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Terry the Chef was a fictional character played by Brian Hall in the hit BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. We never heard his second name, though it is probably 'Hughes', as Basil once introduced him as 'Terry Hughe...', but trailed off.

Personality

Terry is Fawlty Towers' cockney chef. He lives up to the commonly perceived stereotype: he's a quick witted 'wideboy', who thinks of women before work (ie Waldorf Salad - where he admits he is leaving his shift early to see a young Finnish woman). However, has big heart and a very sharp mind - he's always finding ways to get out of the tricky situations that his boss: Basil lands himself into.

Terry's is quite relaxed and sails through cooking with a laid back style. Basil occasionally gets frustrated with his "It's all right" attitude. Terry arrives in the second season after the relief of Kurt (only seen in Gourmet Night). He used to work in Dorchester (not at The Dorchester - a classy, expensive notorious hotel, as was once mistaken).

Terry claims that he and Polly basically run the bleeding hotel, which to a certain extent is true, for they are usually the only ones capable of orderly behaviour when things go beserk. Terry once had a memorable fight with Manuel, because Basil let him cook paella, as an old Spanish tradition, much to Terry's dismay - for his headstrong attitude got in the way.

Terry was the only new character to be introduced in the second series, and served his purpose because Cleese and Booth thought the hotel seemed underrun due to its lack of employees, so Terry was introduced to bridge the gap. Brian Hall, who took on the role, very sadly died of cancer in 1997, and the role of Terry was his best remembered, and only notable major role.

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