Hylarious

Business Booms for Real-Life Fawlty Towers

A cafe in northern England has turned itself into a copy of TV's disaster-prone Fawlty Towers and the customers love it, the owner said on Tuesday.

Phil Wood, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, said he was abusing staff and arguing with customers, just like hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the classic 1970s BBC sitcom.

In the television series, Fawlty, played by actor John Cleese, lurched from one disaster to the next, haranguing his guests and attacking his Spanish waiter Manuel.

"I like to have a bit of fun with people in true Basil style. If they leave a bit of food I'll head over for an inquest, asking them what's wrong with the sausage," Wood said.

A Fawlty Towers fan for nearly 30 years, he bought the cafe four months ago and called it Fawlty's.

"We do all kinds of daft stuff. This guy came in with a shopping bag today so I went over and searched it to check he hadn't brought in his own sandwiches. He loved it, he absolutely loved it."

Wood plans to cover the cafe in Fawlty Towers memorabilia and screen the series.

"It's got so popular that now people come in expecting me to jump around like some frenetic grasshopper," said 54-year-old Wood.