hall played many hard-boiled tough guy cockney roles: his role as the amiable chef terry in "fawlty towers" was a casting against type. he played leading roles in police drama "" (1971–72), crime drama "mcvicar" (1980), and sitcom "you must be the husband" (1987). he also had several guest-starring roles in "the professionals", "the long good friday", "the bill", "london's burning", "the sweeney" and "minder" in series 1 episode "you gotta have friends". he also played the dad in billy webb's amazing story by steve attridge (1991 bbc)