BBC Two · 1975 and 1979 · twelve episodes · Torquay (allegedly)
Reception is unattended.
The hotel is in Torquay. Nothing was filmed there. The real hotel is now flats, the screen hotel burned down, and Basil’s worst night was shot in Harrow.
Knock a letter
The hotel in the opening shot was filmed outside the Wooburn Grange Country Club at Bourne End, Buckinghamshire. The building was badly damaged by fire in 1991 and demolished; homes were built on the site. Every letter on this board belongs somewhere else. Knock one off and see where it lands.
The sign reads FAWLTY TOWERS. For now.
Before you knock: the F
Asheldon Road, Wellswood, Torquay
The Monty Python team stay at the Gleneagles and meet its proprietor, Donald Sinclair, and his wife, Beatrice.
The Monty Python team, including John Cleese, stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel on Asheldon Road in May 1970.
Sachs Lodge is private retirement housing. Look from Asheldon Road; do not go into the grounds.
Asheldon Road, Torquay · May 1970
The Monty Python team, including John Cleese, stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel on Asheldon Road in May 1970. Its proprietor was Donald Sinclair, a retired naval officer.
Sinclair berates Terry Gilliam for holding his knife and fork the wrong way.
A guest’s bag is ticking at reception.
Cleese stays on to take notes and invites Connie Booth, who becomes his co-writer, to join him.
The Gleneagles closed in 2015. Its site became 33 retirement apartments, named Sachs Lodge after Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel. In 2017 the Torbay Civic Society gave the site a blue plaque, unveiled by the Chairman of Torbay Council.
Sachs Lodge is private retirement housing. Look from Asheldon Road; do not go into the grounds.
1,850 m down the hill, as the crow flies
During the 1970 stay, many of the Python team bolted to the comfort of the Imperial Hotel nearby. A 19th-century Victorian hotel overlooking Torbay, on a hill above the harbour.
Torquay harbour · Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun · 3pm · adults £15, under-18s £10 · until 31 December 2026
A light-hearted walk about how a Torquay hotel stay became Fawlty Towers, with the characters, the signs and some audience participation. Meets outside the Visitor Information Centre, Vaughan Parade.
Book the walkPark Hill Road, Torquay
Where many of the Pythons fled in May 1970 when the Gleneagles got too much. A Victorian four-star hotel above the harbour, with a spa and sea-view dining. Not the screen hotel.
Check roomsOut of the front door
The old Gleneagles site is close to Kents Cavern, Anstey’s Cove and Meadfoot Beach. Distances are straight lines from Asheldon Road.
230 m
The cave holds the UK’s oldest human fossil and evidence of three different human species.
Guided cave tours; booking online saves up to £3 a person. 91 Ilsham Road, TQ1 2JF.
370 m
A small shingle cove under limestone cliffs, between Torquay and Babbacombe; the beach café hires out kayaks and paddleboards.
Down a steep path and steps from the road. Dogs are allowed on the beach all year.
1,350 m
A mile from Torquay Harbour, it looks out to Thatcher’s Rock, with the Osborne Hotel above.
Easy by car or on foot; beach chalets can be hired all year.
1,780 m
The Fawlty Tours walking experience meets at the Visitor Information Centre on Vaughan Parade.
The Fawlty Tours walk meets outside the Visitor Information Centre at 3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Wellswood, Torquay · Book online to save up to £3 a person
Guided tours of the cave round the corner from Asheldon Road, home to the UK’s oldest human fossil. In October: Ghost Walk, Go Darker tours and a Trick or Treat Trail.
Book a tourTorquay
Live marketplace results for boat trips and tours around Torbay. None is a Fawlty Towers tour unless it says so.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursGourmet Night · 1975
Broken down, with the duck going cold on the back seat.
255 km from Torquay
Gourmet Night: the car
The car-thrashing scene in Gourmet Night (1975) was filmed in north London, on the corner of Lapstone Gardens and Mentmore Close in Kenton.
In 1999 the corner was still largely unchanged.
A quiet residential corner, HA3 0EA. Stand on the pavement and keep it short; people live here.
Gourmet Night: the duck
In Gourmet Night Basil collects a cooked duck for his guests from the fictional André’s, filmed on Preston Road.
No. 294 Preston Road, used for the outside, is a restaurant called Wings.
