John Cleese

The classic sitcom the BBC didn't want

Thirty years after the series ended, John Cleese tells The Telegraph what a struggle Fawlty Towers was to make.

BBC rejected first episode of Fawlty Towers

John Cleese has said that the BBC originally dismissed Fawlty Towers as dire, as the cast of the popular sitcom were reunited for the 30th anniversary of the show.

'It can't be anything other than a disaster'

John Cleese looks back on Fawlty Towers. In the 30 years since comedy last aired, has Cleese ever been tempted to make another episode himself?

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.

R4's Listen Against scripted flights of lunacy recalled the best of The Day Today. For the first time, a Satanist occupied the Today programme's Thought for the Day slot, recalling the time he sacrificed a goat and drank its blood ('That should give us all something to think about,' he concluded), while Compton Pauncefoot, controller of BBC Animal Entertainment, was questioned about offensive messages left on John Cleese's messaging service by the stars of Radio 2's The Monkey and the Parrot Show. He told presenter Alice Arnold: "As a result of this outrage, Radio 2 is to be bulldozed to the ground and in its place we're creating a spring meadow of quiet contemplation."

He might not find the arrival of his bus pass terribly funny, but as the Prince of Wales celebrates his 60th birthday, at least he can have a chortle at the stellar comedy line-up amassed here in his honour. The Prince's pulling power has not only lured reclusive comedy greats John Cleese and Rowan Atkinson onto the live stage for this one-off show, but has also enticed the brilliant Robin Williams across the pond to do his first British stand-up gig in over 25 years. And why not - Sir Robin Williams does have a certain ring to it.

He's always loved a good chuckle, has our Charlie - aka HRH The Prince of Wales.

So this comedy spectacular, recorded earlier this week, was the best possible way for the heir to the throne to celebrate his 60th birthday (other than for his mum to shift over and let him run the country for a day, and I was never convinced that was going to happen).

Also designed to help raise awareness of (and money for) The Prince's Trust, it features some all-time comedy greats, a number of whom are stepping onto a British stage (the New Wimbledon Theatre, to be precise) for the first time in yonks.

John Cleese, for example, is our Master of Ceremonies, while those performing stand-up and sketches include Robin Williams, Rowan Atkinson and Joan Rivers.