Connect with us

Published

on

Fawlty Towers is to be revived after more than 40 years, with John Cleese set to star alongside his daughter.

The show, widely regarded as one of the best sitcoms of all time, left British screens in 1979 after a four-year run on BBC Two.

It followed the unfortunate exploits of highly-strung Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty, played by Cleese, and his wife Sybil, portrayed by Prunella Scales, as they tried to keep their hotel and marriage afloat.

On Tuesday, Castle Rock Entertainment announced it had closed a deal with Cleese to bring back the hit series.

The 83-year-old actor and writer will reprise his role as Fawlty in the new show, while his daughter, Camilla, will star alongside him as the hotelier’s recently returned long-lost daughter.

Comedian John Cleese in his role as Basil Fawlty, the manic host of Fawlty Towers.
Image:
Comedian John Cleese in his role as Basil Fawlty

The new series will explore how the dramatic and cynical Basil navigates the modern world, while running a boutique hotel.

Actor Rob Reiner, his wife and actress Michele Reiner, director and producer Matthew George and Derrick Rossi will act as executive producers on the series.

Cleese said: “When we first met, he [Matt] offered an excellent first idea, and then Matt, my daughter Camilla, and I had one of the best creative sessions I can remember.

“By dessert, we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner.

“Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.”

Read more:
Fawlty Towers: John Cleese hits out at ‘stupid’ removal of episode

Rob Reiner added: “John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh.”

The original show, written by Cleese and Connie Booth, ran on BBC Two for two series in 1975 and 1979.

In 2019, it was named the greatest British sitcom of all time by a panel of television experts for Radio Times magazine.

However, despite its success, Cleese has previously pushed back on the idea of reviving Fawlty Towers.

In a 2009 interview, the comedian, then aged 69, said the cast would never make another episode because they are “too old and tired”.

Prunella Scales (left), John Cleese, Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs (right) are seen in London promoting two Fawlty Towers specials created to commemorate the 30 years Fawlty Towers Anniversary.
Image:
Prunella Scales (left), John Cleese, Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs (right) in London promoting two Fawlty Towers specials for its 30th anniversary

The show was remade in the US three times – in 1979 as Chateau Snavely, in 1983 as Amanda’s, and in 1999 as Payne – however all failed.

Aside from Fawlty Towers, Cleese is best known as one of the original members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.

The group produced a number of surreal sketch shows and films including Monty Python And The Holy Grail, Monty Python’s Life Of Brian and Monty Python’s The Meaning Of Life.

The comedian, who has in recent years rallied against “cancel culture”, revealed last year he was joining GB News after being told it is a “free speech channel”.

His show is due to begin airing later this year.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Lauren Laverne given ‘all clear’ following cancer diagnosis

Published

on

By

Lauren Laverne given 'all clear' following cancer diagnosis

BBC presenter Lauren Laverne has said she has been given the “all clear” after being diagnosed with cancer.

The 46-year-old said in a post on social media that she will return to work next week on The One Show and has been working on new episodes of BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs.

She said she is set to also return to her 6 Music show in the new year.

Laverne announced she was undergoing cancer treatment back in August after a screening test caught the disease “early and unexpectedly”.

She has not specified what type of cancer she had.

Thanking medical staff, friends and all those who sent her get well wishes, Laverne said on Sunday she would most like to thank her husband Graeme and her two children, who she said have been “absolutely extraordinary throughout”.

“It’s been a difficult time but one that has taught me so much about what really matters,” she wrote.

“I can’t say I suddenly regretted never having hiked the Inca Trail, more that I now see more beauty in ordinary things than I could have imagined, and feel more than ever that the small things in life – the connections we make and care we take with each other – are the big things really.”

A new episode of Desert Island Discs is due to air on 1 December, and will be a pre-recorded interview with comedian Mark Steel that is believed to have been done by Laverne before she went on leave.

