My 70's TV Childhood

Don't Mention the War!

Oliver Colling Season 7 Episode 33

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0:00 | 28:49

Welcome back to My 70s TV Childhood! This week, I'm looking back at what many people reckon is one of the greatest British sitcoms ever made. A sitcom that lasted just 12 episodes, and yet more than 50 years later remains part of the British cultural furniture. We're going to Fawlty Towers.

What to Expect:

The Real Basil Fawlty: I trace the origins of the show back to 1970, when the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay and John Cleese encountered one of the rudest men he had ever met.

Cleese and Booth: Why Fawlty Towers wasn't simply a John Cleese creation, and why the writing partnership with Connie Booth was so crucial to making the show work.

The Characters: I revisit Basil, Sybil, Manuel, Polly, and the Major, plus the unforgettable Mrs Richards and her sea view.

The Germans: I spend time with one of the most famous episodes in British comedy, looking at what the joke is really about and why John Cleese saw it as a comment on British attitudes rather than simply making fun of Germans.

12 Episodes and Then It Was Over: Why Fawlty Towers never came back, and why that might be part of the reason it remains so beloved.

A Little Bit of Basil in Us All: Why we still recognise Basil Fawlty more than 50 years later, and why the show continues to make generation after generation laugh.

What's your favourite Fawlty Towers episode or moment? Do you remember watching it for the first time? Get in touch and let me know!

Take care,

Oliver

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