The origins of 'Fawlty Towers' go back to 1971 when the 'Monty Python Flying Circus' team were filming scenes for their television series in the Torbay area (of course, the fictional location of Fawlty Towers). They had been booked to stay at the Gleneagles Hotel (later mentioned in the episode The Builders). The owner of the hotel had a profound impact on the Python's and the history of television comedy.
The name of the hotel owner was Donald Sinclair, and it is he who must be afforded the title "the real Basil Fawlty". The details of the encounter between the Python's and Donald Sinclair are now legendary, mistaking Eric Idle's bag for a bomb and complaining about the way Terry Gilliam used his knife and fork. Graham Chapman, in his book "A Liars Autobiography" describes him as ".... completely round the twist, of his chump, out of his tree.", and that he ".... found the hotel intensely disagreeable in that it was impossible to get a drink".
All the Pythons except John Cleese transferred from the Gleneagles Hotel to the more agreeable Imperial Hotel. John Cleese remained to watch and observe this bizarre character, whose behaviour was a gift to a comedy writer such as John Cleese. He was later joined by his then wife Connie Booth, who could also see the comedy potential of this man.
Basil Fawlty was not however the first television appearance of a character inspired by Donald Sinclair. In 1973 John Cleese wrote a group of episodes for 'Doctor at Large', part of London Weekend Television's long running "Doctor ......" series (inspired by the books of Richard Gordon). One particular episode "No Ill Feelings" (first screened on 3rd February 1973) was set in a hotel and featured a manager with more that a passing resemblance to Basil Fawlty. It was not until 1975 that Basil Fawlty appeared to the unsuspecting British public in a series of six episodes on the BBC.
The conversion from 'Doctor at Large' to :'Fawlty Towers' came after John Cleese decided to leave the 'Monty Python's Flying Circus' team in 1973 after the completion of the third television series. However, John Cleese remained with the group to make three more films and collaborated on several other projects with the group, including live performances in the USA, most notably at The Hollywood Bowl.
John Cleese having finished with 'Monty Python' (for the moment at least) began to look around for another project to employ his creative talents. He was approached by Jimmy Gilbert at the BBC to write a series for them, and it seemed only natural that he should team up with his wife Connie Booth for his next project. Remembering their experiences in Torbay in 1971 , they decided to write a series about a hotel manager and the people who get in the way of the smooth running of the hotel, that annoying section of the general public who insist on staying at hotels.
John Cleese and Connie Booth had married on the 20 February 1968, and since that time have collaborated on several projects before the first series of 'Fawlty Towers'. They continued to work to together after their divorce in 1978, with the second series of 'Fawlty Towers' being made the following year.
Evidence of their work together can be found on the album 'The Mermaid Frolics' (where they are described as the "Wacky Twosome"). The album is a record of the charity show "An Evening Without Sir Bernard Miles" that took place in May 1977. It features the pair performing the book shop sketch, which also turned up on the Monty Python album 'Monty Python's Contractual Obligation'. It was originally written by John Cleese and his other long term writing partner, Graham Chapman, for the "At Last the 1948 Show" in 1967. Besides making appearances together in 'Monty Python' the husband and wife team can also be seen together in the film 'Romance with a Double Base'.