Fawlty Towers to return after 40 years with John Cleese

John Cleese will make a return as Basil Fawlty in hit sitcom Fawlty Towers alongside his daughter.

After more than forty years, 83-year-old Cleese will write and star in the sitcom revival with daughter, Camilla Cleese, which will explore how an older, more cynical and sarcastic Basil, will navigate the modern world and society.

The show originally aired on BBC2 for two series during 1975 and 1979, and followed the life of Torquay hotel owners, Basil and his wife Sybil, portrayed by Prunella Scales, as they tried to keep their family business running and their marriage afloat. It was written by Cleese and Connie Booth.

Fawlty’s revival will see Basil and his long lost daughter, who he has just discovered is his, team up to run a boutique hotel. In 2019,  Fawlty Towers was named the greatest British sitcom of all time by a panel of television experts for Radio Times magazine.

As reported by the BBC, the actor and director Rob Reiner will act as an executive producer on the series, along with his wife and actress Michele Reiner, and the director and producers Matthew George and Derrick Rossi.

Cleese said: “When we first met, he [Matt] offered an excellent first idea, and then Matt, my daughter Camilla, and I had one of the best creative sessions I can remember.

“By dessert, we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner. Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.”

Director George said he was ‘obsessed with Fawlty Towers and meeting Cleese and his daughter was one of the great thrills’ of his life, adding: “I’ve watched the first two seasons so many times I have lost count… I dreamed of one day being involved in a continuation of the story. Now it’s come true.”

Rob Reiner added: “John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh.”

In 2020, Cleese had a disagreement with the BBC after it temporarily removed a classic episode of Fawlty Towers because of ‘racial slurs’. The 1975 episode, called The Germans, featured the Major Gowen character using highly offensive language and Basil declaring ‘don’t mention the war’.

Cleese criticised the decision, saying: “I would have hoped that someone at the BBC would understand that there are two ways of making fun of human behaviour. One is to attack it directly.

“The other is to have someone who is patently a figure of fun, speak up on behalf of that behaviour.” The episode was removed but then reinstated with a warning about ‘offensive content and language’.

Aside from Fawlty Towers, Cleese is best known as one of the original members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.

The comedian revealed last year he was joining GB News. His show is due to begin airing later this year.