Introduction

Mention the name of Fawlty Towers to anyone and they will instantly think of a hotel in Torquay, run by a man who would rather not have guests cluttering up the place, and a Spanish waiter whose vocabulary consists mainly of Que?! This is probably one of the most enduring television comedies of all time, and repeats always seem to bring it high in the ratings (far higher than most of the new comedies!). Written by John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth, it sprang from Cleese staying at a hotel and being treated in a similar fashion to how Basil treats his guests, with almost contempt.

With his aspirations to granduer, his know it all manner, and a wife from his own worst nightmares, Basil Fawtly is a walking cliche, but there is much in him that is recognisible in a lot of people, if not quite so exaggerated, and certainly, then were many parallels made betwen the character and Cleese himself. Cleese, rightly so, has been trying to distance himself from Fawlty ever since, as this is not all he is capable of (and his film work only goes to prove this). There is no doubt though, that this is amongst Cleese's finest writing hours.

There were, in fact, two series of the show, with a gap of 4 years in between them, and only 12 episodes in all (although talk to most people and they will be sure that there were loads of 'em!). All are available both on video and on audio, (and also if you are lucky enough to find them, the scripts have also been published) and the BBC have just re-released (6th Sept) the audio productions with extra, exclusive, John Cleese interviews! As the series was designed for television, there are many parts that are extremely visual (just think of the funny walk in the Germans), but the Radio Collection have got around this by adding extra narration by Manuel.