Fawlty Towers star's fury as John Cleese didn't speak to her before reboot news

14 February 2023 , 18:27

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Fawlty Towers star's fury as John Cleese didn't speak to her before reboot news

Connie Booth is miffed that John Cleese is bringing back Fawlty Towers without consulting her.

The 82-year-old co-wrote the hit sitcom with Cleese, then her husband, and starred alongside him as maid Polly.

But Connie, who split from the Basil Fawlty actor after 10 years of marriage in 1978, said she knew nothing about his plan to reboot it after a 44-year gap.

Cleese, 83, announced last week that he planned to co-write the sequel, with Basil now running a boutique hotel, with his daughter Camilla.

Camilla, 39, daughter of Cleese’s second wife Barbara Trentham, will also star in the series alongside her dad.

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Connie, split from the Basil Fawlty actor after 10 years of marriage in 1978 (BBC)

Connie said of the new show: “I’d have appreciated learning about the project from John rather than reading about it in the papers.”

Three attempts to emulate the success of the British 70s series in the US failed.

The first was in the 70s and the last in 1999. Cleese wants the reboot, made by US firm Castle Rock Entertainment, to be set in the Caribbean.

Connie and John were married for ten years (Everett Collection / Rex Features)

John failed to address the reboot with Connie (Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Basil Fawlty would be the only recurring character. Connie Booth gave up acting for a career in psychotherapy.

Sybil Fawlty star Prunella Scales, 90, now suffers from Alzheimer’s disease and Andrew Sachs, who played waiter Manuel, died in 2016.

Cleese has said the sitcom will not air on the BBC as before.

Connie wrote the sitcom alongside John (PA)

Camilla will star alongside her dad in the reboot (Getty Images)

And he said five years ago: “If I ever tried to do a Fawlty Towers-type sitcom again, everyone would say, ‘Well, it’s got its moments, but it’s not as good as Fawlty Towers’.

“So there’s not much point in doing that.”

Nicola Methven