Fawlty Towers Dinner Show

We had a wonderful night when we attended a Fawlty Towers dinner at Box Hill. Returned Services Club recently. Not only was the food very good but the show, put on by a professional acting group,  was hilarious. They matched the characters in the TV series very well.

Fawlty Towers is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC 2 in 1975 and 1979. It has held up very well as a sitcom over all these years. Two series of six episodes each were made. Their popularity makes it easy to think that many more episodes were made but there are only twelve. Some people can remember the lines from the funny parts and still recite them from memory.

The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional hotel in the English seaside town of Torquay in Devon, England. The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner, Basil Fawlty, his bossy wife Sybil, the sensible chambermaid Polly, and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel. They show their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople. Like the music of the Beatles, this show has become part of the dominant cultural language of the era. In a 2019 list compiled by the Radio Times, the show was named the greatest ever British sitcom.

Basil Fawlty is a cynical and snobbish character who is desperate to belong to a higher social class. He sees a successful hotel as a means of achieving this, yet his job forces him to be polite to people that he despises. He is intimidated by his wife Sybil Fawlty. He yearns to stand up to her, but his plans frequently conflict with her demands. She is often verbally abusive (describing him as “an ageing, brilliantined stick insect”) but although he towers over her, he often finds himself on the receiving end of her temper, verbally and physically. Basil usually turns to Manuel or Polly to help him with his schemes, while trying his best to keep Sybil from discovering them. However, Basil occasionally laments the time when there was passion in their relationship, now seemingly lost. Also, it appears he still does care for her and remains loyal to her, and actively resists the flirtations of other women.

Sybil Fawlty is Basil’s wife. Energetic and petite, she prefers a working wardrobe of tight skirt-suits in shiny fabrics and sports a tower of permed hair augmented with hairpieces and wigs necessitating the use of overnight curlers. She often is a more effective manager of the hotel, making sure Basil gets certain jobs done or stays out of the way when she is handling difficult guests. Typically when Basil is on the verge of a meltdown due to a crisis (usually of his own making), it is Sybil who steps in to clear up the mess and bring some sense to the situation. Despite this, she rarely participates directly in the running of the hotel. During busy check-in sessions or meal times, while everyone else is busy working, Sybil is frequently talking on the phone to one of her friends or chatting to customers. She has a distinctive conversational tone and braying laugh, which Basil compares to “someone machine-gunning a seal”. Being his wife, she is the only regular character who refers to Basil by his first name. When she barks his name at him, he flinchingly freezes in his tracks.

Polly Sherman did not appear at our dinner. I think that she was far too mundane and sensible. is a waitress and general assistant at the hotel with artistic aspirations. She is the most competent of the staff in the series and the voice of sanity during chaotic moments, but is frequently embroiled in ridiculous masquerades as she loyally attempts to aid Basil in trying to cover up a mistake or keep something from Sybil. 

Manuel is a well-meaning waiter although a disorganised and confused Spaniard from Barcelona with a poor grasp of the English language and customs. He is verbally and physically abused by his boss, Mr Fawlty. When told what to do, he often responds, “¿Qué?” (“What?”). Every episode involves Basil becoming enraged at Manuel’s confusion at his bizarre demands and even basic requests. Manuel is afraid of Fawlty’s quick temper and violent assaults, yet often expresses his appreciation for being given employment. He is relentlessly enthusiastic and is proud of what little English he has. Manuel’s exaggerated Spanish accent is a significant part of the humour of the show.

We highly recommend this show and if it comes your way, you coould do a lot worse than put on your happy face, buy a ticket and go see it.