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.
Press clippings Page 12
Why can't we laugh at the old jokes any more?
A 'racist' joke in Fawlty Towers has been cut because it might offend. Well, it might - if you didn't get the joke.
Michael Deacon, The Telegraph, 25th January 2013Fawlty Towers isn't racist. Major Gowen is
The BBC's cutting of racial insults from a repeat of The Germans has brought the integrity of the hit comedy show into question. But the words are clearly used to satirise English upper-class bigotry.
Mark Lawson, The Guardian, 23rd January 2013BBC cuts the Major's 'racist' lines from Fawlty Towers
In one scene one of the hotel's permanent residents, Major Gowen, uses derogatory terms to describe black people. It was included in the episode's first airing in October 1975, but this time around the major's words were edited out.
Laura Cox, Daily Mail, 23rd January 2013Was BBC right to cut racist language in Fawlty Towers?
A BBC2 repeat of The Germans cut a line of racist language, but some viewers have complained that the Fawlty Towers episode should have aired in its original form.
Vicky Frost, The Guardian, 23rd January 2013Fawlty Towers tops TV comeback survey
Fawlty Towers has topped a survey of past shows Britons would love to see return to TV in 2013.
Digital Spy, 3rd January 2013Basil Fawlty, the paton saint of Friday the 13th
For many, Friday the 13th may be the one day where your actions (or inactions) range from staying inside, avoiding black cats, walk way out of your way to prevent you from walking under ladders, or even attempting to avoid buildings that have a 13th floor. Unfortunately, for Basil Fawlty, every day is Friday the 13th at Fawlty Towers without his even trying. When you think about it, in 12 short episodes, Basil experienced a lifetime of Friday the 13th's.
Bill Young, Tellyspotting, 13th July 2012Why is Fawlty Towers so near comedic perfection?
Bill Young tries to find out what makes Fawlty Tower so good.
Bill Young, Tellyspotting, 29th March 2012David Kelly dies aged 82
Dublin-born David Kelly, who played feckless builder Mr O'Reilly in Fawlty Towers but is perhaps best remembered for riding a motorbike naked in the comedy Waking Ned, has died.
BBC News, 13th February 2012How Fawlty Towers almost never opened its' doors
As the story goes, in May of 1974, following a now legendary 1972 stay at the Gleneagles Hotel by members of the Monty Python troupe, a pilot script written by John Cleese and his then-wife, Connie Booth, was submitted to the BBC. A clearly unimpressed 'comedy script editor' by the name of Ian Main sent the following memo to BBC Television's Head of Comedy and Light Entertainment.
Bill Young, Tellyspotting, 29th October 2011A look back at Fawlty Towers
Fawlty Towers is still regarded as one of the best ever sitcoms, even after all this time, but why, exactly, is that the case?
Catriona Wightman, Digital Spy, 17th September 2011