More news of Fawlty Towers reboot emerges

John Cleese is killing off Basil Fawlty's wife Sybil for the reboot of Fawlty Towers, the comic has been revealed.

He previously revealed that the new version will be shunning Torquay for an upmarket boutique Caribbean hotel being run by Fawlty’s daughter – likely to be played by Cleese’s real-life daughter Camilla.

Now he has explained that the new character was an illegitimate child, born from Basil’s illicit affair with a hotel guest.

He told The Sun: ‘Sybil dies and Basil goes to see his daughter because it was all part of a naughty affair that he once had with a guest at the hotel.’

The 83-year-old added that the new series would start with a mistyped text message, saying: ‘The new one starts with Sybil’s death and Basil’s daughter getting a text message from her father saying, "Sybil did".

‘She texts back, "Sybil did what?". ‘

He added: ‘Basil is about to deliver the eulogy and says what an absolutely wonderful woman Sybil was. And then the camera pans around and you see that behind his back he has his fingers crossed.’

Prunella Scales, who played Sybil in the original series, is now 90 and living with Alzheimer’s.

The new series is being made by American production company Castle Rock Entertainment, run by Rob Reiner. No broadcaster has yet been named, but Cleese has previously insisted it won’t be at the BBC, which he often criticises, saying he wouldn’t  get the ‘freedom’ to make the show he wanted there.

Cleese has previously said of the new location: ‘If you put it in the Caribbean, it becomes very multi-racial. People in the hotel business come from everywhere, so you can bring lots of different people together. The characteristic of Fawlty Towers was the pressure cooker atmosphere created in the hotel.’

News that he was reviving Fawlty Towers was initially greeted with some scepticism, prompting Cleese to tweet sarcastically: ‘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.’

Fawlty Towers co-creator – and former wife – Connie Booth said she had no idea about the reboot until she read about it in the press.  The former actress, who played Polly in the sitcom, said: ’I’d have appreciated learning about the project from John rather than reading about it in the papers.’

Last week Chortle reported how Cleese is to be the subject of a televised comedians' roast during his newly announced Australian tour.

He is also making a show about cancel culture for Channel 4 and is set to present a show on the self-proclaimed ‘free speech’ channel GB News, to be produced by stand-up Andrew Doyle.

Published: 16 May 2023