John Cleese writes Fawlty Towers retrospective & shoots stage play doc
- Fawlty Towers: Fawlts And All will be published this autumn to coincide with the sitcom's 50th anniversary
- Cleese and his Fawlty Towers stage show are also set to be the subjects of a television documentary
- However, the Python has cast doubt on the future of a proposed sequel, saying the Caribbean-set series has "got a bit sidelined because of all the other things that are going on"
John Cleese has written a behind the scenes book for Fawlty Towers' 50th anniversary, while the classic sitcom's stage play revival is set to be the subject of a television documentary, British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal.
Fawlty Towers: Fawlts And All - My Favourite Moments, will be published by Headline on 9th October.
The 224-page tome will see Cleese reflecting on his favourite moments from the much-loved BBC comedy's 12 episodes, in which he starred as temperamental Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty, with Prunella Scales as Basil's fearsome wife Sybil, Connie Booth as the hotel's long-suffering chambermaid Polly and the late Andrew Sachs as put-upon Spanish waiter Manuel.
Pledging "a laugh on every page and a dose of nostalgia for vintage TV fans", the book will recall Cleese and his then-wife Booth's penning of "scripts that were so carefully planned they were double the length of similar shows'", as well as the reasons behind casting and other production choices on the sitcom, which first aired on BBC Two on 19th September 1975.
Cleese will also present his side of the story of how he accidentally came to nearly knock Sachs unconscious by hitting him with a real steel frying pan.
Featuring archive images and newly commissioned illustrations, the book promises an in-depth exploration of iconic scenes from the BAFTA-winning sitcom, such as Basil thrashing the Mini in the Gourmet Night episode, the rodent in the cheese biscuits box from Basil The Rat and Cleese goose-stepping across the dining room to an audience of horrified guests in The Germans.
Meanwhile, as Fawlty Towers - The Play returns to London's West End this summer, prior to a national tour, a camera crew has been following Cleese since he and director Caroline Jay Ranger oversaw its acclaimed opening in the capital last year.
It is currently unknown which channel the as-yet-untitled documentary will air on, but it seems likely that it will be the BBC or nostalgia specialist U&Gold, which is owned by the corporation's commercial subsidiary BBC Studios.
The film is being made by Phil McIntyre TV, the television production arm of the stage show's promoter, which also made the 2009 Gold documentary Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened.
Last week it was announced that John Cleese's Fawlty Towers - The Play, to give the live show its full title, will feature Helen Lederer as hard-of-hearing guest Mrs Richards when it returns to the West End on 24th June.
Running till 13th September at the Apollo Theatre, the production will also feature Danny Bayne assuming the role of Basil, Mia Austen as Sybil and Joanne Clifton as Polly, with Hemi Yeroham and Paul Nicholas reprising their respective roles as Manuel and The Major.
Combining three of the original television episodes - The Germans, The Hotel Inspectors and Communication Problems - the play will then tour the UK and Ireland, opening at the Churchill Theatre in Bromley on 30th September and appearing around the country until the summer of next year.
However, the stage show's success has cast doubt on the future of a Fawlty Towers sequel that Cleese has been developing with American producers.
Co-written with his daughter Camilla and made by Rob Reiner's production company, Castle Rock Entertainment, the Python has previously disclosed that the proposed series would be set in an upmarket boutique Caribbean hotel.
But speaking to Ryan Tubridy on his Virgin Radio show this week, he admitted that the project - which he has said would feature Basil's illegitimate daughter, born from Basil's illicit affair with a hotel guest and likely played by Camilla - had "got a bit sidelined because of all the other things that are going on".
John Cleese - Fawlty Towers: Fawlts And All - My Favourite Moments
Duck surprise. The Mini that wouldn't start. The psychiatrists. Those builders...
Fifty years ago Fawlty Towers hit British TV screens for the first time, becoming an instant classic. Now for the first time John Cleese tells his stories from behind the scenes of his favourite moments.
From writing scripts that were so carefully planned they were double the length of similar shows', to casting, lighting, almost knocking Andrew Sachs out with a frying pan, and other production shenanigans, these are your favourite moments from Fawlty Towers as you've never seen them before. Exploring the how and why of creating classic comedy, there is a laugh on every page, and a dose of nostalgia for vintage TV fans.
With gorgeous commissioned illustration and archival imagery, the book revisits such iconic scenes as Basil thrashing the Mini, a rat appearing in a box of cheese biscuits, and Basil goose-stepping across the dining room to an audience of horrified guests.
First published: Thursday 9th October 2025