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From The Sunday Times
December 2, 2007

Humour book of the year: Fawlty Towers by Graham McCann

Reviewed by Roland White

This book is for anybody who cannot see the leather chair on Mastermind without thinking, “Next contestant, Sybil Fawlty from Torquay. Special subject – the bleedin’ obvious.” McCann is a specialist in 1970s comedy, and here he turns to the series that is constantly voted best comedy of all time. There’s the usual background material you might expect on the episodes and cast: Prunella Scales, for example, wasn’t the first choice as Sybil, but took on the role when another actress said she didn’t find the scripts very funny. Perhaps the most astonishing part of the story is the man who inspired John Cleese to write the series – an eccentric hotelier called Donald Sinclair. So irascible was Sinclair that he woke one day, after a row with a decorator, to find that his car, swimming pool, garden furniture – and lawn – had all been painted battleship grey.

FAWLTY TOWERS by Graham McCann
Hodder £18.99

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