John Cleese

John Cleese says he always loved the Germans

As the xenophobic hotelier Basil Fawlty, John Cleese famously told his staff "Don't mention the war" before goose-stepping in front of his German guests with an arm raised in a Nazi salute. But more than 30 years on Cleese seems finally willing to follow his character's advice and even go further by seeking a rapprochement with the nation he once so ruthlessly lampooned.

Comic radicalism was the theme of Roy Smiles' Pythonesque, which swung between melancholy and hyperactivity in its homage to Monty Python. His focus was Graham Chapman (Chris Polick), whose Lady Gaga-style willingness to experiment with costume ("Does my dress go with the pipe?" he once asked) was a cover for his struggle with shyness, alcoholism and the pressures of co-writing the cult seventies TV comedy. His writing partner John Cleese (Mark Oosterveen sounding very like the beanpole performer) emitted tenderness and exasperation. The mix of scenes of realism with those in the satire-meets-panto style of the Pythons worked very well.

You're on a hiding to nothing dramatising the Monty Python story: try as you might, you're never going to be as funny as your subject. Undeterred, Roy Smiles undertook the challenge in Pythonesque, which centred on Graham Chapman's battle with booze and his early death from cancer, told in the style of those overarching comedy gods.

Written for last year's Edinburgh Festival, it probably worked better on stage, and the tone of over-egged jocularity grated somewhat. Devices such as having Eric Idle, in full "Wink-wink nudge-nudge" mode, audition Chapman and John Cleese for the Footlights were simply irritating.

For all the pastiches, even the ones that worked, it was Chapman's sombre closing speech that was truly memorable: "I was proud to be gay, proud to conquer my alcoholism, proud to be a Python, proud to write with John Cleese, and proud to play the lead in two of the funniest movies of all time. I enjoyed a full life and I was loved by many. What more can a man ask?"

Real-life Sybil Fawlty dies aged 95

Beatrice Sinclair ran Torquay hotel used by John Cleese as inspiration for classic sitcom Fawlty Towers.

John Cleese on move to 'beautiful' Georgian Bath

Monty Python funnyman John Cleese says he has fallen "in love" with his new home in Bath.

The actor and comedian has moved to the Georgian city after spending the past decade in America.

And Cleese, who was born in Weston-super-Mare and went to Bristol's Clifton College, says many people he knows are moving West.

The Amnesty International Comedy Podcast: Episode 1

Russell Brand, John Cleese, Fred MacAulay, Rob Rouse and Danielle Ward all exercise their right to freedom of expression on the inaugural Amnesty International Comedy Podcast. Expect Vaseline on the nipples, hair ruffling and bottom patting.

Girl who's made John Cleese fall in love again

It seems John Cleese has been missing the old country a little too much, as he pursues a romance with a British woman more than 30 years his junior.

John Cleese savages BBC and ITV for going downmarket

John Cleese says the word 'quality' is no longer mentioned at planning meetings.

Ex-Python John Cleese goes on first UK tour, aged 71

Former Monty Python star John Cleese is to embark on his first ever UK tour next year.

Graham Norton shows us how it's done

Despite his reputation for making great television at the expense of his guests, the stars still come flocking, and recent interviewees on The Graham Norton Show have included comedy hero John Cleese and Hollywood A-lister Jennifer Lopez.