John Cleese announces Fawlty Towers reboot – everything you need to know
It sounds unlikely but apparently it is true: John Cleese is rebooting one of the most iconic British comedy series ever made, Fawlty Towers.
Fawlty Towers ran for two two seasons in the 1970s, both with six episodes, and is celebrated for being a near-perfect example of a British sitcom.
However, 44 years after Fawlty Towers was last recorded, a new series has been announced. Lead star John Cleese, who played hotel owner Basil Fawlty, will collaborate with his daughter Camilla to work on the series in a new deal with Castle Rock Entertainment.
Fawlty Towers follows the life of struggling hotel owner Fawlty and the guests that stay over and frequent his restaurant and bar. The original series ran on BBC2 and was written by Cleese’s ex-wife Connie Booth, who also starred in the show, playing waitress Polly.
The new series will see Basil discover he has a daughter he didn’t know existed, and document him as he tries to keep up with the modern world.
Cleese said: “When we first met, he [director and producer Matthew George] 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.”
Actor and director Rob Reiner, who will executive produce the series, added: “John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh.” He added that the new Fawlty Towers series would “explore how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.
Three reboots of the show happened in the US, but this is the first time the show has had a British makeover. Not long ago, Cleese said the cast were “too old and tired” to reprise the show. “The problem is, when you do something that is generally accepted as being very good, a horrible problem arises, which is: how do you top it?” he said.
In the years since, Andrew Sachs, who played Manuel, has passed away. Prunella Scales, who played Cleese’s wife Sybil Fawlty, has Alzheimer’s disease and hasn’t acted since 2014.
Who is Camilla Cleese?
Camilla is one of John Cleese’s two daughters and the only child with his second of four wives, Barbara Trentham, a US actor. Camilla was born in 1984 and lives in Los Angeles and is a former model and comedian, having regularly appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
Cleese’s Twitter profile describes herself as a “Comedian/Writer/Actor/Long legs/Smart Ass.”
She appears to share her father’s anti-woke stance, having recently tweeted: “The only thing scarier than WWIII is that the generation who’re of fighting age think using the wrong pronouns are acts of violence, are triggered by loud noises and words like “guns” and wouldn’t want to shoot someone in case it hurt their feelings.”
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