John Cleese reveals Fawlty Towers scene he would 'redo'
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Although it only ran for four years, the BBC sitcom has gone down as one of the best classic British comedy shows of all time. Now, nearly 40 years later an original Fawlty Towers script has been unearthed and is expected to be sold for more than £1,400.
The script, which dates back to 1979, was discovered in a bedroom drawer by a relative of a former BBC cameraman.
Sorting his affairs after his death, the relative found a 98-page original camera script for the Waldorf Salad episode.
The episode features a demanding American guest who orders a salad that Basil had never heard of before.
Although it was supposed to be the first episode of the second series, it ended up being shown as the third instead.
Up for auction via East Bristol Auctions, its current bid is at £1,300 with the next minimum bid set at £1,400.
A description for the script on the auction site states that it: “Retains the original script fastener to corner.
“Front cover loose. Originally owned by a BBC cameraman, the script represents an important piece of British Comedy history.”
The first bid for the script was made five days ago and started at £500.
Since then, there have been 16 bids in total with the auction set to end on August 23 at 8pm.
Last year, actor John Cleese spoke on The One Show to hosts Alex Jones and Martin Clunes in a special episode on his time playing the iconic Basil Fawlty.
Reminiscing about his time in the BBC comedy, he admitted there were certain parts he wished he could have done differently.
He revealed there was one particular scene where viewers could spot a mishap if they look closely.
He said: “There is a moment when the moose head falls on me and I would have retaken it.
“Because if you watch carefully, I am waiting for it to fall on me because it didn’t fall on cue, it was late.”
“I am very sorry we didn’t go back to do that so every time I watch that sequence I go ‘Oh dear I wish we got that right,
“But when it’s a funny sequence like the argument at the beginning of the Germans episode about the fire drill, I still laugh at that because I still think it’s terribly well performed by everyone. It was a group performance.”
Although he told the hosts he doesn’t watch the episodes anymore, he’s still pleased when he discovers an old clip from Fawlty Towers and finds it funny to this day.
He added: “I don’t understand why I still find it funny.
“I think it’s because of people’s attitude and not actually just verbal jokes.”
The iconic series is available to watch on BritBox.
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