Fawlty Towers reboot also on hold

John Cleese says the planned Fish Called Wanda musical has stalled because of – what else? – woke.

In a new interview, the 85-year-old comic railed against the ‘joyless fuckers’ who police comedy for scuppering the idea.

It comes after he said that the planned US reboot of Fawlty Towers – intended as a vehicle for his daughter Camilla – has been ‘sidelined’ as he was too busy.

Cleese mooted the idea of a musical based on the 1988 Wanda movie in 2008, writing the script with Camilla, and recruiting  Bill Bailey to work on the music.

But he told the Sunday Times that the the project is at an ‘impasse’ after potential collaborators raised objections, including fears the Wanda character originally played by Jamie Lee Curtis was ‘objectified’, that stutterers are mocked and animals harmed in the script.

Cleese said of the objectors: 'I think that their main fault is they don’t understand that all comedy is critical. You cannot write something funny about someone who is kind, honest, friendly, co-operative — they’re not funny. 

‘It’s the faults, our faults, human faults, that are funny, and they think that pointing faults out is unkind, whereas it’s actually how we improve.’

Last week the comedian told Virgin Radio’s Ryan Tubridy that the Fawlty Towers revival –  set in an upmarket Caribbean hotel run by  Basil's illegitimate daughter to be played by Camilla, was also stalled.

He said: ‘It got a bit sidelined because of all the other things that are going on, like the need to earn a living.’

Cleese was speaking to today’s Times to promote the return of the  Fawlty Towers play to the West End and its national tour this summer. 

The revived interest in his sitcom – which celebrates its  50th anniversary in September – has also triggered a book and TV documentary to go out later this year.

Cleese told Tubridy: ‘I’ve just been writing a book for the 50th anniversary which should go out with TV shows. I got sad because almost everybody’s dead.’

Fawlty Towers: Fawlts And All - My Favourite Moments will be published by Headline on October 9 and promises ‘your favourite moments as you've never seen them before’.

The blurb adds: ‘Exploring the how and why of creating classic comedy, there is a laugh on every page, and a dose of nostalgia for vintage TV fans’.  

According to the British Comedy Guide, a camera crew has been following Cleese since he and director Caroline Jay Ranger oversaw the opening of the Fawlty Towers play in London last year.

It is not known which channel will air the documentary, which is being made by Phil McIntyre TV, the television production arm of the stage show's promoter. The company also made the two-hour  Gold documentary Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened in 2009.

In his interview with Tubridy, Cleese also revealed that he still talks to his Monty Python writing partner Graham Chapman via a medium:

• A Fish Called Wanda can be rented through Amazon.

Published: 27 Apr 2025