A working restaurant, HA3 0QA, a short walk from Preston Road station.
The Germans: the toenail
In The Germans, Sybil goes into Northwick Park Hospital, Harrow, to have an ingrown toenail removed.
A working hospital. See it from Watford Road; it is not a place to sightsee.
Television Centre, White City
A complimentary ticket. Not for sale. Children under 14 not admitted.
Some episodes of Fawlty Towers were recorded in Studio TC1.
Kempton calls TC6 “the studio where Basil Fawlty said ‘Don’t mention the war’”.
TC1 is still a working studio, at 6 Television Centre, Wood Lane. Audiences apply for free tickets through Applause Store, BBC Shows and Tours or SRO Audiences.
TC1 is a working studio: you get in by applying for free audience tickets. The rest of the old centre is flats, offices, restaurants and a members’ club.
White City, London · Free tickets · apply in advance
TC1, where some episodes were recorded, is still a working studio. Free audience tickets come through Applause Store, BBC Shows and Tours and SRO Audiences; Studioworks lists them.
Find ticketsStaff rota
John CleeseStarring · wrote it with Connie Booth
Connie BoothCo-writer · on the bill
Prunella ScalesOn the bill
Andrew SachsOn the bill · Manuel
He is waiting for you to ask.
It was given to the museum by his daughter, Kate Sachs. Entry is free; the museum opens 10:00–17:45, and until 22:00 on Fridays.
Free entry. Open daily 10:00–17:45, Fridays until 22:00. The costume is in the British Galleries, Room 55, Clore Study Area.
Check-out
Hook 12 is empty. That will be yours.
John Cleese adapted three episodes for the stage: The Hotel Inspector and The Germans from series one, and Communication Problems from series two.
The play’s summer season at the Apollo ran from 24 June to 13 September 2025.
A working West End theatre, 31 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 7EZ. The Fawlty Towers play is not on here now.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience plays at the President Hotel on Guilford Street.
Two hours of interactive comedy with a three-course dinner.
The show began in Brisbane in 1997 and plays its 4,000th West End performance on 22 January 2027.
Faulty Towers The Dining Experience plays here Wednesday to Sunday; arrive from 7pm for a 7.30pm start, or come to a weekend matinée.
14 places you can visit. Sachs Lodge and Grange Drive are private homes now, and the hospital and the studio are working buildings: look from outside unless you have a reason to be there.
Pins mark public places; private homes are named but not pinned.
General reference · Restricted access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Sachs Lodge is private retirement housing. Look from Asheldon Road; do not go into the grounds.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. A working four-star hotel with a spa and sea-view dining. Park Hill Road, TQ1 2DG; 01803 294 301.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. The Fawlty Tours walk meets outside the Visitor Information Centre at 3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: building · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Guided cave tours; booking online saves up to £3 a person. 91 Ilsham Road, TQ1 2JF.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Down a steep path and steps from the road. Dogs are allowed on the beach all year.
General reference · Public access · Coordinate precision: site · Not an exact scene or camera position; not a visitor route. Easy by car or on foot; beach chalets can be hired all year.
Asheldon Road, Wellswood, Torquay
The Monty Python team, including John Cleese, stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel on Asheldon Road in May 1970.
Sachs Lodge is private retirement housing. Look from Asheldon Road; do not go into the grounds.
Park Hill Road, Torquay · 2 km from Asheldon Road
During the 1970 stay, many of the Python team bolted to the comfort of the Imperial Hotel nearby.
A working four-star hotel with a spa and sea-view dining. Park Hill Road, TQ1 2DG; 01803 294 301.
Vaughan Parade, Torquay · 2 km from Asheldon Road
The Fawlty Tours walking experience meets at the Visitor Information Centre on Vaughan Parade.
The Fawlty Tours walk meets outside the Visitor Information Centre at 3pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Ilsham Road, Wellswood, Torquay · 0 km from Asheldon Road
The old Gleneagles site is close to Kents Cavern.
Guided cave tours; booking online saves up to £3 a person. 91 Ilsham Road, TQ1 2JF.
Wellswood, Torquay · 0 km from Asheldon Road
Anstey’s Cove is close to the old Gleneagles site.
Down a steep path and steps from the road. Dogs are allowed on the beach all year.
