Fawlty Towers, Kenny Everett & Benny Hill "cancelled" in Ch5 films
- Channel 5 has ordered documentaries on the "cancellation" of Fawlty Towers, Kenny Everett and Benny Hill because of controversies and outdated language and tropes in the classic comedy that could offend contemporary audiences
- Beginning with The Cancellation Of Benny Hill later this month, the 90-minute programmes will ask if the humour remains palatable to modern sensibilities
- Channel 5 has also announced that John Thomson and Shaparak Khorsandi will be team captains on the panel show Sally Lindsay's 70's Quiz Night
Fawlty Towers, Kenny Everett and Benny Hill are the subjects of new Channel 5 documentaries about controversies that have seen them "cancelled", British Comedy Guide can exclusively reveal, while Sally Lindsay is to host a 1970s-themed panel show for the channel featuring John Thomson and Shaparak Khorsandi as team captains.
The Cancellation Of Benny Hill airs this month as part of a programming strand reminiscing about the decade, following Hill's journey from being the biggest thing on British television to his shows seldom being repeated today.
Despite winning a Bafta and Rose D'or Award and achieving international fame, with The Benny Hill Show watched by more people in the UK than the 1969 moon landings, the late comic, born Alfred Hawthorne Hill, has been criticised in recent times for the racist and sexist overtones of his shows.
The documentary opens with a warning that "this programme contains racist and offensive material, including blackface from the start."
Promising to tell the story of Hill's "irresistible rise, his controversial reign as Britain's king of comedy, and his eventual downfall, when his incredibly expensive show was finally cancelled by ITV in the late 1980s", the 90-minute documentary features Hill reflecting upon his career in archive clips, as well as interviews with his former co-star Jenny Lee-Wright, comedians Khorsandi, Slim and Nina Wadia, plus comedy historian Dr Oliver Double and Iain Coyle, producer and former head of comedy at UKTV.
What's more, the film presents Hill's sketches to three Generation Z viewers, "who simply can't believe what they're watching. "And ultimately, it asks "whether it's time to bring Benny out of the comedy cold, or whether he should stay 'cancelled'?"
Also arriving on Channel 5 shortly is The Cancellation Of Kenny Everett. The documentary focuses on Everett's firing from the BBC in 1970, for spontaneously suggesting on air that Mary Peyton, wife of John Peyton, the then Minister for Transport, bribed her driving test examiner.
Exploring the backlash that the pioneering comic and radio DJ also received for his vocal support for Margaret Thatcher and the Conservative Party, the film speaks to those who knew Everett and examines his struggle with his identity, even as he pushed the boundaries of comedy and taste. The documentary pledges interviews with "those offended by some of his comedy as well as those who loved him."
Perhaps most controversially, The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers will broadcast later this year.
Created by John Cleese and Connie Booth, only 12 episodes of the iconic sitcom were ever made. Yet the series remains hugely popular, available to stream on UKTV's online platform U, with its theatrical adaptation touring the UK from September and Cleese currently developing a sequel in which Basil Fawlty has relocated to the Caribbean.
However, the new documentary asks "why does the show only exist in a re-cut, sanitised, edited form, with some of the original scenes deleted?" and examines "its sometimes uncomfortable place in today's world."
Major Gowan's racist rant from The Germans episode was cut when it was repeated it on BBC One before the watershed in 2021. The scene in which the out-of-touch pensioner, played by Ballard Berkeley, talks about taking a female friend to see the Indian cricket team and uses two racist slurs, was edited out.
Cleese had laid into the "cowardly and gutless" BBC the year before when The Germans was temporarily removed from the U platform, which is owned by the corporation, because of the slurs.
Posting on X, then known as Twitter, he wrote: "I would have hoped that someone at the BBC would understand that there are two ways of making fun of human behaviour.
"One is to attack it directly. The other is to have someone who is patently a figure of fun, speak up on behalf of that behaviour."
The Python has since declared that he will not take his Fawlty Towers sequel to the corporation.
Incorporating deleted scenes and archive interviews, The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers explores "how a sitcom that seemed untouchable in the 1970s came to be viewed through a more critical lens."
Channel 5 previously broadcast The Cancellation Of Jim Davidson last year.
All three of the upcoming films are produced by Malcolm Donkin (Ronnie Corbett's Lost Tapes, Victoria Wood: In Her Own Words) for fledgling production company Content Kings. The executive producer is Jonathan Levi and Dan Louw is commissioning editor for 5.
As BCG has previously reported, Mount Pleasant star Lindsay is to host Sally Lindsay's 70's Quiz Night this month, with future 1980s and Christmas-themed versions to come.
Thompson and Khorsandi will be joined by celebrity guests to answer questions, play games and enjoy classic clips as their two teams compete to find out who remembers the most about the 1970s. Rounds cover topics such as sitcoms, scary children's programmes, food, pop music, gameshows and the biggest headlines of the decade.
"Being born in 1973 all my early childhood was memories of orange teacups, massive flares and 3 bar electric fires, and what memories they are!" said Lindsay "Absolutely thrilled to lead a quiz that take a fun, nostalgic trip right back to that special time with friends of mine battling it out to be the ultimate 70's champion! Come and join us and see what you remember!"
Made by the actor's new company Saffron Cherry Productions, the director is Julian Smith (A Comedy Roast), with Kate Staples (Billy & Me, Secrets & Scandals Of Carry On) producing. Gareth Collett and Caroline Roberts-Cherry executive produce.