Fawlty Towers - Production

Production

Although the series is set in Torquay in Devon, none of it was shot in south west England. For the exterior filming, the Wooburn Grange Country Club in Buckinghamshire was used instead of a hotel. In several episodes of the series (notably "The Kipper and the Corpse", "The Anniversary" and "Basil the Rat") the entrance gate at the bottom of the drive states the real name of the location. This listed building later served as a nightclub named "Basil's" for a short time after the series ended before being destroyed by a fire in March 1991. The remnants of the building were demolished and a housing estate was built on the site. Other location filming was done mostly around Harrow, notably the 'damn good thrashing' scene in "Gourmet Night" where Basil loses his temper and attacks his car with a tree branch which was filmed at the T-junction of Lapstone Gardens and Mentmore Close (51°34′52″N 0°18′33″W / 51.581103°N 0.309072°W / 51.581103; -0.309072).

In the episode "The Germans", the opening shot is of Northwick Park Hospital. In the episode "Gourmet Night", the exterior of Andre's restaurant was filmed on Preston Road in the Harrow area. The launderette next door to the restaurant still exists today and Andre's is now a Chinese restaurant called "Wings".

Cleese and Booth were married to each other at the time of the first series. By the second, they had been divorced for almost a year, after ten years of union (1968–78).

Both Cleese and Booth were so keen on every script being perfect, some episodes took four months and ten drafts to write until they were satisfied.

The names of Basil and Sybil Fawlty are thought to have originated from Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray.