Half a century has passed since we first checked in to Basil Fawlty’s delightfully dysfunctional seaside hotel – where chaos was on the menu, tempers boiled over like kettles and laughter echoed through every corridor.
When Fawlty Towers premiered in September 1975, few could have expected that just 12 episodes would leave such a lasting mark on British comedy.
But it has, and, as the show’s milestone 50th anniversary is celebrated, we delve into its legacy, unpacking the tensions, tears and triumphs that went on behind the scenes…
Is there going to be a Fawlty Towers reboot?
John’s plans for a remake have yet to come into fruition, but, if it does go ahead, some notable names would sadly be missing.
The 93-year-old actress, who played Basil’s wife Sybil, has retreated from public life due to her worsening dementia.
Her husband, Timothy West, once said that the revival wouldn’t be the same without his wife or the late Andrew Sachs.
“I think if it had been me, I’d have said, ‘You’ve done it. It was perfect, people loved it. What else are you going to do?’” Timothy said.
John and his then-wife, Connie Booth, also divorced in 1978 while making the second and final season.
Sharing a daughter, Cynthia, the pair made a conscious effort to remain friends – although there’s been talk that their split might have influenced the decision not to make a third season.
But John really ruffled Connie’s feathers when he failed to inform her of his plans to make a reboot, co-written with his daughter, Camilla, from his second marriage.
Instead, Connie learnt about the project, which has yet to materialise, in the press, and sniped she would have “appreciated” a heads-up from her ex-husband.
Why did John Cleese lie about who wrote Fawlty Towers?
During Fawlty Towers’ two-season run in 1975 and 1979, John claimed that Connie co-wrote the show with him.
Connie was also in the cast, playing chambermaid Polly.
However, in a 50th-anniversary interview with Radio Times last month, Connie expressed her desire to finally “set the record straight” – revealing that John embellished the extent of her contributions.
“John wrote the dialogue,” she explained.
“Before that dialogue was written, he and I developed the plots. Each episode took about a month to contrive. Out of the ridiculous complications of farce, his brilliant lines emerged. When the issue of billing arose, I thought, ‘written by John Cleese, storyline by us both’ would’ve been fine for me.
“John said they didn’t do that in TV comedy and insisted on co-authorship.”
Connie, now 84, added that for five decades she has been receiving praise for lines that John, 85, actually wrote.
Whenever people quoted them back to her, instead of feeling proud and flattered, she felt “counterfeit”.
Why is an episode missing in Fawlty Towers?
Despite its classic status, some parts of Fawlty Towers have not aged well, particularly the fact that the late Andrew Sachs, a German-British actor, portrayed Spanish waiter Manuel in what has now been declared a caricature that reinforces stereotypes.
In 2020, the BBC opted to temporary shelve an episode that featured “racist slurs” from the recurring character Major Gowen until it could be screened with “extra guidance”.
John was furious at the decision, calling it “cowardly and gutless” in a lengthy rant on social media.
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