Fawlty Towers co-creator Connie Booth claims John Cleese didn’t tell her about reboot
The former actor said she found out about the news ‘in the papers’
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Your support makes all the difference.Fawlty Towers co-creator and actor, Connie Booth has said she didn’t know the show was getting a reboot.
The former actor – who played Polly in the show – claims she found out about the news the same way as anyone else, by reading it “in the papers”.
Last week, John Cleese announced he would be rebooting the classic sitcom with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
The Monty Python’s Flying Circus actor, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is currently working on the new series in collaboration with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.
Both Cleese and his daughter will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development.
The original series starred Connie Booth – Cleese’s then-wife who co-created the series – along with Prunella Scales as Basil’s wife Sybil and the late Andrew Sachs as hotel employee Manuel.
The new series will not contain any of the original actors bar Cleese. Booth said she would have liked to have been told by her former-collaborator and former husband that a reboot was planned.
The pair were married for 10 years between 1968 and 1978, while working on the production together.
“I’d have appreciated learning about the project from John rather than reading about it in the papers,” the now 82-year-old told The Times.
“Because a previous American reboot of Fawlty Towers had failed some years ago, I was surprised that another was being planned,” she said, explaining why she was yet to sign a contract with Castle Entertainment.
“I was even more surprised to read that John intends to write and to perform in it together with his daughter Camilla,” she added.
The Independent has contacted Cleese’s representative for comment.
The new show will be set in the Caribbean, according to Cleese, who decided it was best for the cast to be new, given the fact that many of the original actors have died.
“When I look at the old clips there are all these wonderful English character actors who aren’t with us anymore,” he said, while appearing on GB News on Thursday (9 February).
The original Fawlty Towers ran for two series with six episodes in each between 1975 and 1979. It is widely considered one of the best comedy series ever made.
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