Like?
4
0
Who have voted

Reboot of Fawlty Towers with John Cleese in development

Basil Fawlty is back. A reboot of John Cleese's British comedy sensation Fawlty Towers is in the works.

Rob Reiner's Castle Rock Entertainment is developing a new Fawlty Towers. More than forty years after the second and final season concluded, Monty Python star Cleese will co-write and star with daughter Camilla Cleese. This news will delight a whole generation of British comedy fans.

The new series will explore how Cleese's over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world. Plot details are largely withheld, but development brings the story forward to explore Basil's relationship with a daughter he's just discovered he has, as the pair defy fate and team up to run a boutique hotel.

The Cleeses are working with Reiner's Castle Rock on the development, with Reiner, Michele Reiner, Derrick Rossi and Matthew George serving as executive producers.



John Cleese (pictured) praised George's "understanding of the creative process" and described their first meeting as "one of the best creative sessions I can remember."

Rob Reiner added: “John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh,” while George described meeting John and Camilla Cleese as “one of the great thrills of my life.”

Castle Rock is currently working on a sequel to a beloved British classic, This is Spinal Tap, along with a sequel to 2017's Wind River: The Next Chapter.

Although Fawlty Towers (pictured) only ran for two six-part seasons, ending in 1979, it ranks number one on many lists of the best British comedy series of all time.

Fawlty Towers

Written by Cleese and Connie Booth, the series followed hapless hotel manager Fawlty and a hilarious cast of characters including legendary Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs), Cleese's domineering wife Sybil (Prunella Scales) and their chambermaid Polly, played by Booth.

The idea came from Cleese's stay in a hotel in an English seaside town and the series became the definition of the 'middle England' genre.

Fawlty Towers is currently broadcasting on BBC Two and can be streamed on BritBox.

Cleese, whose credits include Monty Python, A Fish Called Wanda and Shrek, has become something of a culture warrior in recent years. He recently criticized the BBC for not broadcasting reruns of Monty Python, a demand that was reversed. For Channel 4 he is making a documentary about cancel culture and for the right-wing British network GB News he plans to present a show in which he stands up for free speech.

See below for an old clip from the 1979 episode "Communication Problems."
Video on youtube
Previous episode
Basil the Rat
Basil the Rat
02x06
Like?
4
0
Who have voted

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet
Fawlty Towers