapped Basil. This version moved the story to the California coast and even copied the hotel's layout. However, Arthur's character lacked Basil's natural paranoia and cruelty, and the series was cancelled after half a season. The third version, Payne (1999), was made for CBS in 1999 and starred John Laroquette and JoBeth Williams in the lead roles. Also set in California, this version received John Cleese's approval; Cleese planned to play a rival hotelier if the series succeeded. (Ironically, Cleese would have played an infinitely courteous host.) This version drew attention for turning the character Manuel into an East Indian bellboy, so that Royal Payne's mistreatment of the character seemed racist rather than merely ignorant xenophobia.
- #077
None of the 12 episodes was given an original name, so no episode title appears on screen in any episode's opening. When it first aired, the series appeared in TV listings only as Fawlty Towers. In later broadcasts, working titles were used for some episodes: "U.S.A" for Waldorf Salad (1979), "Rat" for Basil the Rat (1979), and "Mrs. Richards" for Communication Problems (1979). Such working titles also appeared in the series' first BBC cassette releases. It was not until the series' VHS box set was released in the 1980s that each episode was given the proper titles known today.
- #078
In May 1974, John Cleese and Connie Booth's first scripts for the series were assessed by Ian Main, Comedy Script Editor of the BBC Light Entertainment Department. Main described the proposed series as "as bad as its title" and "a kind of 'Hamlet' of the hotel world." He concluded that the series was "a collection of clichés and stock characters" and "could be nothing but a disaster." Cleese has always been greatly amused by this first assessment of the series.
- #079
When season 1 first aired on Swedish television in late summer 1976, the second episode, "The Builders," was not included for an unknown reason, so the season's other five episodes were broadcast. When season 2 aired in autumn 1979, the final episode, "Basil the Rat," was again not included for an unknown reason. This episode first aired in Sweden in spring 1980, but "The Builders" was not broadcast until December 1984, during a repeat of the entire series, and only as the last of the twelve episodes. In the repeats in 1989 and 1990, these two episodes aired in their correct season order, and have done so ever since.
- #080
In later episodes of the series, the letters on the Fawlty Towers hotel sign are seen swapped and misspelled in the opening shots. Variations include Watery Fowls (seen being corrected by a child), Farty Tower, Flay Otters, Fatty Owls, Warty Towels, Flowery Twats and Farty Towels. Iain McLean, from the production team, said the anagrams on the sign were probably done by angry newspaper deliverymen.
- #081
- #082
- #083
- #084
Although considered timeless, Fawlty Towers touched on far more current topics than John Cleese's previous show, Monty Python's Flying Circus. The first season contains references to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Common Market, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and re-elected Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. The second season, filmed in 1979, contains references to labour strikes (in fact the final episode, Basil the Rat, was delayed because of a strike at the BBC) and to newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
- #085
- #086
- #087
- #088
Behind the Scenes (7)
- #089
- #090
The actor known for the role of Manuel, Andrew Sachs, was injured by a jacket that the special effects team had treated with acid so that his costume would appear to be on fire. The jacket actually burned down to his skin, and the marks from the wounds took a long time to fade. The BBC paid Sachs compensation.
- #091
- #092
- #093
- #094
- #095
Characters & Cast (19)
- #096
- #097
Asked in an interview, Cleese stated that his favourite episode was the final one, Basil the Rat (1979). Cleese said the episode was the cast's only true ensemble work. Every member of the hotel staff contributed equally to the absurd story, because the only real enemy was, of course, the rat, which had no lines.
- #098
- #099
The character of Manuel is frequently criticized as an excessively xenophobic stereotype that would not be allowed in a modern television series. Andrew Sachs rejected claims that Manuel is a stereotype of Spaniards, arguing that the character could be any 'foreign' worker in Britain at the time. Sachs added that if Manuel is thought to insult Spaniards, then Basil insults the English at least as much. According to John Cleese, Manuel was not a joke about stupid foreigners, because Manuel is a very lovable man who does his utmost to do everything right. Manuel's problem is his poor English, which is a parody of stingy hotel and restaurant owners who employ cheap labor and do not give them proper training.
- #100
- #101
In the DVD commentary, John Cleese says that Prunella Scales is nothing like the grumpy Sybil Fawlty she portrays, that they had difficulty getting the soft-hearted Scales to hit Basil or another character hard enough to look realistic when on the receiving end of Sybil's displeasure, and that they constantly had to reshoot scenes.
- #102
- #103
- #104
In an interview, Cleese said that his favorite episode is the final one, Basil the Rat (1979). Cleese stated that this episode was a genuinely collective effort by the cast. Every member of the hotel staff contributed equally to the absurd story, because the only real antagonist is the rat, which has no lines.
- #105
In an interview, Cleese explained that Basil was designed as a thoroughly unlikable character who is polite only to people who could raise the hotel's status and who turns rude the moment he learns they cannot. According to Cleese, people can sympathize with Basil because 'he makes them laugh', but if they met him in real life they would hate him.
- #106
- #107
- #108
- #109
John Cleese said that he originally wrote Polly as a Philosophy student (noting that she was doing a doctorate on Ludwig Wittgenstein), but after the pilot episode was shot and before it aired, he decided to change her to an Art student. Some dialogue for A Touch of Class (1975) was reshot after The Hotel Inspectors (1975) was finished in the studio, so that Polly's art studies were added as a plot device that would continue through the rest of the series.
- #110
- #111
Ironically, Ballard Berkeley had no military background: he was a young adolescent during the First World War and in his mid-30s during the Second World War. However, he served as a police officer in London during the Blitz and personally witnessed the worst bombings and civilian casualties.
- #112
- #113
- #114
Easter Eggs & References (2)
- #115
None of the 12 episodes were given original titles, so no episode titles appear on screen in any opening. When the series first aired, it was listed in TV schedules only as Fawlty Towers. In later broadcasts, working titles were sometimes used for some episodes, such as "U. S. A" (1979) for Waldorf Salad, "Rat" (1979) for Basil the Rat and "Mrs. Richards" (1979) for Communication Problems. Such working titles also appeared on the series' first BBC audio cassette releases. It was not until the series was released as a VHS box set in the 1980s that each episode was given the proper title commonly known today.
- #116
Deeper Meaning (12)
- #117
In later episodes of the series, the opening shots of the Fawlty Towers hotel sign show the letters rearranged and misspelled. The variations include Watery Fowls (one of which is seen being corrected by a child), Farty Tower, Flay Otters, Fatty Owls, Warty Towels, Flowery Twats and Farty Towels. Iain McLean from the production team said the anagrams on the sign were probably made by angry newspaper deliverymen.
- #118
- #119
- #120
- #121
- #122
Although considered timeless, Fawlty Towers touched on much more current topics than John Cleese's previous show Monty Python's Flying Circus. In the first season there are references to the United Kingdom's entry into the European Common Market, US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and re-elected Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. In the second season, filmed in 1979, there are references to workers' strikes (in fact the final episode, Basil the Rat, was delayed because of a strike at the BBC) and to newly elected Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
- #123
- #124
- #125
- #126
- #127
- #128
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