John Cleese rules out a return to the BBC
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info
The John Cleese sitcom is making a return to screens once again, with the 83-year-old confirming he and his daughter were working on a new script. He has previously declared he would not be working with the BBC for the revival, arguing the channel wouldn’t give him freedom over the series. However, BBC’s comedy director Jon Petrie has stated the broadcaster would be “happy to talk” about the new episodes.
John starred as rude hotel owner Basil Fawlty in the much-loved comedy which aired more than 40 years ago.
Recently, the actor has spoken out against “woke culture” and has criticised the BBC for it.
Director Jon addressed the classic series, describing Fawlty Towers as a “legendary show” and suggested there could be scope for the BBC to work with John once again.
According to Deadline, he remarked: “We found out about [the Fawlty Towers revival] when everyone else did.
“I don’t know if it would work for us and we’ve not spoken to John Cleese but it’s obviously a legendary show and we would be happy to talk to John if he wanted to talk about it.”
Speaking on GB News last month about the series, John stated: “I’m not doing it with the BBC because I won’t get the freedom.
I was terribly lucky before, because I was working for the BBC in the late Sixties, Seventies, and the beginning of the Eighties.
“That was the best time because the BBC was run by people with real personalities who loved the medium and who were operating out of confidence, which was okay because there wasn’t so much competition.
“Then John Birt came in and said if the BBC didn’t match the viewing figures that the commercial channels were getting they’d get their license revoked.
“So then they started going for the biggest audiences and tended to go for the lowest common denominator while always denying they were doing that.”
John continued: “If you look at a paper now from 1985 and look at the TV shows available that evening and compare what they are now – basically in Britain we’ve gone from what was a middle-class culture with all its failings to a tabloid culture and that is why there is so much of this screaming at people.”
Talking about his inspiration to reboot the series, he added: “When I look at old clips now all these wonderful English character actors aren’t with us anymore.
“So suddenly we thought that if the only continuing character is Basil, then we can come up with something surprising.
“Then we thought, ‘Where?’ Not in a small English town, but somewhere more fun and much more different – say a Caribbean island or something like that with a small bijou hotel with a few rich people coming to stay!”
The actor is also set to host a new, right-leaning show on GB News, which was established as an “anti-woke” news outlet.
He will be fronting Dinosaur Hour, which he has described as being very excited about.
Just a couple of weeks ago, the actor took to Twitter to address some of the criticism he has received since announcing the reboot.
In a seemingly sarcastic post, he “apologised” to those upset by the news.
He penned on his social media account: “I must apologise. I had no idea that the idea of writing a new sitcom with my daughter would cause so much anger and distress
“I truly meant no harm. Naively, I thought it might be fun but I feel terrible about having released this tide of negative emotion. Please forgive me.”
Source: Read Full Article
