Fawlty Towers’ John Cleese’s admission about show and King Charles’ coronation

John Cleese starred as Basil Fawlty in "Fawlty Towers" - voted the greatest British sitcom ever in a poll by the Radio Times in 2019. Photo / AP

As John Cleese prepares for the reboot of his much-loved TV show, Fawlty Towers, he’s made a shocking admission about the new version: it “won’t be as good as the original”.

Starring alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese, the new version will follow the British star’s relationship with his daughter as they manage a boutique hotel together.

Speaking to Australian show The Project, the star who captivated audiences as bumbling hotelier Basil Fawlty said: “I resisted [making a new Fawlty Towers] for 40 years and suddenly I saw how you could do it, which is to get away completely from the old series.

“I was setting it perhaps the Caribbean, a sort of holiday hotel, a rather exclusive one.

“I mean it won’t be as funny as the original because that’s the best I could do.

“But [it will] still be funnier than a lot of stuff out there.”

Despite Fawlty Towers’ enduring success (it was named the greatest British sitcom ever in a 2019 poll by the Radio Times), the show only ran for two six-episode seasons.

John Cleese in "Comedy with the Cleeses" at the 2022 SXSW Conference and Festivals in Austin, Texas. Photo / Getty Images

During his interview with The Project, Cleese also admitted he was in hysterics watching the King’s coronation.

“In solemn occasions, I don’t know what it is, I can’t breathe properly,” he said.

“All spontaneity is carefully put aside so that there aren’t any mistakes. Solemnity is a mild form of hierarchy.

“If you have a lovely, humorous, good-natured atmosphere, it’s very hard for people to pretend they’re more important than each other.

“Do you see what I mean? The moment you allow any humour in that kind of hierarchy, it disappears, it dissolves.

“So they have to make these occasions very solemn. So my wife, who was watching television in bed with the cats around her, said, ‘Come and watch a bit of it.’ I came as Charles was coming in, and I leaned on the bed, [eyes] fixed on the screen, and started to laugh uncontrollably.

“Because it was people in silly costumes pretending it was all very serious.”