Fawlty Towers

Has Fawlty Towers dated?

Initial reviews in 1975 were poor and on one recent 2009 viewing, our TV critic found himself unamused by Basil and co.

Sitcoms don't get any funnier than Fawlty Towers

Basil Fawlty was rude, snobby, smarmy, hen-pecked, quick to anger, sarcastic and prudish - in the words of his creator, John Cleese, "an absolutely awful human being." But this unforgettable character stood at the center of one of the funniest sitcoms in television history, Fawlty Towers.

Prunella Scales, 30 years on from Fawlty Towers

One of Britain's best character actresses, Prunella Scales will inevitably be remembered for one character above all.

Cleese rules out return of Fawlty

The Fawlty Towers cast will never make another episode because they are "too old and tired", John Cleese has said.

Fawlty Towers almost didn't see the light of day

It's 30 years since they last got together to create chaos in a small hotel in Torquay. But yesterday there were no German diners to insult, no rodents in the kitchen and no dead guests to hide - just a few more grey hairs and wrinkles.

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 theory sits Fawlty Towers (BBC2) like a tea cosy over a tom cat. Here and there but hardly. Funny foreigners, awful wives? That great whoosh of laughter as Sybil Fawlty excused Manuel, the poor dago with all the phoney warmth of an electric log fire in her voice "He's from Barcelona." It was Fawlty's finest hour.