Who wrote Fawlty Towers?

Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant

Which real hotel owner inspired Basil?

Donald Sinclair of the Gleneagles Hotel

Fawlty Towers Quiz: Basil, Sybil and Hotel Disasters

A rude hotel owner in Torquay lurches from one disaster to the next, and this Fawlty Towers quiz checks in for every one of them. Play 10 interactive questions on John Cleese and Connie Booth, Basil, Sybil, Manuel from Barcelona, Polly, the Major, the real hotelier who inspired it, The Germans, Gourmet Night and the 2000 BFI poll.

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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds

Question 1 / 10 Time: 150s

Writers
Who wrote Fawlty Towers?
Episodes
How many episodes were made?
Town
In which seaside town is the hotel set?
Wife
Who is Basil's sharp-tongued wife?
Waiter
Where is Manuel the waiter from?
Polly
Who played Polly, the capable maid?
Inspiration
Which real hotel owner inspired Basil?
Germans
Which episode features guests Basil keeps offending about the war?
Car
In Gourmet Night, what does Basil do to his broken-down car?
Poll
What did a 2000 BFI industry poll name Fawlty Towers?

Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions

Q1: Who wrote Fawlty Towers?
Answer: John Cleese and Connie Booth
They were married at the time.
Q2: How many episodes were made?
Answer: 12
Two series aired in 1975 and 1979.
Q3: In which seaside town is the hotel set?
Answer: Torquay
It is on the English Riviera.
Q4: Who is Basil's sharp-tongued wife?
Answer: Sybil
Prunella Scales played her.
Q5: Where is Manuel the waiter from?
Answer: Barcelona
Andrew Sachs played him.
Q6: Who played Polly, the capable maid?
Answer: Connie Booth
She co-wrote the show.
Q7: Which real hotel owner inspired Basil?
Answer: Donald Sinclair of the Gleneagles Hotel
The Monty Python team stayed there.
Q8: Which episode features guests Basil keeps offending about the war?
Answer: The Germans
He is concussed at the time.
Q9: In Gourmet Night, what does Basil do to his broken-down car?
Answer: Thrashes it with a tree branch
It is one of TV's funniest scenes.
Q10: What did a 2000 BFI industry poll name Fawlty Towers?
Answer: The best British TV programme
It topped the list.

Fawlty Towers Quiz – Basil, Sybil and Hotel Disasters

Fawlty Towers was written by John Cleese and Connie Booth and aired on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979, with only 12 episodes. Cleese plays Basil Fawlty, the rude, panicky owner of a hotel in Torquay.

Prunella Scales plays his wife Sybil, Andrew Sachs plays Manuel, the waiter from Barcelona, and Booth plays Polly, the capable maid. The hotel's long-term guests include the confused Major.

Basil was inspired by Donald Sinclair, owner of the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, where the Monty Python team once stayed. Classic episodes include The Germans and Gourmet Night, and a 2000 BFI poll named it the best British TV programme.

What This Quiz Teaches

Comedy fans will enjoy these questions.

Who made the show
Where it is set
Who the characters are
What inspired it
Which episodes are famous

Did You Know?

The hotel sign is rearranged in each title sequence.
Exterior scenes were filmed at a hotel in Buckinghamshire.
Cleese and Booth divorced before the second series.
A stage version toured in 2016 and later.
Manuel's catchphrase is Que?