At last year’s press conference for the Monty Python farewell performances, John Cleese revealed he was working on something that may surprise people. Well he’s certainly delivered on that front – he’s bringing Fawlty Towers back, and this time it’s set on the other side of the world.
Unsurprisingly Cleese won’t return to the role of Basil, which cemented him into the world’s comedy consciousness. Instead he’ll be auditioning some lucky Antipodean for the lead in a new stage show, set to tour Australia and New Zealand from August 2016.
The gangly icon is updating the original scripts he co-wrote with Connie Booth back in the Seventies. Whether this means there’ll be wi-fi at the notoriously appalling hotel or if hapless Spaniard Manuel will become more politically correct remains to be seen.
Cleese has generally refused to revisit the concept, though he did dust off his psychotic creation for a corporate film alongside Andrew Sachs. The material has been mangled by various live companies across the decades – this will be the star’s chance to potentially make a fudge of it himself!
Comedic colossus Phil McIntyre is producing, with Caroline J. Ranger at the helm. Expect kippers, corpses and calamity.
