Fun fact: John Cleese got the idea for this series after staying at a hotel in England when he and the rest of the cast were on location filming the Monty Python and the Holy Grail film in 1974. The owner of the hotel, Donald Sinclair, was a terrible hotel owner: very rude to his guests who he found irritating (including the Python actors) and it was obvious the man shouldn’t have been working in any kind of hospitality. Cleese thought the whole thing hilarious, so after the film wrapped him and his then wife, Connie Booth (who plays the waitress Polly in the series) sat down to write the episodes. As a man Basil is, as British society dictates (even today) not exactly working class, but more lower middle class. By owning a hotel (and being married to a woman who is more middle class than him) he hopes it will elevate him to become more middle class in the eyes of his friends and the patrons who frequent his hotel. The irony is, of course, that the middle and upper class he so desperately wants to be a part of, look down on him and would never accept him into their world. Deep down Basil is aware of this, and so takes all his anger and frustration out on his patrons and staff, simply because he knows he cannot achieve the level of status and success he so desperately wants and needs. That is why, in this first episode (and in a couple of other episodes) Basil is always trying to find new ways to improve the standing of the hotel (which in turn will improve his standing in the community) and will happily fawn over those middle class/upper class people to get what he wants. Basil is the typical down trodden, know your place type of British comedy character that we Brits so love and identify with. A pompous man, in the mould of other great British comedy characters (Tony Hancock in “Hancock’s Half Hour,” Captain Mainwaring in “Dad’s Army,” Harold Steptoe in “Steptoe and Son,” and Alan Partridge in all of his many different shows). The list of these characters is endless but they all share the same common trait: that no matter what they try to do to improve themselves, things will always come back to bite them on their arse, and that, in essence, is why this sitcom (and the others I have mentioned) are so loved by the British people. We Brits enjoy watching these comedy characters try and fail. The lead guy winning at the end of the episode isn’t what we want to see. The comedy we love comes from a character’s failure, not his success. The first series of 6 episodes aired in 1975 and a second series was made four years later, in 1979. Fawlty Towers is still so much loved here in the UK that in polls it is constantly ranked in the top 3 of best British sitcoms ever, and while everyone moans that only two series were made, the old adage of “leaving the audience wanting more,” certainly applies here. Had a third series been made then it’s possible that it could have been just as good as the first two, but had it not been then it would have tarnished the excellence that had been those two series.
@@EnriReacts The fact that there were only 2 Series, of 6 episodes, four years apart is no reflection of its popularity. Many of our best series(with some exceptions) get out at the top leaving their audience wanting more.No adverts on BBC so they so not have to pander to Sponsors etc.
That was an amazing and very discerning reaction. I'm subscribing, that was a really interesting breakdown of Fawlty Towers and OFAH. Nice one😊
Thank you!
Fun fact: John Cleese got the idea for this series after staying at a hotel in England when he and the rest of the cast were on location filming the Monty Python and the Holy Grail film in 1974. The owner of the hotel, Donald Sinclair, was a terrible hotel owner: very rude to his guests who he found irritating (including the Python actors) and it was obvious the man shouldn’t have been working in any kind of hospitality. Cleese thought the whole thing hilarious, so after the film wrapped him and his then wife, Connie Booth (who plays the waitress Polly in the series) sat down to write the episodes.
As a man Basil is, as British society dictates (even today) not exactly working class, but more lower middle class. By owning a hotel (and being married to a woman who is more middle class than him) he hopes it will elevate him to become more middle class in the eyes of his friends and the patrons who frequent his hotel. The irony is, of course, that the middle and upper class he so desperately wants to be a part of, look down on him and would never accept him into their world.
Deep down Basil is aware of this, and so takes all his anger and frustration out on his patrons and staff, simply because he knows he cannot achieve the level of status and success he so desperately wants and needs. That is why, in this first episode (and in a couple of other episodes) Basil is always trying to find new ways to improve the standing of the hotel (which in turn will improve his standing in the community) and will happily fawn over those middle class/upper class people to get what he wants.
Basil is the typical down trodden, know your place type of British comedy character that we Brits so love and identify with. A pompous man, in the mould of other great British comedy characters (Tony Hancock in “Hancock’s Half Hour,” Captain Mainwaring in “Dad’s Army,” Harold Steptoe in “Steptoe and Son,” and Alan Partridge in all of his many different shows).
The list of these characters is endless but they all share the same common trait: that no matter what they try to do to improve themselves, things will always come back to bite them on their arse, and that, in essence, is why this sitcom (and the others I have mentioned) are so loved by the British people. We Brits enjoy watching these comedy characters try and fail. The lead guy winning at the end of the episode isn’t what we want to see. The comedy we love comes from a character’s failure, not his success.
The first series of 6 episodes aired in 1975 and a second series was made four years later, in 1979. Fawlty Towers is still so much loved here in the UK that in polls it is constantly ranked in the top 3 of best British sitcoms ever, and while everyone moans that only two series were made, the old adage of “leaving the audience wanting more,” certainly applies here. Had a third series been made then it’s possible that it could have been just as good as the first two, but had it not been then it would have tarnished the excellence that had been those two series.
Stick with this series they just get better
Absolutely!
@@EnriReacts The fact that there were only 2 Series, of 6 episodes, four years apart is no reflection of its popularity.
Many of our best series(with some exceptions) get out at the top leaving their audience wanting more.No adverts on BBC so they so not have to pander to Sponsors etc.
The upper class would have been guaranteed big money in history , not now, and not for a long time. The series is short but is brilliant.