Sybil Fawlty

Sybil Fawlty is a fictional character from the hit BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. She is played by Prunella Scales. Her age is listed as 34 years old as seen on her medical chart in the episode "The Germans." Prunella Scales however was in her 40s during the filming of Fawlty Towers.

Personality

As Basil Fawlty's wife, she's the only character in the series who refers to him by his first name. She is at times lazy; during busy check-in sessions or meal-times, while everyone else is busy working around her, she's frequently found talking on the phone to one of her friends (usually 'Audrey', who makes a rare on-camera appearance in "The Anniversary"), smoking, or chatting with customers. On the rare occasions that she actually works, she is nevertheless a far more effective worker and manager than Basil: she handles crises calmly and stays polite to guests. She is characterised by an annoying conversational tone and laugh, which her husband compares to 'someone machine-gunning a seal'. Basil also refers to her by a number of epithets, occasionally to her face: these include "the dragon", "toxic midget", "my little nest of vipers", "my little piranha fish", "my little commandant" and "a rancorous, coiffured old sow." She either does not hear (as he often states them as soon as she is out of earshot) or doesn't care. Indeed, in The Psychiatrist episode, she calls him "an ageing, brilliantined stick insect". Sybil and Basil never directly express love for one another (in The Wedding Party, they are shown to sleep in separate beds), and Basil especially never seems to be capable of courtesy towards his wife. His rudeness occasionally brings out her more human, sympathetic side, especially in the episode: The Anniversary, where she cries upon thinking that Basil has forgotten their fifteenth wedding anniversary- although ironically, that is one of the few occasions when he has in fact remembered, and is thinking of someone other than himself. (The comedy in this episode being how he covers up for her absence when their friends arrive to celebrate.) Sybil is the archetypal nagging wife, getting in the way of Basil 'enjoying himself' when he squabbles with the guests, forcing him to do unnecessary chores (notable examples of this appear in the episodes "A Touch of Class" and "The Germans"). She will sometimes flirt with guests (notably Mr. Johnson {Nicky Henson} in "The Psychiatrist").

Reappearance

In November 2007, Scales returned to the role of Sybil Fawlty in a series of sketches for the BBC's annual Children in Need charity telethon. The character was seen taking over the management of the eponymous hotel from the BBC drama series Hotel Babylon, interacting with characters from that programmme as well as other sitcom characters. The character of Sybil was used by special permission of John Cleese.^[1]

References