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By Roz Laws

IN 1970, the Monty Python team stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, where they encountered someone John Cleese describes as "the most marvellously rude man I've ever met".

Owner Donald Sinclair snapped at guests, told off Terry Gilliam for holding his fork in the wrong hand and removed Eric Idle's bag because he feared it was a bomb placed by a disgruntled ex-employee.

While the other Pythons moved to another hotel, Cleese and his wife Connie Booth were fascinated with Sinclair and stayed on to study him. Five years later, he was immortalised on TV in the shape of Basil Fawlty.

Cleese played the hen-pecked owner of the Torquay hotel Fawlty Towers, while Booth was maid Polly Sherman.

Prunella Scales played the formidable Sybil Fawlty, variously described as the "toxic midget" and "rancorous, coiffured old sow" by her husband.

And Andrew Sachs was Spanish waiter Manuel, who mostly said 'Que?' and kept a pet rat called Basil he insisted was a Siberian hamster.

It's a wonder that anyone ever stayed in the hotel, as guests were looked down on by snobby Basil, who called them "riff-raff" and "cretins".

Only 12 episodes were made, six shown in 1975 and the rest in the second series, which didn't air until 1979. The delay has been put down to an unwillingness by Booth to write any more episodes, as she and Cleese were divorced by then.

The comedy nearly wasn't shown at all, as the first script was dismissed by a BBC executive as "full of clichéd situations and stereotypical characters".

Even when it was broadcast, it wasn't an immediate hit - one review had the headline 'Long John Short On Jokes'.

But ratings and acclaim picked up and in 2000, Fawlty Towers came top in a British Film Institute list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes.

In the 1970s, it was sold to 17 countries including Spain, although it was initially a flop there. It was successfully resold after Manuel's nationality was changed to Italian or, in the Catalan region, Mexican.

While set in Torquay, the white hotel pictured was actually the Wooburn Grange Country Club in Buckinghamshire, which has since been demolished and a housing estate built.

The sign outside had differently rearranged letters in each episode, spelling out phrases like Fatty Owls, Flay Otters and Watery Fowls.

Memorable lines of dialogue include "Don't mention the war" and "Duck's off", along with "Can't we get you on Mastermind, Sybil? Next contestant, Sybil Fawlty from Torquay, specialist subject, the bleedin' obvious."

Cleese revealed that his favourite scene is when Basil attempts to hold a fire drill.

In other trivia, the hotel has 26 rooms, the final episode was broadcast seven months after the other five because of a union strike at the BBC, and Andrew Sachs received £700 in compensation after being burned in a kitchen fire during the making of The Germans episode.

I genuinely think that we should just stick these TV gems back on television. It's not like there is anything better on is it!

Get it back on the box!!

That's right folks you heard it here first...

Rumour has it that Hurley aka Jorge Garcia has been appearing as Heather's stand in...

Well can you tell them apart?

A couple of jolly TV gold entries to brighten up this dismal Thursday 'Summer' morning for you.

Who could forget Batfink? Kids the country over were uttering those immortal words 'Your bullets can't hurt me, my wings are like a shield of steel'.

Or maybe that was just me.

How about Jamie and The Magic Torch. Whenever the subject of old's kids cartoons comes up in the pub or the office this one always gets a mention.

As does....

Magical!

What were your favourites?

Part two of our retro revival. Who can forget Timothy Claypole and Mrs Popoff!? (I have since been corrected in the comments box by my colleague and Telly Talk editor Roz Laws that it is Mrs Popov - apologies)

Introducing a new section to Telly Talk. We will take a regular look at classic tv from yesteryear. If you have any suggestions let us know...

First up is BOD, that strange little yellow fella and his friends. This was suggested by BPM Media's West Brom writer Chris Lepkowski.

Chris is introducing his daughter to the wonderful world of 70s and 80s cartoons!