"Fawlty Towers" (1975) TV series 1975-1979

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

19 September 1975 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

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

Plot Keywords:

Hotel | English | Guest | Manic | Waiter

Awards:

4 wins & 2 nominations

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 Shearman / ... (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Ballard Berkeley	...	Major Gowen (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Gilly Flower	...	Miss Abitha Tibbs / ... (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Renee Roberts	...	Miss Gatsby / ... (12 episodes, 1975-1979)
Brian Hall	...	Terry (6 episodes, 1979)

Series Directed by
John Howard Davies		(6 episodes, 1975)
Bob Spiers		(6 episodes, 1979)

Series Writing credits
Connie Booth		(12 episodes, 1975-1979)
John Cleese		(12 episodes, 1975-1979)

Series Produced by
John Howard Davies	....	producer (6 episodes, 1975)
Douglas Argent	....	producer (6 episodes, 1979)

Series Original Music by
Dennis Wilson		(12 episodes, 1975-1979)

Series Film Editing by
Howard Dell		(4 episodes, 1979)
Susan Imrie		(4 episodes, 1979)
Bob Rymer		(3 episodes, 1975)
Neil Pittaway		(2 episodes, 1979)

Series Production Design by
Peter Kindred		(6 episodes, 1975)
Nigel Curzon		(6 episodes, 1979)

Series Costume Design by
Mary Woods		(6 episodes, 1975)
Caroline Hutchings		(5 episodes, 1979)

Series Makeup Department
Jean Speak	....	makeup artist (5 episodes, 1975)
Suzan Broad	....	makeup artist (5 episodes, 1979)
Anne Rayment	....	makeup designer (unknown episodes)

Series Sound Department
Mike Jones	....	studio sound / sound (7 episodes, 1975-1979)
John Howell	....	sound (5 episodes, 1975)
Bill Chesneau	....	sound (4 episodes, 1979)

Series Visual Effects by
Ken Bomphray	....	visual effects (1 episode, 1975)
Peter Pegrum	....	visual effects (1 episode, 1975)

Series Camera and Electrical Department
Ron Bristow	....	studio lighting / lighting technician (6 episodes, 1979)
Geoff Shaw	....	lighting technician (3 episodes, 1975)
Stanley Speel	....	camera operator (3 episodes, 1975)
Ron Koplick	....	lighting technician (2 episodes, 1975)
Graham Banks	....	focus puller (2 episodes, 1979)
Alec Curtis	....	camera operator (2 episodes, 1979)
Paul Wheeler	....	camera operator (2 episodes, 1979)

Series Editorial Department
Bill Morton	....	vision mixer (2 episodes, 1979)

Series Other crew
John Kilby	....	production assistant / production team (6 episodes, 1979)
Tony Guyan	....	production assistant (5 episodes, 1975)
Iain McLean	....	production team (2 episodes, 1979)
Penny Thompson	....	production team (2 episodes, 1979)

Production Companies

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Distributors

• British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) (1975) (UK) (TV) (original airing)
• BBC Video (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Comedy Central (2008-2009) (Hungary) (TV) (re-release)
• Polyband (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Poén! (2009-2010) (Hungary) (TV) (re-release)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD) (season 2)

Runtime:

30 min (12 episodes)

Country:

UK

Language:

English | Spanish

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Norway:5 (video rating) | Finland:K-3 (2003) | UK:PG | Australia:M (Remastered DVD) | Australia:PG (DVD rating) | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

294 Preston Road, Harrow, Middlesex, England, UK

Company:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Trivia:

As the series progressed, each episode's opening shot of the Fawlty Towers hotel sign shows rearranged and misplaced letters. Variations include: Watery Fowls (with a kid seen adjusting it), Farty Tower, Flay Otters, Fatty Owls, Warty Towels, Flowery Twats and Farty Towels.

Goofs:

Continuity: The room numbers in the hotel frequently changed from episode to episode.

Quotes:

[talking to a nurse]
Basil Fawlty: Why *do* they call you sister? Is it a term of endearment?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Fawlty Towers Revisited (2005) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Fawlty Towers

Hilarious sitcom

Based on an actual hotel Cleese and the MP gang stayed at once, Fawlty Towers is a hilarious British sitcom with great characters and situations. Probably the most famous episode is the one with the Germans, as I hear it referred to the most.

Basil Fawlty (Cleese) is a grumpy hotel manager, with his domineering wife Sybil, the hotel maid Polly (co-creator and Cleese's wife at the time of the show Connie Booth), the Spanish waiter Manuel ("I learned classical Spanish, not this strange dialect he's using"), and the hotel's longest standing resident, the Major. Witty dialogue and hilarious slapstick situations make this a great show.