The comedian suggested a backdrop for the rebooted sitcom (Picture: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)
Jimmy Carr has given his two cents on the upcoming reboot of popular British sitcom Fawlty Towers, revealing what advice he’d give for John Cleese as the lead star prepares to reprise his role.
Earlier this week, it was confirmed that the programme, which follows a hotel owner called Basil Fawlty and all of the hijinks he gets up to with his fellow staff members and wife, would be making a return after more than 40 years.
Cleese, 83, will be writing the show with his daughter Camilla Cleese, 39, while Matthew George, Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner and Derrick Rossi are set to executive produce the revival, amid fears from fans that it could be a ‘car crash’.
Given how long it’s been since the final episode aired in 1979, 8 Out of 10 Cats host Carr, 50, suggested what he thinks would be a logical setting for the story.
Getting Cleese’s age wrong by a couple of years, he remarked: ‘John Cleese is 85, isn’t he? Surely, the reboot should be set in a retirement home? That’s the smart money.’
According to the Daily Mail newspaper’s Eden Confidential column, the comedian also implied that money could have been Cleese’s motivation for rebooting Fawlty Towers.
Only 12 episodes of the series were made (Picture: Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo)
‘I think, from John Cleese’s point of view, if he leaves it, he doesn’t get paid. If he reboots it, he gets paid, so reboot away my friend,’ he said.
‘I think they’ve got to write him a cheque beforehand and he’ll be fine. God love him, don’t mess with the man’s money.’
Following the announcement of Fawlty Towers’ return, Cleese recalled the meeting he had with one of the executive producers, saying that ‘unlike many producers, he really “gets” the creative process’.
‘When we first met, he offered an excellent first idea, and then Matt, my daughter Camilla, and I had one of the best creative sessions I can remember,’ he recollected.
Cleese is looking forward to bringing Basil Fawlty back to the screen (Picture: Johnny Louis/FilmMagic)
‘By dessert we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner.’
He added: ‘Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.’
Cleese wrote the original series of Fawlty Towers – which ran for 12 episodes cross two seasons – with his ex-wife Connie Booth, who he was married to from 1968 to 1978.
The couple shared one child together, Cynthia Cleese, who was born in 1971.
The Monty Python star welcomed his second daughter, Camilla, with his second ex-wife Barbara Trentham, who he was married to from 1981 to 1990.
The actor married his third wife Alyce Eichelberger from 1992 to 2008, and has been married to Jennifer Wade since 2012.
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MORE : Who was in the cast of the original Fawlty Towers and how many episodes were there?
MORE : Fawlty Towers fans already dreading sitcom revival: ‘Car crash waiting to happen’
The comedian suggested a backdrop for the rebooted sitcom.
