Film / News

John Cleese comes to Bristol to celebrate Fawlty Towers at 50

By Robin Askew  Tuesday Jul 29, 2025

Bloody hell – has it really been half a century since we gathered round the telly as snot-nosed kids to watch Fawlty Towers – John Cleese’s sitcom follow-up to Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Indeed it has, and to say that the antics of Basil, Sybil, Polly, Manuel, the Major and the supporting cast didn’t disappoint would be a major understatement. In 12 perfectly formed episodes, Cleese and Connie Booth served up a brilliantly plotted sitcom that single-handedly raised the bar of an increasingly moribund genre. Not even confected controversies about the Major’s racism and ‘The Germans’ episode could dent its popularity.

Now Cleese has written a book about the show entitled Fawlty Towers: Fawlty & All, which is published in October, and is coming to Bristol next month to discuss it at a special event to raise funds for the city’s Slapstick Festival. Cleese will be in conversation with ITV West Country presenter Alex Lovell in a clip-packed event at St. George’s on Wednesday 27 August. Tickets, which are bound to be snapped up quickly, are on sale now here.

Main image supplied by Slapstick

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