Top News

A new documentary is set to explore the darker side of classic 1970s BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, which starred as the irrasible hotelier Basil Fawlty. The team behind The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers say they will "piece together the story of how a sitcom that seemed untouchable in the 1970s came to be viewed through a more critical lens". Part of the broadcaster's "The Cancellation Of..." series of shows, which have already featured Benny Hill, Kenny Everett and Jim Davidson, it is yet to be scheduled but has been completed and is expected to air later this year.

The documentary poses the question: "Why does the show only exist in a re-cut, sanitised, edited form, with some of the original scenes deleted?" The synopsis says: "In this programme, we explore these controversies, peeling back the layers of Fawlty Towers and examining its sometimes uncomfortable place in today's world. Through unearthed deleted scenes and archival interviews, we piece together the story of how a sitcom that seemed untouchable in the 1970s came to be viewed through a more critical lens."

The episode The Germans became notorious for some of its scenes, which are considered racist when viewed under a contermporary lens.

The character of Major Gowan had his racist dialogue cut when it was repeated on BBC One before the watershed in 2021. A scene in another episode in which an out-of-touch pensioner, played by Ballard Berkeley, uses two racist terms when he talks about taking a female friend to see the Indian cricket team was also edited out of reruns.

The documentary will also look at the show's attitude towards the Irish. The character of Irish builder O'Reilly, played by David Kelly, recurred regularly on the show.

The unedited versions of all episodes are still available to purchase on home media. Some deleted scenes will also feature in the documentary alongside archive and new interviews.

Fawlty Towers was created by legend John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth and only lasted for two series and a mere 12 episodes.

Despite this it has become iconic and has spawned parodies of numerous famous scenes as well as a recent stage play.

John and his daughter Camilla Cleese are also reported to be writing new episodes which was announced last February.

However he assured fans: "We'd never try to update Fawlty Towers. People probably won't understand it at the beginning if they're young, but they'll pick it up."