Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
- TV documentary
- Gold
- 2009
- 2 episodes
A two hour documentary special looking at Fawlty Towers, plus a two hour clip show. Features Connie Booth's first interview in 30 years. Features John Cleese, Andrew Sachs, Prunella Scales, Connie Booth, John Howard Davies and more.
Press clippings Page 2
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.
Michael Deacon, The Telegraph, 6th May 2009BBC 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.
Patrick Foster, The Times, 6th May 2009'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?
Chortle, 6th May 2009This joyous look back at John Cleese's benchmark sitcom delivers everything you could hope for. For the first time, Cleese, ex-wife Connie Booth, screen wife Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs, together with producer-director John Howard Davies, re-call how the shows came about.
Cleese's anecdotes about the Torbay hotelier who inspired the monstrous Basil are as funny as the gold-plated clips. And that's saying something, since Fawlty Towers' slapstick violence has tremendous impact in short bursts.
Add interviews with many of the sitcom's guest stars, including Bernard Cribbins, Una Stubbs, Geoffrey Palmer and David Kelly and you have real depth and detail. If only the start of each section wasn't delayed by unnecessary come-ons, it would be the perfect documentary for the perfect sitcom.
Geoff Ellis, Radio Times, 5th May 2009