Fawlty Towers ( Austin 1100 Countryman ) 1985
Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is a BBC television sitcom, that was first broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Twelve episodes were made (two series, each of six episodes). The show was written by John Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth, both of whom also starred in the show.
Theme Tune
The theme’s composer, Leicester-born Dennis Wilson (1920–1989) wrote a lot of music for classic TV series and sitcoms. They included some episodes of Steptoe and Son, Till Death Us Do Part and Rising Damp.
Cast
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)
Trivia
Fawlty Towers” sign’s
At the beginning of each episode except one – an exterior shot of the Hotel and its sign was show. The letters in FAWLTY TOWERS were changed each week. Sometimes letters had simply fallen off, sometimes they had been maliciously rearranged into funny anagrams.
FAWLTY TOWERS
FAWLTY TOWER
FAWTY TOWER
FAWTY TOER
WARTY TOWELS
FLAY OTTERS
WATERY FOWLS
FATTY OWLS
FLOWERY TW- -S
FARTY TOWELS
Trivia
In some episodes, the boom mic becomes visible and the cameraman corrects this by, among other things, zooming in on the scene.
Summer 1967: End of American sales of MG 1100. The Austin 1100 would be used as a place holder until the Austin America in 1968. The Austin 1100 featured a single large speedometer fitted in the centre of dashboard, similar to that fitted in De Luxe versions of the Morris / Austin 1100 Mark II and 1300.
The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, on the ‘English Riviera’. The plots centre around tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), a comparatively-normal chambermaid Polly (Booth), and hapless Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs), showing their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests.
In a list drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted by industry professionals, Fawlty Towers was named the best British television series of all time.
Quote
Basil Fawlty: [seeing Manual with three trays] Manuel.
Manuel: ¿Si?
Basil Fawlty: [speaking slowly] There is too much butter on those trays.
Manuel: ¿Que?
Basil Fawlty: There is too much butter… on… those… trays.
Manuel: No. No, no, senor. Not… not ‘on… those… trays’… No, sir.
Manuel: [counting the trays instructively] ‘Uno, dos, tres’.
Quote
Mrs. Richards: And another thing. I booked a room with a view.
Basil: [quietly to Manuel] Deaf, mad and blind. [Goes to the window] Yes, this is the view as I remember it, yes, yes, this is it.
Mrs. Richards: When I pay for a room with a view, I expect something more interesting than that.
Basil: That is Torquay madam.
Mrs. Richards: Well it’s not good enough.
Basil: Well, may I ask what you expected to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? The Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically…?
Mrs. Richards: Don’t be silly. I expect to be able to see the sea.
Basil: You can see the sea. It’s over there between the land and the sky.
Quote
Basil Fawlty: Polly, what’s that smell?
Polly: Flowers, I just got them from the garden.
Basil Fawlty: Well, what are you stinking the place up with those for? What’s happened to the plastic ones?
Polly: Being ironed.
Info
| Running time | 30–35 minutes |
|---|---|
| Production company | BBC |
| Distributor | BBC Studios |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC2 |
| Picture format | 576i (4:3 PAL) |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 19 September 1975 – 25 October 1979 |
| Theme music composer | Dennis Wilson |
|---|---|
| Opening theme | “Fawlty Towers” |
| Ending theme | “Fawlty Towers” |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 12 |
Trivia
John Cleese (Basil Fawlty) and Connie Booth (Polly Sherman) were really husband and wife when they created and wrote the scripts for the first series. By the beginning of filming for the second season their marriage had fallen apart and they had divorced.
QUIZ 1
In ‘The Hotel Inspectors’, What was the Profession of Mr Hutchinson (Bernard Cribbins) ?
A. Beds
B. Spoons
C. Green Grocer
D. Fishmonger
Press for Answer
B. Spoons
Scroll Down for More
QUIZ 2
The actress Prunella Scales played Sybil Faulty in Faulty Towers. Who did she play in the Johnny English Movie.
A. The Queen
B. The Teacher
C. The Nun
D. The Hotel Receptionist
Press for Answer
A. The Queen
Scroll Down for More
QUIZ 1
In ‘The Hotel Inspectors’, What was the Profession of Mr Hutchinson (Bernard Cribbins) ?
A. Beds
B. Spoons
C. Green Grocer
D. Fishmonger
When Hutchinson reveals he had a wide experience of hotels, Basil assumes he is a covert hotel inspector, whereupon Basil’s attitude to the man switches from sarcasm to grovelling. It turns out (Sybil overhears a phone conversation) he is not a hotel inspector, but a spoon salesman. It is not revealed whether Mr Hutchinson knew about the hotel inspectors planning on making a visit and tries to play on this, or whether it is pure coincidence.
There was only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers as Stars John Cleese and Connie Booth both quit the show before the third season. I’m assuming they just couldn’t work together. They were married during season one, then divorced before season two, four years later. Their difficulties may be the reason for the gap between seasons. There were only six shows per season. More were written, so a third season was possible.
QUIZ 2
The actress Prunella Scales played Sybil Faulty in Faulty Towers. Who did she play in the Johnny English Movie.
A. The Queen
B. The Teacher
C. The Nun
D. The Hotel Receptionist
Prunella Scales CBE (born 22 June 1932) is an English actress best known for her role as Basil Fawlty’s wife Sybil in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers.
Not only did she become The Queen in the Jonny English Movie she also played a BAFTA award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution (Screen One, BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett.
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