September 19, 2025 marks half a century since the first episode of Fawlty Towers was broadcast. The sitcom, set in a shabby Torquay hotel, followed the misadventures of proprietor Basil Fawlty, his wife Sybil, chambermaid Polly and Spanish waiter Manuel.
John Cleese, now 85, remains active. He has written a book titled Fawlty Towers: Fawlts and All and will take part in a live Q&A at Bristol's St George concert hall on August 27 to launch it. He also plans a US tour to mark 50 years of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Prunella Scales, 93, played Sybil. Despite a vascular dementia diagnosis in 2013, she appeared in Great Canal Journeys with her late husband Timothy West and returned to the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival last year as Queen Victoria in the play Queen.
Connie Booth, who portrayed Polly and co-wrote the series, retired from acting in 1995 to become a psychotherapist. Now 84, she lives in north London with her second husband. Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel, endured his own difficulties during the production of the show.
