Farewell Manuel, the world’s worst waiter

Iwas saddened to hear of the death last week of the actor Andrew Sachs, whose portrayal of Manuel, the Spanish waiter in the iconic British TV series Fawlty Towers, will be fondly remembered by fans around the world. Sachs, who settled in London with his Jewish family at the age of eight after fleeing Berlin and the Nazis in 1938, was perfect as the well-meaning waiter whose struggles with the English language would infuriate hotelier Basil Fawlty (John Cleese).

Basil and his wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) would explain away Manuel’s limitations to guests at their Torquay hotel with their patronising “he’s from Barcelona” comment, which was supposed to explain everything. It became an instant catchphrase and there’s even a Swedish pop group called “I’m From Barcelona” in honour of Manuel.

Manuel’s most common expression was a quizzical “que?” (Spanish for ‘what?’) when he could not understand what was going on, which was most of the time.

For his troubles, he was verbally and physically abused by Basil, who frequently clipped him around the ear or bashed him on the head with kitchenware and even a moose’s head. On one occasion Cleese accidentally knocked Sachs out when he hit him on the head with a real frying pan instead of the rubber version he was supposed to use.

Few will forget the hilarious “Basil the Rat” episode when Manuel’s pet, which he believes is a “Siberian hamster”, turns out to be a rat and makes an untimely appearance under the nose of a health inspector.

It’s the whiskers

Because of his German background, Sachs initially wanted the waiter to be German, but Cleese persuaded him that a Spanish waiter would be better, explaining that “he’s from Munich” would not have the same impact as Barcelona.

But they did agree on the stage moustache for Manuel, which meant that in real life, minus the whiskers, Sachs was able to walk down the street without being bothered. He also played serious roles in many other productions.

Cleese observed that anyone meeting Sachs would never have guessed he played a comedy role because in real life he looked more like a bank manager or accountant. Cleese also fully appreciated Sachs as a person, calling him “a very sweet and kind man”.

As for Sachs’ legacy, Manuel is widely regarded as the “most loveable character” in a British TV series.

Piranhas and vipers

Cleese based his Fawlty Towers character on the owner of a Torquay hotel where he had earlier stayed with the Monty Python crew. He couldn’t believe the hotelier’s discourteous behaviour, but it gave him an idea for the series. Cleese described the hotelier as “the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met”.

It seems hard to believe, but the first time Cleese proposed the project to the BBC it was flatly tuned down. An executive sniffed: “Very cliched characters. I could see nothing but disaster if we go ahead.”

The BBC man may have been right about the cliches, but he did not take into account the quality of the cast and script. Fortunately, another executive had the sense to give it a go.

The ongoing mental battle between Basil and Sybil provided many laughs in the series. In one scene, Basil describes his wife as “my little piranha fish … my little nest of vipers … rancorous, coiffured old sow”.

Sybil could give it back though, referring to her husband as an “ageing, brilliantined stick insect”.

Holiday horrors

One reason the Fawlty Towers series was so popular in Britain was that nearly everyone had stayed at a similarly hopelessly run hotel or guesthouse.

In the 1950s and 60s, every August witnessed a stampede to the coast by the working and middle classes of Britain. The toffs went further afield for their vacations, venturing into the unknown pleasures of “The Continent” where they spoke foreign tongues and consumed strange food. Those that couldn’t afford a fortnight away would take day trips to the seaside.

There were hundreds of English resorts waiting to cater for all tastes, from the earthy delights of Blackpool in the northwest to the slightly more sophisticated Brighton on the south coast.

They were all very much the same — deckchairs, silly hats, jellied eels, saucy postcards, crazy golf and endless fish ‘n’ chip shops. The resorts all offered “fun and sun”, but more often than not it was “rain and pain”, featuring plastic macs and sheltering in doorways from an incessant drizzle, or a sudden northeasterly gale whipping up the trouser legs.

Things changed a bit in the mid-60s with the advent of cheap package tours and the British began to invade Spain, Greece and Italy, seduced by the warm waters of the Mediterranean.

Saved by soggy chips

My dad didn’t fancy “abroad” and we frequented places like Bournemouth, Hastings, Weymouth and, yes, even Torquay, but we were a bit before Basil’s time. We stayed in guesthouses where many proprietors were quite similar to Basil and Sybil.

I recall one such place in Bournemouth where there was a particularly grumpy owner and the portions for our evening meal were so small we had to go to a nearby fish ‘n’ chip shop afterwards to fill ourselves up.

When we entered the chippy, we found half the people in it were staying at the same place as us and getting stuck into some soggy chips for the very same reason.

Sleepy Bournemouth is now earning a name for football after its team’s comeback to beat Liverpool 4-3 last weekend.