Wooburn Grange
Wooburn Grange was the name of the building used as the outside of Fawlty Towers. It was located in a village called Wooburn Green in Buckinghamshire. According to the local residents, in its time Wooburn Grange has also been used as a nightclub called 'Basil's', an Indian restaurant, a gay bar and a gambling casino. It was eventually bought by a local building firm and lay derelict for several years before a mysterious fire destroyed the building and it had to be demolished. It is now a housing estate containing eight houses.
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Mentmore Close
Mentmore Close in north-west London is the scene of the car-thrashing scene in Gourmet Night. Basil is seen driving down Lapstone Gardens and into Mentmore Close, where his route is blocked by a black van (probably a good thing since, as Basil would have soon found out, Mentmore Close is a cul-de-sac).
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Andre's Restaurant
Also in Gourmet Night, the building used for Andre's Restaurant is also in north-west London, this time in Harrow. The restaurant can be found at 294 Preston Road and is now a Chinese restaurant called 'WINGS.'
Andre's Restaurant
Northwich Park Hospital
Not far from Mentmore Close, this is where Sybil goes in The Germans to have her ingrowing toenail removed. We only see a brief shot of the actual hospital at the very beginning of the episode.
Northwick Park Hospital
Ellwood Avenue
Although not used for filming, 16 Ellwood Avenue is the address given by Polly to a delivery man in The Builders as the location of Fawlty Towers. Unfortunately there is no Ellwood Avenue in Torquay, but the name could be a cross between 'Wellswood' and 'Ellacombe,' places very near the Gleneagles Hotel, upon which the series was based.
Filming Facts
• The average number of camera cuts per show was 400, compared to 200 in an average half-hour comedy show at the time.
• Andrew Sachs (Manuel) was paid £700 in compensation after being burned on the shoulders during the filming of the kitchen fire scene in The Germans. The culprit was the special jacket Manuel wore that was designed to smoke, but unfortunately some of the acid used to create this effect got through onto his skin. He was also practically knocked out with a saucepan after making an unexpected more during filming.
• All the BBC shows at the time were filmed with a live audience. Canned laughter was very rarely used in Fawlty Towers, and the only time it was used was when part of the action was on film and the audience missed jokes because of having to switch between the monitor and the studio.
• Almost every minute you see on the screen took about an hour of editing.
• Many of the ideas from the show were based on real life. For example, the idea behind Mrs Richards was given to Cleese and Booth by a lady they met whilst on holiday in Monte Carlo.
• A union strike at the BBC in March 1979 caused the final episode, Basil the Rat, not to be broadcast. It was finally shown seven months later on 25 October 1979.
• One of the first reviews of Fawlty Towers was in the Daily Mirror and said, 'Long John short on jokes.'
• Fawlty Towers has been sold to more than 60 countries, including Tonga, Bosnia, China, Pakistan, Latvia and Malta.