Fawlty Towers reboot brings together John Cleese and daughter

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: News websites
11 Feb 09:19

With the new series picked up by Castle Rock Entertainment, Cleese and his comedian daughter have signed up to revive the roles in an attempt to preserve the original humor presented in the series.

John Cleese and comedian daughter Camilla

For decades, Fawlty Towers has been recognized for its plot and humor, even more than 40 years after the show ended. With a reboot at hand, the so-called greatest British sitcom could be back at it again.

The original Fawlty Tower showcases the life of Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, and his wife Sybll who operate a hotel on the seaside of the town of Torquay. While attempting to keep their marriage afloat, the couple, alongside their butler Manuel, try and mostly fail, to keep the hotel running smoothly.

Although sequels may sometimes seem like knock-offs and do not always live up to the original series’ expectations, producers are confident that with John Cleese at the wheel, the original brand’s brutal humor is to be conserved.

With Rob Reiner, the director of The Princess Bride, and his director wife Michelle on board as executive producers, the modern audience are said to enjoy the show’s preserved and updated humor.

This time, the show stars Cleese as the ever-misanthropic Basil, with his daughter Camilla Cleese. Camilla has several American comedy TV shows and is a regular stand-up comedian herself.

Cleece highlights that a dinner with Matthew George, an additional executive producer of the show, resulted in “one of the best creative sessions” he can remember.

“By dessert, we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner,” Cleese told the BBC. “Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.”

The new series' concept is somehow preserved as it will feature a much older Basil attempting to run a boutique hotel with Camilla, even after finding out that she’s his daughter.