John Cleese Bringing ‘Fawlty Towers’ Play To West End Featuring Controversial Episode ‘The Germans’

The Fawlty Towers revival continues apace.

Not content with rebooting the TV series with Rob Reiner, John Cleese has now penned a stage adaptation of three episodes of the 40-year-old BBC series, which is widely considered one of the best British shows of all time.

Fawlty Towers: The Play is penned by Cleese and based on three episodes: The Hotel Inspectors, The Germans and Communication Problems. It will merge the three into one. One of the episodes, The Germans, has caused a stir in recent years as a character repeatedly uses the N-word in reference to members of the West Indies cricket team. It was briefly taken down from UKTV’s streaming service four years ago before being reinstated.

Cleese said he has “assembled a top-class group of comedy actors” and written “one huge finale” to the play.

It was originally staged in Australia but is now coming to London’s West End Apollo Theatre, with tickets on sale on Wednesday before it kicks off May 4.

The news comes almost a year to the day after Cleese announced he was rebooting Fawlty Towers with Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment in the U.S. He is writing and starring alongside daughter Camilla Cleese as an over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates  the modern world.

Cleese has become something of an anti-woke firebrand in recent years and has been heavily critical of the BBC. He has already confirmed the reboot will not appear on the national broadcaster.