Co-creator defends racist language on controversial episode

John Cleese has defended an episode of Fawlty Towers that was pulled from catch-up TV, saying those who don’t get the joke are ‘stupid’.

Broadcaster UKTV quietly dropped the 1975 episode  The Germans from on-demand platforms yesterday, without initially giving any reason. 

It subsequently explained that the programme – which features  Basil Fawlty’s ‘don’t mention the war’ outburst and exaggerated goose-stepping – was dropped because of The Major’s use of strong racist language.

The scene, which features the long-time resident using the n-word, is usually edited from repeats.

Cleese told Australian newspaper The Age this morning: ‘One of the things I’ve learned in the last 180 years is that people have very different senses of humour.

‘Some of them understand that if you put nonsense words into the mouth of someone you want to make fun of you’re not broadcasting their views, you’re making fun of them.

‘The Major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them. If they can’t see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?’

The episode was yesterday removed from UKTV’s catch-up service, which is available from partners such as Sky, Virgin Media and BT and Now TV.

The omission was first noticed by The Guardian, which said UKTV ‘repeatedly refused to clarify why the programme had been removed, or whether the decision was permanent’.

However, several hours after the news went viral, the broadcaster issued a statement saying: ‘UKTV has temporarily removed an episode of Fawlty Towers from a Gold Box Set.

‘The episode contains racial slurs so we are taking the episode down while we review it.

‘We regularly review older content to ensure it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of outdated language. Some shows carry warnings and others are edited. We want to take time to consider our options for this episode.’

The controversial scene is still included in the version of Fawlty Towers available on Netflix, which has, in the last week, pulled Little Britain, The League Of Gentlemen, The Mighty Boosh, Come Fly With Me  and the work of Australian comedian Chris Lilley from its catalogue because of concern over blackface.

Published: 11 Jun 2020