Wellswood, Torquay · 1 km from Asheldon Road
Meadfoot Beach is close to the old Gleneagles site.
Easy by car or on foot; beach chalets can be hired all year.
Stay
The Imperial, where the Pythons fled in 1970. It was never the screen hotel.
Park Hill Road, Torquay
Where many of the Pythons fled in May 1970 when the Gleneagles got too much. A Victorian four-star hotel above the harbour, with a spa and sea-view dining. Not the screen hotel.
Check roomsGo there
The Fawlty Tours walk from Torquay harbour, a free seat in a Television Centre audience, the cave round the corner, and live marketplace searches.
Torquay harbour · Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun · 3pm · adults £15, under-18s £10 · until 31 December 2026
A light-hearted walk about how a Torquay hotel stay became Fawlty Towers, with the characters, the signs and some audience participation. Meets outside the Visitor Information Centre, Vaughan Parade.
Book the walkWhite City, London · Free tickets · apply in advance
TC1, where some episodes were recorded, is still a working studio. Free audience tickets come through Applause Store, BBC Shows and Tours and SRO Audiences; Studioworks lists them.
Find ticketsWellswood, Torquay · Book online to save up to £3 a person
Guided tours of the cave round the corner from Asheldon Road, home to the UK’s oldest human fossil. In October: Ghost Walk, Go Darker tours and a Trick or Treat Trail.
Book a tourTorquay
Live marketplace results for boat trips and tours around Torbay. None is a Fawlty Towers tour unless it says so.
Live marketplace results · itineraries change
Compare toursLondon
Live marketplace results for London dinner shows, including the Faulty Towers dining experience. Check the venue and date on each listing.
Live marketplace results · prices change
Compare ticketsWhat’s on
The dinner show in Bloomsbury, booking into December 2027, and its 4,000th night in January. John Cleese’s own play finished its tour in July 2026.
Checking current event dates…
Take it home
All twelve scripts, John Cleese’s memoir and Andrew Sachs’s own book.
John Cleese and Connie Booth
All twelve scripts, as written.
Find the bookAndrew Sachs
Andrew Sachs’s autobiography.
Find the bookDates, prices, rooms and stock change: confirm with the provider before you travel or buy. A stay or tour is described as a filming location only where the card says so.
Every place and moment behind this page, with sources.
14 of 14 places · 18 of 18 Moments
Asheldon Road, Wellswood, Torquay
The Monty Python team stay at the Gleneagles and meet its proprietor, Donald Sinclair, and his wife, Beatrice.
Sinclair throws Eric Idle’s bag over a wall, believing it holds a bomb. It is a ticking alarm clock.
Sinclair berates Terry Gilliam for holding his knife and fork the wrong way.
Cleese stays on to take notes and invites Connie Booth, who becomes his co-writer, to join him.
Torbay Civic Society’s blue plaque is unveiled at Sachs Lodge.
Park Hill Road, Torquay
Many of the Python team bolt from the Gleneagles to the Imperial.
Vaughan Parade, Torquay
The Fawlty Tours walk sets off from the harbour four afternoons a week.
Ilsham Road, Wellswood, Torquay
Wellswood, Torquay
Wellswood, Torquay
Grange Drive, Wooburn Green, Buckinghamshire
The hotel in the opening shot is filmed outside Wooburn Grange Country Club.
Wooburn Grange is badly damaged by fire and demolished.
Kenton, Harrow, north-west London
Basil’s car breaks down and he gives it a thrashing, on a corner in Kenton.
Preston Road, Wembley
Basil collects a cooked duck from André’s on Preston Road.
Watford Road, Harrow
Sybil goes into Northwick Park Hospital to have an ingrown toenail removed.
Wood Lane, White City, London
Some episodes are recorded in TC1 at Television Centre.
Kempton places the line in TC6 at Television Centre.
A complimentary audience ticket for Sunday 3 August 1975 at Television Centre, for the recording of The Builders.
Shaftesbury Avenue, London
Cleese’s stage adaptation of three episodes plays its summer season at the Apollo.
Guilford Street, Bloomsbury, London
A three-course dinner served in character, with two hours of interactive comedy.
Cromwell Road, South Kensington, London
Andrew Sachs’s waiter’s costume goes on display at the V&A, given by his daughter Kate.
.jpg){kind=link}
