Oddly, my Nan was very similar to Grandad in "Only Fools and Horses".
Same sort of character, similar way of speaking, and she had always lived near to Peckham too.
One of my past managers was similar to Captain Mainwaring - not in appearance but again in his attitude, mannerisms and verbal delivery.
I have a friend who is like a combination of Foggy (Summer Wine) and Lennox-Brown (Men From the Ministry). In fact, those two characters could almost have been the same person anyway!
My godmother and her husband I'm sure were the inspiration for Sybil and Basil Fawlty. She had the hair and the voice and he was tall and gangly with a moustache.
There's a lady at my church that is just like Hyacinth Bucket. She tries to take over anything that is going on, and I've known the pastor to try to avoid her at times.
I have a family member that is a lot like Wesley Pegdon. He has a battered looking shed where he works on his engines, there's always engines backfiring inside, and smoke is always pouring from the shed.
A few years ago the BBC came to a factory that I work at to ask if they could do a 'fly on the wall' documentary. (they were doing a few at the time)
The two directors who are brothers and were given the company from their father are both mad as hatters and they refused permission.
A typical example would be, if they lost their temper (which was often) they would take their hat off (both wear trilby's all the time) stamp on it and then kick it around the factory floor whilst ranting incoherently.
One of them said to me one day (while he was having an arms in the air paddy) 'The BBC wanted to make a program about us - it would be like bloody Faulty Towers.
Everyone was in agreement who would be Basil
My Cousin is a bit like Del boy ordering weird drinks and always skint.
Met quite a few however the story which my parents told relentlessly was the time that we went on holiday and I was behaving rather badly, anyway I ran off into the hotel bar and started shouting I looked up aparently pointed at this man and shouted out "It aint half hot mum" . Everyone stopped what they were doing and started laughing apparently I had bought a smile to Mr Davies face. My parents had drinks and I got a packet of crisps and Corona.
My old boss was just like Blakey.
I used to work at a law firm, where one of the partners was just like Basil Fawlty. He'd f**k things up all by himself & then get incredibly angry about it, insist that it was all someone else's fault, then suddenly cool off and start lecturing them in an irritating 'patient' and pompous manner about how they should have handled things. 'You're doing very well, and I'm sure you'll get it right next time'. AAARGH!
He also had an incredibly tactless way of talking to people, which was ironic given that he was a divorce lawyer. I remember sitting in on a meeting he had with a rather nervous female client whose husband had left her & he said (quote) 'Now, what's happened here, Mrs X, is that your husband has traded you in for a newer model'. Cringe.
Thing was that despite all that I reckon he was fundamentally a decent chap, but the way he came across could be incredibly annoying.
My friend is a bit like Granville.
I quit a job after my boss grew the Brent beard...
Ha ha, good to see so many Fawltys there. My dad was like Tom Good, it was odd seeing him on TV all the time. And as soon as Gareth appeared on The Office I recognised him straight away. Good old Gareth, should've had his own series.
My partner and self once stayed in a hotel where the waiter was a dead ringer of Fawlty Towers Manuel -we almost wanted him to drop our dinners down our laps!
I had a cousin - now sadly deceased - who was the spitting image of Bobby Ball in looks and stature, right down to the hairstyle, moustache and cheeky smile. People were always going up to him and saying "Rock on, Tommy!" and asking for his autograph.
Way back in the early 60s worked in the clothing trade with a man who was Mr Humphries to a T.
Worked for a guy called John Leese, we used to call him Basil cuz he was just like John Cleese's character. When he was in a good mood, he was dead matey and chatty. Take away his two crutches (coffee and fags) he was a right misery and just as psychotic as Basil. We even saw him do the car thrashing bit on a piece of equipment in the workshop. Scary.