Read more from Sky News:
Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at show
Kanye West accused of sexual assault

She will return to record more episodes as well as Christmas editions of the series over the next few weeks.

A BBC spokeswoman said: “We’re delighted to welcome Lauren back to the studio this month for The One Show and Desert Island Discs, with new episodes airing on Radio 4 from 1 December, and we look forward to welcoming Lauren back to BBC Radio 6 Music in the new year.”

Continue Reading

Entertainment

‘Love you bro’: Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate’s death

Published

on

By

'Love you bro': Zayn Malik's tribute to Liam Payne at first show since former bandmate's death

Zayn Malik paid tribute to former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne as he kicked off his solo tour.

Payne died last month of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires, according to a post-mortem.

Images from Leeds’s O2 Academy on Saturday showed Malik – who delayed his Stairway To The Sky tour due to Payne’s funeral on Wednesday – shared a tribute.

A message was displayed with a heart on a large blue screen behind the singer reading: “Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro.”

The 31-year-old also previously postponed the US leg of the tour after the “heartbreaking loss”.

He later rescheduled the Edinburgh shows, which had been planned for 20 and 21 November, to December due to “unforeseen circumstances”.

Following Payne’s death, Malik said he “never got to thank” him for his support during some of the “most difficult” times.

“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever,” he said in a post on Instagram.

Read more:
Kanye West accused of sexual assault
Ed Sheeran ‘helped Ipswich sign player’

Malik rose to fame in 2010 when Simon Cowell teamed him up with Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan on talent show The X Factor.

Malik left the band in 2015 and all members went on to pursue their own solo careers.

An investigation has been launched into Payne’s death by prosecutors and three people have been charged in connection with the incident.

Continue Reading

Entertainment

Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Published

on

By

Kanye West accused of sexual assault on set of music video in new lawsuit

Rapper Ye – formerly known as Kanye West – has been accused of sexual assault in a civil lawsuit that alleges he strangled a model on the set of a music video.

Warning: This story contains details that readers may find distressing

The lawsuit alleges the musician shoved his fingers in the claimant’s mouth at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City in 2010, in what it refers to as “pornographic gagging”, Sky News’ US partner network NBC News reported.

The model who brought the case – which was filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York – was a background actor for another musician’s music video that Ye was guest-starring in, NBC said, citing the lawsuit.

She is seeking compensatory and punitive damages against the 47-year-old.

A representative for Ye was approached for comment by NBC News on Saturday.

The New York City Police Department said it took “sexual assault and rape cases extremely seriously, and urges anyone who has been a victim to file a police report so we can perform a comprehensive investigation, and offer support and services to survivors”.

The lawsuit alleges that a few hours into the shoot, the rapper arrived on set, took over control and ordered “female background actors/models, including the claimant, to line up in the hallway”.

The rapper is then believed to have “evaluated their appearances, pointed to two of the women, and then commanded them to follow him”.

The lawsuit adds the claimant, who was said to be wearing “revealing lingerie”, was uncomfortable but went with Ye to a suite which had a sofa and a camera.

When in the room, Ye is said to have ordered the production team to start playing the music, to which he did not know his lyrics and instead rambled, “rawr, rawr, rawr”.

The lawsuit claims: “Defendant West then pulled two chairs near the camera, positioned them across from each other, and instructed the claimant to sit in the chair in front of the camera.”

While stood over the model, the lawsuit clams Ye strangled her with both hands, according to NBC.

It claims he went on to “emulate forced oral sex” with his hands, with the rapper allegedly screaming: “This is art. This is f****** art. I am like Picasso.”

Read more from Sky News:
Cillian Murphy and his wife buy a cinema
Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF

Universal Music Group is also named in the lawsuit as a defendant and is accused of failing to investigate the incident.

The corporation did not immediately respond to a request for comment by NBC.

Jesse S Weinstein, a lawyer representing the claimant, said the woman “displayed great courage to speak out against some of the most powerful men and entities within the entertainment industry”.

Continue Reading

Trending