John Quarmby was 89

John Quarmby, who played the unimpressed health inspector in Fawlty Towers, had died at the age of 89.

John Cleese broke the news on Twitter, saying: ‘Lovely chap. I shall never forget the expression on his face when he saw the rat sitting in the biscuit tin.’

The character, whose name was  Mr Carnegie, appeared in the Basil The Rat episode, inspecting the hotel as  Manuel’s pet ‘Siberian hamster’ escaped.

Liverpool-born Quarmby also appeared as a prison officer in a 1974 episode of Porridge – for which he was  paid £50 for a day's work.

Published: 5 Apr 2019