| Original
"Fawlty Towers" is saved |
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| John
Cleese and Prunella Scales as Basil and Sybil Fawlty |
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The
inspiration behind Fawlty Towers has been saved from demolition by
councillors in Torbay, who've thrown out plans to convert the Gleneagles
Hotel into flats. The hotel was where John Cleese stayed in the early
1970s while with the Monty Python team. |
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The Torquay
hotel that inspired the classic BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers has been
saved from demolition.
Torbay Council decided it would be against its tourism policy to replace
the Gleneagles Hotel in Asheldon Road with a block of 25 flats.
There was also concern over the size of the planned development.
John Cleese stayed at the hotel in 1971 and was fascinated with the
eccentric behaviour of owner Donald Sinclair.
Cleese later described Mr Sinclair - who died in 1981 - as "the most
wonderfully rude man I have ever met."
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| Fawlty
Towers - based on the Gleneagles Hotel in the early 70s |
The Monty
Python team stayed in the hotel while they were filming in Torquay.
Mr Sinclair is said to have thrown Eric Idle's suitcase out of the
window thinking it was a bomb.
He is also said to have told off Terry Gilliam for not straightening
his cutlery on the plate after he had eaten.
However, Mr Sinclair's widow, Beatrice, has said her husband was totally
misrepresented in the comedy.
In August this year, developers described the building as "unattractive
with little architectural merit" and offered to turn it into flats.
The developers, Midas Homes, contacted the hotel's owner, Ray Marks,
about buying the property and converting it into apartments.
However, Mr Marks says he doesn't mind whether the hotel is converted
or not and is happy for it to remain as a hotel.
And he said all the publicity was good for business: "All it
does is add value to my hotel. The more times it features in the news,
the more people who came and stay here," he said.
An employee at the hotel told the BBC that the 25 staff were "delighted"
the hotel was not being torn down, and said the hotel - which has
been put up for sale - "will be open for business as normal."
He said the hotel still got a lot of customers who wanted to stay
at the hotel because of its connection to the comedy.
Fawlty Towers has proved to be one of the most enduring sitcoms in
TV history. Despite only running for 12 episodes in 1975-79, it regularly
tops polls of favourite TV shows.
Article
first published: 9th October 2003
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