A Tribute to British Comedy: Fawlty towers - Manuel the Spanish Waiter

[Anglojew]

In 1616 Thomas Adams said "The Spaniard is a bad servant but a worse master" which may be the inspiration for the character of Manuel the bumbling Spanish-waiter.

"Manuel is a fictional character from the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. Played by Andrew Sachs, he is an iconic character in British comedy history."

Comedy gold.

[Anglojew]

'Manuel is a well-meaning but disorganised and constantly confused waiter from Barcelona with a limited grasp of the English language and customs. He is constantly verbally and physically assaulted by his boss. He is afraid of Mr. Fawlty's quick temper and violent assaults, yet often expresses his appreciation for being given the position, despite Basil's abusive treatment toward him. Sybil also appears to hold Manuel in low esteem, dryly remarking, "It'd be quicker to train a monkey." When told by either Basil, Sybil or Polly what to do, he frequently answers "sí" ('yes'), and "¿qué?" ('what?') which once led to a particularly harebrained guest (Mrs Richards) believing Basil's name to be "C. K. Watt". Manuel and Polly are both quite scared of Basil. An oft-quoted catchphrase of the character is "I know nothing", from the episode Communication Problems. Other phrases commonly associated with Manuel are "I can speak English, I learn it from a book", "she go crazy" and "Is hamster". By the time of the second series, his English has improved greatly, although he still has problems understanding specific orders or people, such as Mrs. Richards, owing to her way of talking (and partially due to her own dottiness). He is also very good friends with Polly, who can communicate best with him and often uses him as a model for her sketches. Basil also suggests she take him to the local ice rink in Basil the Rat.

He is known for his passionate patriotism, amplified in The Anniversary when he tries to make Terry the chef let him cook a seafood paella to his mother's recipe. Manuel has a large family in Spain, mentioning in The Wedding Party that he has five brothers and four sisters.

Basil hired Manuel because he was very cheap labour, but Manuel was variedly able to try and bend the situation around on Basil, and then became the brunt of extreme violence: from being hit on the head with various objects like spoons, saucepans, and a moose's head—to being picked up like a ragdoll and forced to do a chore—Manuel has suffered much violent harassment. Everyone's standard excuse for everything Manuel does is "He's from Barcelona" (to the point that he himself, at one point, says "I'm from Barcelona" while playing dumb).

During the episode Basil the Rat, Manuel acquires a common rat while under the impression that it is a Siberian hamster, and names it Basil (possibly because of his care for his boss). He becomes very emotionally attached to the rat, and even threatens to leave Fawlty Towers altogether if Basil and Sybil dispose of it, to which Basil immediately responds, "Well, goodbye."'



Classic.

[Anglojew]

Not all Spaniards have a sense of humour though.

A Spanish electrician who was allegedly nicknamed 'Manuel' by workmates after the Fawlty Towers waiter is suing his former employer for nearly £30,000.

Juan Ignacio, originally from Barcelona, claims he was routinely taunted with the famous 'I know nothing' and 'Que?' catchphrases used by Andrew Sachs's sitcom character.

Mr Ignacio, 33, claims that bullying bosses mocked his accent and jibed 'He's from Barcelona', in front of others - the standard excuse made for Manuel by John Cleese's Basil Fawlty.

He alleges his managers at a private London hospital branded Spain a 'Third World country' and asked whether they had electricity.

Mr Ignacio, who has lived in Britain for five years, also claims that he endured constant homophobic abuse even though he is not gay.


He is suing private hospital group HCA International, which owns the London Bridge Hospital, and his alleged tormentors - the hospital's estates manager Chris Sweeney and chief engineer Richard Metcalfe - for race and sexual orientation discrimination, harassment and constructive dismissal, as well as injury to feelings.




In legal papers submitted to Croydon Employment Tribunal, Mr Ignacio said: 'When we used to watch Fawlty Towers in Spain in Catalan, we laughed at ourselves as we have a sense of humour.

'But with these people it went beyond a joke and became nasty. They made me feel bad, like an idiot. I found it offensive. You cannot judge people by the country they come from - especially when they are good at their job, as I was. I can take one or two jokes but when it is systematically repeated every day it hurts.'



Electrician Mr Ignacio began work at the hospital in the summer of 2006 as a £23,000-a-year building services engineer.


He claims the insults continued until his resignation in December 2007.


He said: 'Mr Metcalfe frequently mocked my accent. He quoted lines from the TV programme at me such as "I know nothing" and "He's from Barcelona". He would often call out to me "Que?"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...rs-taunts.html

[Marmie Dearest]

I LOVE FAWLTY TOWERS. It is one of the best shows ever.

[Anglojew]

I LOVE FAWLTY TOWERS. It is one of the best shows ever.

I agree. Do you like Monty Python?

[Útrám]

What if fawlty towers was made today by the BBC and set in modern times? Every silly character would be a "privileged" middle-Englander while the manager would be a respectable and charming black muslim gentleman.
I can see it now, the manager is struggling to honour the ramadan while attempting to enlighten his dim-witted English staff about his custom. Meanwhile trustworthy and affable government agents have arrived to install CCTV cameras in every room.

[Anglojew]

What if fawlty towers was made today by the BBC and set in modern times? Every silly character would be a "privileged" middle-Englander while the manager would be a respectable and charming black muslim gentleman.
I can see it now, the manager is struggling to honour the ramadan while attempting to enlighten his dim-witted English staff about his custom. Meanwhile trustworthy and affable government agents have arrived to install CCTV cameras in every room.

So true. I personally have nothing against African-Americans but it infuriates me that if you watched American TV and didn't know the reality you'd think all of them were judges or surgeons. Same with English shows.

The ironic thing about your well-put description is that the doctor in Fawlty Towers IS black.