Totty (and Basil) of the Day

Patron Saint of Cappadocia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Malta, Portugal, Aragon, Catalonia, Sicily and Sardinia, and, of course, of England...

Fawlty Towers - "Good old St George, eh Major?"

...happy St George's Day to my English chums!

I expect a room with a view

Today is the anniversary of the birth of the estimable Joan Sanderson - an actress who hardly aged in all the time I remember her on telly! Generally cast in the role of dowager, spinster or matron, she was the bossy headmistress in Please, Sir! way back when I was a child, and remained the "not-to-be-messed-with" character in myriad shows such as Upstairs, Downstairs, The Les Dawson Show, The Ghosts of Motley Hall, Me and My Girl and After Henry and, memorably, the mother-in-law who was roped in to translate Joe Orton's shorthand diaries in the film Prick Up Your Ears.

But her most famous role was, of course, the fearsome "Mrs Richards" in Fawlty Towers...

Fawlty Towers - "A Room With A View"

We loved her!

Joan Sanderson (24th November 1912 – 24th May 1992)

Thought for the day

Fawlty Towers - "Good old St George, eh Major?"

Patron Saint of Cappadocia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Malta, Portugal, Aragon, Catalonia, Sicily and Sardinia, and, of course, of England...

...happy St George's Day!

Eve-ntchually

Fawlty Towers - "I Know Nothing"

And so, farewell then, buenos noches "Manuel", aka the lovely Andrew Sachs (7th April 1930 – 23rd November 2016)

"Oooh, I know..."

Just enough time to wish many happy returns to the fabulous not-yet-Dame Prunella Scales, 80 years old today.

In her 60-year acting career, Pru has played just about everything - from costume dramas to the plays of the "angry young men", Bennett to Shakespeare, comedy, tragedy and melodrama, and no less than two Queens (Elizabeth II and Victoria).

On the way, she managed to bring to life two of the greatest ever comedic on-screen monsters - Mistress Mapp in the magnificent Mapp and Lucia, and of course, Sybil Fawlty.

Prunella Scales - Fawlty Towers "Forgotten Anniversary"

I have met Miss Scales (when she was supporting a fundraiser for the charity I worked for; she was pissed before she even got to the hospitality room), and a couple of years ago at Wilton's Music Hall we were privileged to sit immediately in front of a gathering of "national treasures" that not only included Prunella and hubby Timothy West, but also June Whitfield!

We loved eavesdropping on their conversation...

Happy birthday, ma'am!

Prunella Scales on IMDB