Widely acknowledged as 'the sensible one,' Polly is also Basil's confidante. From her pretence that the horse money is hers in Communication Problems to her impersonation of someone from Mr Stubbs' firm in The Builders, Polly's impressive ability to think on her feet helps Basil out of some of his worst scrapes.

Perhaps the most memorable of all is in The Anniversary, where Basil persuades Polly to dress up as Sybil after his wife flounces off to the golf course after a row and he is left to explain her absence to the friends he has invited round for a surprise party.

Although strictly a waitress, Polly's duties seem to extend far beyond that, and her rendition of I'm Just a Girl Who Can't Say No in Gourmet Night is quite possibly more than just coincidence.

In the pilot episode of Fawlty Towers (A Touch of Class) Polly was a philosophy student but the writers felt the show would work better with Polly as an art student so several minutes of the show had to be re-filmed before it was transmitted to the general public.