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''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 Connie Booth, who were married at the time of series 1 but divorced before season 2, both of whom also starred in the show. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, on the "English Riviera". The plots centre on tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), 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. ==Origins== In May 1970 the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel (which is referred to in "The Builders" episode) in Torquay whilst filming on location.〔Palin, Michael; ''Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years''; p24; 2007, Weidenfeld & Nicholson〕 John Cleese became fascinated with the behaviour of the owner, Donald Sinclair, whom Cleese later described as "the rudest man I've ever come across in my life." 〔In an interview in Parkinson (chat show), BBC 1 (2001).()〕 This behaviour included Sinclair throwing a timetable at a guest who asked when the next bus to town would arrive; and placing Eric Idle's briefcase (put to one side by Idle while waiting for a car with Cleese) behind a wall in the garden on the suspicion that it contained a bomb (Sinclair explained his actions by claiming the hotel had 'staff problems').〔Cleese Interview; 'Fawlty Towers: Reopened'; 2009〕 He also criticised the American-born Terry Gilliam's table manners for not being "British" (that is, he switched hands with his fork whilst eating). Cleese and Booth stayed on at the hotel after filming, furthering their research of the hotel owner. Cleese later played a hotel owner called Donald Sinclair in the 2001 movie ''Rat Race''. At the time, Cleese was a writer on the 1970s British TV sitcom ''Doctor in the House'' for London Weekend Television. An early prototype of the character that became known as Basil Fawlty was developed in an episode ("No Ill Feeling") of the third ''Doctor'' series (titled ''Doctor at Large''). In this edition, the main character checks into a small town hotel, his very presence seemingly winding up the aggressive and incompetent manager (played by Timothy Bateson) with a domineering wife. The show was broadcast on 30 May 1971.〔(''BBC Comedy Guide Doctor At Large'' ). Retrieved 24 February 2007. 〕 Cleese parodied the contrast between organisational dogma and sensitive customer service in many personnel training videotapes issued with a serious purpose by his company, Video Arts. Cleese said in 2008 that the first ''Fawlty Towers'' script, written with then-wife Connie Booth, was rejected by the BBC. At a 30th-anniversary event honouring the show, Cleese said, Cleese was paid £6,000 for 43 weeks' work and supplemented his income by appearing in television advertisements.〔〔("John Cleese recalls golden age of 'Fawlty Towers'" ) ''Newsvine'' / Newsvine, 6 May 2009〕 Bill Cotton, the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment in the mid-1970s, said after the first series was produced that the show was a prime example of the BBC's relaxed attitude to trying new entertainment formats and encouraging new ideas. He said that when he read the first scripts he could see nothing funny in them but trusting that Cleese knew what he was doing, he gave the go-ahead. He said that the commercial channels, with their emphasis on audience ratings, would never have let the programme get to the production stage on the basis of the scripts. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Fawlty Towers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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