History Trivia / FawltyTowers

* StreisandEffect: The widow of Donald Sinclair, the man Basil Fawlty was based on, once contacted the British newspapers to complain about how Creator/JohnCleese had greatly exaggerated her husband's eccentricities. Which had the unfortunate effect of prompting more witnesses to come forward with even more stories that suggested that, if anything, Cleese had actually been rather generous and respectful to him.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Sybil getting annoyed about Basil spending £40 on a newspaper ad seems strange until you consider that's £300 in today's money.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Bridget Turner turned down the role of Sybil, feeling it wasn't right for her.

* BigNameFan: Martin Scorsese has said he's a big fan of the show.
* CreatorCouple: Cleese and Booth were married when they made the first season. They divorced by the time of the second one, but still could [[WorkingWithTheEx work together.]] This has led to rumors that the show ended ''because'' of their divorce, by people who didn't do the research about the timing.

* FakeNationality: Manuel, who's from Barcelona, is played by Andrew Sachs, a German-born British actor. This continues into the German dub, where Andrew Sachs dubbed himself, and had fun trying to speak German with a Spanish accent.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Sybil is frequently shown physically hitting her husband. During DVD commentaries, Cleese notes that Prunella Scales felt really bad about it and frequently apologized in-between takes, even though Cleese encouraged the hitting, and wanted it to be real.

* StreisandEffect: The widow of Donald Sinclair, the man Basil Fawlty was based on, once contacted the British newspapers to complain about how John Cleese had greatly exaggerated her husband's eccentricities. Which had the unfortunate effect of prompting more witnesses to come forward with even more stories that suggested that, if anything, Cleese had actually been rather generous and respectful to him.

* FakeNationality: Manuel, who's from Barcelona, is played by Andrew Sachs, a German-born British actor.
* MeanCharacterNiceActor: Sybil is frequently shown physically hitting her husband. During DVD commentaries, Cleese notes that Prunella Scales felt really bad about it and frequently apologized inbetween takes, even though Cleese encouraged the hitting, and wanted it to be real.

* ActorAllusion: Basil's goose-stepping in "The Germans" is deliberately reminiscent of Cleese's "Ministry of Silly Walks" sketch from Monty Python. Just check out the applause it gets.

* WordOfGod: John Cleese said that they had little intention of creating catch phrases (Manuel says "¿''Qué''?" a lot, for instance, because... well, how could that not be the case?), though they did eventually realize that the "He's from Barcelona" line almost got funnier each time they put it in. Especially when Sybil and Polly are eventually forced to use it and the one instance where Manuel himself says "I'm from Barcelona" in the first episode of the second series.

* HeyItsThatGuy:
** [[{{Poldark}} Ross Poldark]] is an undercover cop!
** [[TheEmpireStrikesBack General]] [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Carlist_Rieekan Rieekan]] wants his goddamn Waldorf Salad!
** [[Series/DoctorWho Wilfred Mott]] was very a picky spoon specialist when he was younger.
** [[AsTimeGoesBy Lionel Hardcastle]] (also the judge from AFishCalledWanda) is a doctor who wants his sausages.
** [[ThePinkPanther Francois, assistant to Chief Inspector Dreyfus]], runs a restaurant.
** A young [[Series/DoctorWho elderly Detective Billy Shipton]] is Sybil's doctor.
** [[Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory Grandpa Joe]] is on the verge of having a large garden gnome inserted in him.
** [[Series/{{Sherlock}} Mrs. Hudson]] is one of the guests at Basil and Sybil's anniversary party.

* WordOfGod: John Cleese said that they had little intention of creating catch phrases (Manuel says "¿''Qué''?" a lot, for instance, because... well, how could that not be the case?), though they did eventually realize that the "He's from Barcelona" line almost got funnier each time they put it in. Especially when Sybil and Polly are eventually forced to use it.

* StreisandEffect: The widow of Donald Sinclair, the man Basil Fawlty was based on, once contacted the British newspapers to complain about how John Cleese had greatly exaggerated her husband's eccentricities. Which had the unfortunate effect of prompting more witnesses to come forward with even more stories that suggested that, if anything, Cleese had actually been rather gentle and respectful to him.

* StreisandEffect: The widow of Donald Sinclair, the man Basil Fawlty was based on, once contacted the British newspapers to complain about how John Cleese had greatly exaggerated her husband's eccentricities. Which had the unfortunate effect of prompting more witnesses to come forward with rather more stories that suggested that, if anything, Cleese had actually been rather gentle and respectful to him.

** A young [[DoctorWho elderly Detective Billy Shipton]] is Sybil's doctor.

* TropeNamer: For FawltyTowersPlot.

* RealLifeRelative: Creator/JohnCleese (Basil) and Connie Booth (Polly) were married when they wrote and acted the first series (1975). By the time of the second, in 1979, they were divorced.

** A young [[elderly Detective Billy Shipton DoctorWho]] is Sybil's doctor.

* RealLifeRelative: JohnCleese (Basil) and Connie Booth (Polly) were married when they wrote and acted the first series (1975). By the time of the second, in 1979, they were divorced.

* RealLifeRelative: JohnCleese (Basil) and Connie Booth (Polly) were married when they wrote and acted the first series (1975). By the time of the second, in 1979, they were divorced.
** That's even better!
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* Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel, is a native German speaker. He therefore provided his own dub voice in the German dub.
** I'm sorry, that's just not true, unless Andrew Sachs can sound completely identical to Michael Pan. Or there was some other German dub I didn't catch.

** I'm sorry, that's just not true, unless Andrew Sachs can sound completely identical to Michael Pan. Or there was some other german dub I didn't catch.