John Cleese says he snubbed BBC for ‘Fawlty Towers’ reboot

John Cleese has said he snubbed the BBC over his Fawlty Towers reboot because the broadcaster wouldn’t give the show “freedom”.

Earlier this week, the Monty Python actor announced that he’s set to reprise one of his most famous roles as the perpetually stressed hotel owner Basil Fawlty. Cleese wrote and starred in the ’70s sitcom, which originally aired on the BBC.

However, despite this, Cleese has said the revived version of the show will not air on the BBC. He told GBNews this was because he wanted “to deal with subjects that get people upset” and doesn’t believe this will align with the broadcaster’s vision.

Cleese has been an outspoken critic of ‘cancel culture’ in the entertainment industry as well as in education. As well as critiquing the BBC in the past, Cleese has also hit out at his alma mater Cambridge over the matter.

The actor echoed previous comments on ‘being cancelled’ in Thursday’s (February 9) interview with GB News’ Dan Wootton. When asked about whether or not he’ll bring his forthcoming reboot of Fawlty Towers to the BBC, he said: “No, because I wouldn’t get the freedom. I was terribly lucky, Dan. I was working for the BBC in the late 60s, 70s and the beginning of the 80s.

“That was the best time because the BBC was run by people with real personality who loved the medium and they 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 they tended to go for the lowest common denominator while always denying they were doing that.

“If you look at a paper now from 1985 and looked 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.”

He added: “I want to deal with subjects that get people upset but I want to get sensible people with a sense of humour who will listen to each other and who will trade arguments instead of simply making speeches.”