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John J Hoare’s Dirty Feed blog
"Two Dead, Twenty-Five to Go..." - "Of Course There's Too Much Duck" - The Unexamined Sitcom Is Not Worth Watching - Project No: 1144/3361 - Unsolved Fawlty Towers Mystery #1834793 -Fawlty Towers and Mastermind
Mastermind - Heat 1 - (Life After Mastermind)Mastermind limits use of Harry Potter and Fawlty Towers - (BBC News)Fawlty Towers among subjects banned by Mastermind as questions run out - (The Guardian)Mastermind has banned Fawlty Towers, Blackadder and Father Ted from its specialist subjects list - , updated (Metro)How to choose the perfect specialist subject on Mastermind - (RadioTimes.com)Obituaries
Andrew Leeman
Andrew Leeman; introduced tacos and margaritas to London - (The Times; Narkive archive)Obituary by The Telegraph - (Paywalled)Jimmy Gilbert
James Gilbert, the man who commissioned Fawlty Towers, checks out at 93 - (Chortle)Andrew Sachs
Obituary by The Guardian - Obituary by BBC News - Blue Plaque unveiled at site of former 'Fawlty Towers' hotel (Churchill Living)Ballard Berkeley
Remembering Ballard Berkeley, a.k.a Major Gowen in 'Fawlty Towers' - (KERA Tellyspotting)Geoffrey Palmer
Obituary by BBC News - :In 2000 the British Film Institute polled industry professionals to compile a list of what they felt were the greatest British TV programmes ever screened. Palmer was the only actor to have appeared in all of the top three - Fawlty Towers, Cathy Come Home and Doctor Who.
Bridget Turner
Obituary by The Guardian - :John Cleese in a recent interview said that the role of Sybil in Fawlty Towers had first been offered to her, but she turned it down.
Interviews
John Cleese
To Hell With Basil - (The Independent)John Lennon
The Final Interview - (BBC Radio 1; YouTube archive)Rowan Atkinson
Rowan Atkinson still has us in stitches - (GQ Magazine)Assorted Cast and Crew of The Young Ones
We took the sitcom and blew it apart: how The Young Ones changed comedy for ever - :
If 12 episodes was enough for John Cleese, it’s enough for us
AA Gill
AA Gill's sober truths: the critic on his lost years, his missing brother and why he's a fan of Jeremy Corbyn - (The Standard)Cast, Crew, and Technical
Harry Fielder, professional extra (appeared in the episode The Kipper and the Corpse)Robin Ellis, actor (appeared in the episode A Touch of Class)Polly Speaks! - Connie Booth Interview - (Chortle)A Fawlty Towers guest star reveals what it was like working on the best British sitcom of all time - April Walker Interview - (RadioTimes.com)Information about Ballard BerkeleyWhat happened to the cast of Fawlty Towers with the series set for surprise revival - , updated (Wales Online)Fawlty Towers - Uncredited Speaking Parts - ‑ (BritMovie forum thread)Fawlty Towers – rare photos from the Radio Times Archive - (RadioTimes.com)
The Television Rehearsal Rooms (TV Studio History)Inside Fawlty Towers by Marcus Harmes - (CST Online)
BBC comedy script editor rejects Fawlty Towers, (The Guardian)How the BBC almost turned down Fawlty Towers - (The Telegraph; Paywalled)John Cleese shares rejection letter for 'dire' Fawlty Towers branding it a 'disaster' - (Express)
Cleese in the 21st Century
Fawlty Towers reunion: John Cleese criticises state of today's television - (The Guardian)Why is John Cleese so obsessed with woke culture? - (Far Out Magazine)John Cleese on How Wokeness Smothers Creativity - (Reason)Comedy doesn't work if you're literal-minded, says Cleese - (BBC News)Theatre
Information about the Rowney Green Players' production of Fawlty Towers - ‑NODA's review of Fawlty Towers as presented by the Leighton Buzzard Drama Group - The Dubbo Theatre Company present Fawlty Towers: The Hotel Inspectors - ‑ (YouTube)West End stage adaptation
John Cleese and the West End cast of Fawlty Towers - The Play | Interviews and show footage - (WhatsOnStage, YouTube)Fawlty Towers - The Play (a review of a lazy adaptation) - (British Sitcom History, YouTube)BBC Breakfast interview of Adam Jackson‑Smith (Basil Fawlty) - (YouTube)Censorship of The Germans
Fawlty Towers isn't racist. Major Gowen is - (The Guardian)Unedited Fawlty Towers episode containing the N-word is broadcast on BBC's new Netflix-style streaming service Britbox - , updated (The Daily Mail)Fawlty Towers: John Cleese hits out at 'stupid' removal of episode - (Sky News)John Cleese forces BBC U-turn over ban on Fawlty Towers - (The Times; Paywalled)BBC airs controversial 'Fawlty Towers' episode 'The Germans' after cutting racist terms - (Yahoo News)Adaptations of Fawlty Towers
Hotel de Botel (Dutch) - (YouTube, episode 3)Snavely (US) - aired (YouTube)Amanda's (US) - aired ‑ (YouTube; full series)Best Show Polls
Basil's road rage tops poll - (BBC News)BFI TV 100 - (Wikipedia): Fawlty Towers won the poll out of 650 nominees, which were voted on by 1,600 television industry professionals100 Greatest (Wikipedia): Polls held on the Channel 4 website found Basil Fawlty to be the 2nd greatest TV character (episodes 5-6, 100 Greatest TV Characters), the greatest comedy character (episode 51, The World's Greatest Comedy Characters), and Fawlty Towers as a whole to be the second best-loved sitcom (episodes 62-63, Britain's Best Loved Sitcoms)Britain's Best Sitcom (Wikipedia): Polls held by the BBC earnt Fawlty Towers a spot in the top ten favourite comedies of the country. At the conclusion of the series, Fawlty Towers had ultimately earnt itself 5th place, with a total of 172,066 votesBlackadder 'the best show ever' - (Chortle):A total of 13,500 people were surveyed by LoveFilm; with Fawlty Towers allegedly coming second (though no source is provided in the article)Fawlty Towers named best British sitcom by comedians - (BBC News)
BBC Sounds
Desert Island Discs - Prunella Scales ()Desert Island Discs - John Cleese ()What's Funny About... Series 2 Episode 5 - John Cleese on Fawlty Towers ()Front Row - John Cleese's Fawlty Towers on stage, Beatrice Harrison, Cannes ()YouTube
Hotel Babylon meets Sybil Fawlty - Children in Need 2007()The Queen Special - Basil Fawlty gives his opinion on Queen ()John Cleese and the Specsavers Fawlty car ()John Cleese Interview - Specsavers Fawlty Car ()Manuel in a advert for Yalumba Carte d'Or RieslingWe Are Most Amused featuring Basil and Manuel