British Comedy Guide
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Hold The Sunset. Phil (John Cleese). Copyright: BBC
John Cleese

John Cleese

  • 85 years old
  • English
  • Actor and writer

Press clippings Page 19

It's a classic 80s sitcom set-up: widow Edith (Alison Steadman) has been fending off marriage proposals from boyfriend Phil (John Cleese) for years, but on the day she relents, up pops cuckoo in the nest Roger (Jason Watkins), her 50-year-old man-child son who's left his family. Desperately needs jokes.

Ben Arnold, The Guardian, 18th February 2018

Hold the Sunset review

Why do bad things happen to good people? Well, not bad exactly, but decidedly mediocre.

Steve Bennett, Chortle, 18th February 2018

Hold the Sunset, BBC One, review - this is an ex-sitcom

John Cleese and Alison Steadman star in the exhumation of long-lost genre.

Jasper Rees, The Arts Desk, 18th February 2018

TV review: Hold the Sunset

After 39 years away, John Cleese returns to the sitcom format with a cosy affair.

Brian Donaldson, The List, 16th February 2018

Hold The Sunset review

In truth, it's not rip-roaringly, gut-bustingly, eye-wateringly funny. But it is rather lovely. It's wry, and gentle, and old fashioned. It is warm and affectionate and optimistic.

Benjie Goodhart, Saga Magazine, 15th February 2018

The return of John Cleese

"If I ever tried to do a Fawlty Towers-type sitcom again, everyone would say, 'It's not as good as Fawlty Towers'."

The Fawlty Towers actor, who is fondly remembered for his role as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is starring with Alison Steadman in a new BBC sitcom, Hold Tthe Sunset, after a gap of 43 years.

James Rampton, The Independent, 13th February 2018

Movies you might have missed: Python's Meaning of Life

The British musical sketch comedy film might have been a disappointment to the Monty Python troupe, but it still contains some of the funniest scenes ever committed to film.

Darren Richman, The Independent, 6th December 2017

John Cleese interview

John Cleese on Monty Python, Facebook, bad comedy, great comedy and kids these days.

Jeffrey Lee Puckett, Courier Journal, 7th November 2017

John Cleese recreates Class Sketch for Hacked Off

In this reworking below, written and directed by filmmaker and former journalist Richard Peppiatt, the three performers (Cleese, Ian Stone and John Alford) play a wealthy man, a newspaper editor and an average joe.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 3rd November 2017

John Cleese: 'I've lost Basil the rat'

John Cleese has revealed that he's lost the model of Basil the rat from the classic episode of Fawlty Towers where the health inspector visits.

TV Times, 11th October 2017

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