News Flash!
Fawlty Towers Gutted by Fire!
Gestapo headquarters found in Norfolk!
Mr. Humphries to Prince Charles: "I'm Free!"
Miss any of these hot news items? Then you might like to check out Steve Clark's book The British Television Location Guide (Seaspite Publishing ISBN 0-9521962-0-4), a TV travel guide brimming with behind-the-scenes information and trivia about all your favorite British telly programs.
Have you ever wanted to follow in the footsteps of The Prisoner? If so, head on over to Portmeiron, Wales. Or perhaps you'd prefer to tool around Heartbeat territory in the Village of Goathland, North Yorkshire. With Clarks's book by your side, you can hop from show to show visiting locations as diverse as the firehouse used in London's Burning , Poldark's Cornwall, the site of Woodburn Grange, the house used for exteriors in Fawlty Towers, now sadly gone after being gutted by fire in 1991, and the stables and manor house used in Trainer.
You don't need to be traveling in the UK to enjoy The British Television Location Guide though, because there's enough fascinating information about the more than 50 shows profiled to satisfy even the least motivated couch potato.
As for the headlines — well, I've already mentioned Basil and Sybil Fawlty's sad loss, the Gestapo HQ in Norfolk belonged to 'Allo 'Allo's Herr Flick and Grace and Favours' country estate Chavenage House is a near neighbor to Prince Charles own Highgrove.
Another fine book I've recently had the pleasure of reading is Bill Pertwee's Dad's Army : The Making of a Television Legend (Foreland Films Limited ISBN 1-872699-28-6), in which the well known character actor celebrates the classic Home Guard comedy and the people who made it work. Pertwee (better known to fans of the series as Warden Hodges), has produced one of the best telly books I've yet seen. The background information given about every cast and significant crew member alone is more than worth the price of purchase, but when joined with so many fond, and often quite funny, reminiscences as well as historical background on the real Home Guard, the book becomes invaluable. Highly recommended.
Web Resources
Fawlty Towers "Allo "Allo Grace and Favour The Prisoner Heartbeat Dad's Army
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