British Comedy Guide
Fawlty Towers. Image shows from L to R: Manuel (Andrew Sachs), Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), Sybil Fawlty (Prunella Scales), Polly (Connie Booth). Copyright: BBC
Fawlty Towers

Fawlty Towers

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Two
  • 1975 - 1979
  • 12 episodes (2 series)

Comedy about a hotel and its owner, a man of infinite rudeness with a rabid dislike of almost all guests. Stars John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs, Connie Booth, Ballard Berkeley and more.

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Press clippings Page 7

The Fawlty BBC just won't get the joke

So the thoughtcrimers have finally come for Basil Fawlty, the man whose very existence was designed to poke fun at the thick, the hateful, the bigoted and the wrong, says Camilla Long.

Camilla Long, The Sunday Times, 14th June 2020

Even Fawlty Towers is being erased in crazed witch-hunt

We need a massive pushback against the paternalistic culture of woke censorship and cultural control. Defend Fawlty Towers, by all means, but let's also initiate a genuine democratic resistance to the wokeness, identitarianism and middle-class paternalism that are doing so much harm to public life.

Brendan O'Neill, Spiked, 12th June 2020

Why can't we see the joke in Fawlty Towers?

If 'Ze Germans' can see the joke in Fawlty Towers, why on earth can't we? UKTV's decision to pull an episode of John Cleese's revered comedy is more idiotic and blinkered than Basil Fawlty himself.

Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 12th June 2020

Fawlty Towers censured by UKTV

An episode of Fawlty Towers has been removed from UKTV's streaming service amidst growing racial-cultural arguments.

British Comedy Guide, 11th June 2020

Fawlty Towers actor Nicky Henson dies aged 74

Tributes have been paid to the actor, who was best known for his role as Mr Johnson in Fawlty Towers episode The Psychiatrist.

Lucy Needham, The Mirror, 16th December 2019

Fawlty episode featuring N-word released on Britbox

In 2013 the BBC removed all racial language from its broadcast - but a Fawlty Towers episode featuring the N-word has been released by the BBC on its streaming service.

Jerry Lawton, Daily Star, 9th December 2019

Is using Fawlty Towers to teach English a good idea?

The 1975 sitcom is one of a selection of cultural touchstones suggested by a thinktank - but it all seems rather narrow.

Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett, The Guardian, 27th August 2019

Fawlty Towers tops Radio Times greatest British sitcom list

Fawlty Towers has come out top of a list of the greatest British sitcoms, as compiled by Radio Times magazine.

British Comedy Guide, 9th April 2019

At last, Brexit explained in two words: Basil Fawlty

It's all there in the 70s sitcom Fawlty Towers - rage, insularity, status anxiety. If only we had heeded its terrible warning.

Alex Clark, The Guardian, 9th April 2019

12 Disastrous US remakes of British Sitcoms

Some things are just uniquely suited to a time and a place. The idea of remaking anything to fit another culture is thankfully becoming more of an outdated concept. Unfortunately, in the past, American TV producers have repeatedly tried and failed to remake many of our beloved British sitcoms.

Super Ink, 8th April 2019

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