Fawlty Towers branded 'disaster' as BBC bosses left unsatisfied

Regarded as one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, it's hard to imagine that Fawlty Towers was once considered destined to fail. The series originally aired from 1975 to 1979 and is set in a chaotic seaside hotel in Torquay, Devon. The story revolves around the perpetually irritable owner, Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), his overbearing wife Sybil (Prunella Scales), the sensible chambermaid Polly (Connie Booth), and the clumsy Spanish waiter Manuel (Andrew Sachs).

Despite the show's enduring success, the original scripts initially left some BBC executives unimpressed. One even questioned why Cleese, already a comedy icon thanks to his work with Monty Python, had left the troupe to create it. In the book, Fawlty Towers: The Story of Britain's Favourite Sitcom, author Graham McCann wrote: "Several producers who had gained a glimpse of a script had pronounced themselves distinctly underwhelmed by the quality of its contents.

"('Oh dear,' one of them had been overheard lamenting about John Cleese in the BBC bar, 'why did he ever leave Monty Python?').

"One executive had gone so far as to distribute a memo complaining: 'This is a very boring situation and the script has nothing but very clichéd characters. I cannot see anything but a disaster if we go ahead with it.'"

They could not have been more wrong. Although it has been off the air since 1979, Fawlty Towers has left a lasting legacy and r continues to be adored by fans worldwide.

Last month, it was announced that Prunella Scales had died aged 93 following a lengthy battle with dementia. In a statement shared with the PA News agency, her sons Samuel and Joseph revealed she was watching Fawlty Towers in the lead up to her death.

They said: "Our darling mother Prunella Scales died peacefully at home in London yesterday. She was 93. Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home.

"She was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. Pru was married to Timothy West for 61 years. He died in November 2024. She is survived by two sons and one stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. We would like to thank all those who gave Pru such wonderful care at the end of her life: her last days were comfortable, contented and surrounded by love."

Cleese paid tribute to his former on-screen wife following her death, saying: "How very sad. Pru was a really wonderful comic actress. I've recently been watching a number of clips of Fawlty Towers whilst researching a book. Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect."

He added: "She was a very sweet lady, who spent a lot of her life apologising. I used to tease her about it. I was very, very fond of her."