Fawlty Towers

Fawity Towers was only on our television screens for twelve half-hour episodes – six in 1975 and another six in 1979 – but it has stayed in our lives ever since. The Waldorf Salad; the absent-minded Major; Manuel’s Siberian hamster; ‘Don’t mention the war!’ – everyone remembers a favourite character, scene or plotline.

In this witty and thoroughly-researched biography, Graham McCann, Britain’s best-loved entertainment writer, examines each of the unpredictable elements – the demented brilliance of John Cleese, his creative partnership with Connie Booth, Basil and Sybil’s classic ‘trapped relationship’, and the weekly procession of colourful guest characters – that added up to an immortal sitcom, beloved all over the world, even in Barcelona.