David Kelly (II)

David Kelly dies aged 82

Dublin-born David Kelly, who played feckless builder Mr O'Reilly in Fawlty Towers but is perhaps best remembered for riding a motorbike naked in the comedy Waking Ned, has died.

BBC News, 13th February 2012

This joyous look back at John Cleese's benchmark sitcom delivers everything you could hope for. For the first time, Cleese, ex-wife Connie Booth, screen wife Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs, together with producer-director John Howard Davies, re-call how the shows came about.

Cleese's anecdotes about the Torbay hotelier who inspired the monstrous Basil are as funny as the gold-plated clips. And that's saying something, since Fawlty Towers' slapstick violence has tremendous impact in short bursts.

Add interviews with many of the sitcom's guest stars, including Bernard Cribbins, Una Stubbs, Geoffrey Palmer and David Kelly and you have real depth and detail. If only the start of each section wasn't delayed by unnecessary come-ons, it would be the perfect documentary for the perfect sitcom.

Geoff Ellis, Radio Times, 5th May 2009