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Polly Sherman is a fictional character in the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
sitcom ''
Fawlty Towers
''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television ...
''. Played by
Connie Booth
Connie Booth (born 2 December 1940) is an American-born actress and writer. She has appeared in several British television programmes and films, including her role as Polly Sherman on BBC Two's ''Fawlty Towers'', which she co-wrote with her t ...
, she is Fawlty Towers' long-suffering
waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
and
hotel maid.
Personality
Polly is the hotel waitress during the series, and one of only four staff members seen there, the others being Manuel, Terry and short lived chef Kurt. Although she at one point claims to be employed part-time, she is shown working there as a maid, and is occasionally saddled with more duties than this, which she will often go along with for the extra money.
Polly is, by far, the most sensible character in the series, and often stands as the voice of sanity during Basil's frequent escapades. However, she frequently finds herself embroiled in ridiculous masquerades (such as pretending to be the voice of Mr. Stubbs' secretary in "
The Builders
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
" or pretending that money Basil won on a horse was hers in "
Communication Problems
''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...
") owing to her immense loyalty towards Basil. She will usually take his side over Sybil's to avoid being fired, and try hard to keep secrets of his from her. However, she does occasionally stand up to Basil whenever he acts particularly irrationally, such as slapping him when he throws a fit.
Although Polly is generally level-headed and intelligent, she occasionally shows signs of malice. Notably, in "
The Kipper and the Corpse
''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Television P ...
", after being bitten by the dog of an elderly guest, she laced its sausages with hot pepper, tabasco sauce and chilli powder, giving it a nasty stomach ache. In "Communication Problems", Polly joins Basil in insulting the demanding Mrs. Richards and impishly presents Manuel to her, knowing Manuel would infuriate Mrs Richards more. In "
Basil the Rat", she attempts to get a man to purchase a painting she made, including lying that "It's for my sister's eye operation"; when he declines, she says "You bastard."
It is mentioned in the second series that Polly is an art student, which she has been studying for three years. It is not entirely clear what kind of art, or how good she is at it in one episode, she draws an impressionist caricature of Basil (which everyone except Basil recognises). In "
Gourmet Night
''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, broadcast on BBC2 in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The show was ranked first on a list of the 100 Greatest British Televisio ...
", she sells the new chef, Kurt, a portrait she's drawn of Manuel, and Sybil offers to buy one too, to annoy Basil. In "
The Wedding Party", after Basil complains about her leaving a life drawing sketchbook lying around, he flicks through it and absentmindedly answers the phone "Hello, Fawlty Titties?"
Polly also speaks foreign languages, occasionally serving as a translator to Manuel and communicating in German to hotel guests in "
The Germans
"The Germans" (named on some releases as "Fire Drill") is the sixth episode of the BBC sitcom ''Fawlty Towers''. In the episode, while suffering the effects of concussion, Basil Fawlty repeatedly offends some German guests. Despite warning his ...
".
Character development and portrayal
Booth, who had not done television acting in front of an audience before, wanted to keep Polly as a relatively minor character.
According to Cleese, they realised Polly would be a "beacon of sanity", whose sense of "instinctive decency" leads her to save Basil from his foibles.
He credits Booth's performance in a scene of "
The Anniversary
The Anniversary is an American band formed in Lawrence, Kansas, in 1997 by Josh Berwanger, James David, Christian Jankowski, Adrianne Verhoeven and Justin Roelofs. The Anniversary was the solidification of a line-up that had been in flux for a ...
", where she argues with Basil over his plan for Polly to impersonate Sybil in order to save his embarrassment, as "marvellous":
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Polly
Fawlty Towers characters
British female characters in television
Fictional artists
Television characters introduced in 1975
Fictional English people
Fictional waiting staff