'It’s a slightly sad story'

The planned revival of Fawlty Towers has been derailed by the violent death of film-maker Rob Reiner, John Cleese has said.

The reboot – which had been set to feature the former Python’s real-life daughter Camilla running a hotel in a high-end Caribbean resort – was being developed by Reiner’s company Castle Rock Entertainment.

But updating the Toronto Star on the progress of the project, 86-year-old Cleese said: 'It’s a slightly sad story because it was for Rob Reiner’s company, so everything’s gone a little bit quiet.

‘They liked the first draft. They’ve given us notes. They liked the rewrites. But that’s as far as it’s gone at the moment.’

Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele, 70, were stabbed to death last December in their Los Angeles home. Their son Nick has been charged with their murder and pleaded not guilty.

When the new Fawlty Towers project was first revealed in February 2023, Reiner said: ‘John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh.’

And Castle Rock president Matthew George, who was to be one of the executive producers on the reboot, said: ‘Meeting John and Camilla was one of the great thrills of my life. I’m obsessed with Fawlty Towers and the legendary characters he created. 

‘I’ve watched the first two seasons so many times I have lost count. I dreamed of one day being involved in a continuation of the story. Now it’s come true.’

Camilla – a stand-up who has previously appeared as part of her father’s stage show and collaborated with him on a  musical stage adaptation of A Fish Called Wanda – was in line to play the illegitimate daughter of Basil Fawlty.

Her father had revealed that the new series ‘starts with Sybil’s death and Basil’s daughter getting a [mistyped] 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, died in October 2025, at the age of 93, 12 years after being  diagnosed with vascular dementia.

Written by Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth, who played waitress Polly, the original Fawlty Towers ran for two six-part seasons, in 1975 and 1979. The show regularly tops polls of the best British sitcoms ever.

Published: 28 Sep 2026