Personal Experiences influenced Fawlty Towers

Basil Fawlty is a real man. In 1970 the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay while filming, and the proprietor, Donald Sinclair, was so spectacularly rude that the rest of the team moved out and John Cleese stayed on to watch him. The documented incidents are in the series: Sinclair threw Eric Idle's briefcase over a wall in case it contained a bomb, criticised an American guest's table manners, and told another that guests were expected to eat at the time stated. Cleese and Connie Booth built the show on him. His widow denied the portrayal for years; the team have named him repeatedly as the source.