Don’t mention the reboot….
Two years ago in a blaze of publicity, Fawlty Towers was being heralded with a new reboot led by John Cleese, and daughter Camilla.
But there’s still no sign of it proceeding anytime soon.
Perhaps the answer lies in what Cleese told South China Morning Post, “They asked if we could do it, and I gave the answer I’ve been giving for 40 years, which is that I don’t really see how it could possibly be a success.”
However, wined and dined by a US producer, his mind was changed over the course of a single dinner. While Cleese and his daughter Camilla signed on to co-write the reboot there was no script, no concept, no location, and no characters apart from Basil. Cleese’s first wife, co-writer and co-star Connie Booth, was notably not involved.
“It will “probably be set in the Caribbean”, he conceded.
“We don’t have an idea yet – we have half an idea. The trouble is one of the producers wanted to promote himself a little bit and sent out a press release without warning anyone, and suddenly everyone got excited over something that hardly exists.”
In April he told Virgin Radio, “It got a bit sidelined because of all the other things that are going on, like the need to earn a living.”