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Fawlty Towers 50 Years Young

It’s precisley 50 years since Fawlty Towers crashed onto British TV with the most farcical scenarios and side plots, all set in a hotel in the English Riviera, otherwise known as Torquay. John Cleese has adapted the script that he wrote alongside Connie Booth, and the result is coming to a UK town or city near you after a successful summer in the West End.

Press nights at New Wimbledon Theatre are normally jam-packed with people and expectation, and there was enough of both to get excited on the opening evening in SW19. Things started gently, setting a scene of the 1970s interiors of a whimsical hotel with some serious efficiency issues.

Casting of Basil Brings Back the Manic Frustration Of Cleese

Fawlty Towers is directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, who was also responsible for the successful Only Fools And Horses run. The casting is clearly well thought out, with Mia Austen fully embracing Sybil’s mix of being on top of the desk job and haranguing her husband about the smallest of details. That includes phoning in from the hospital.

Danny Bayne’s Basil has all the mannerisms, physicality, and sheer frustration that were first displayed by Cleese. Fawlty Towers worked best as short and sharp 30-minute farces, gently building up the creases in Basil’s forehead, before coming to a crazy crescendo.

This is a medley of moments from different episodes, conjoined into one 90-minute run that has a half-time interval.

There’s an effortlessness about two of the other classic characters. The Major is played by Paul Nicholas, who displays the traditional forgetfulness of the old and entrenched veteran with relish. Especially when the German guests turn up.

The Horse Whispering Is Hysterical in Fawlty Towers

Joanne Clifton is equally impressive as the no-nonsense maid, Polly, clearing up and covering for Basil’s temperamental bursts of belligerence with aplomb. She plays the straight card with a deadpan line or two as well. It works.

Basil and Sybil’s connection is there, but the tension isn’t as strong as it could be until the hysterical owner tries to cover up his winnings on the horses. The strained suppression of secrets then creates the room for Bayne to go full Cleese, literally sobbing on the floor as his winnings drift away into the hands of an intemperate, and unbearable guest, a kind of Hyacinth Bucket from hell.

Fawlty Towers Lacking in Multiple Laugh Out Loud Moments

Amid all the breakages, falling over, head-bashing and histrionics, there aren’t that many laugh-out-loud moments. The situations are a tinderbox that warm the heart with chuckles, but don't always hit the sweet spot.

Maybe it’s timing. Maybe it’s too much respect for the original material. Pantomime rides with modern audiences via pop culture references. Fawlty Towers still spins in its wacky '70s wheelhouse with the "don't mention the war" punchline overcooked, like the fire that Manuel can't put out.

Manuel's strangled English and subservience to the acerbic Basil bring together those elements of miscommunication that are sitcom silly season. Hemi Yeroham has the Barcelona waiter figured out too well. Perhaps he could do with some better lines, although that seems counterintuitive.

Fawlty Towers is still a good night out, although the play ends quickly when the Major blasts a shotgun and the lights turn out. It’s quite a clunky finish, and maybe needs to mark a few more flares to signal that the show is almost over. Then again, it wouldn’t be Fawlty to give a perfect send-off.

The show will go on at New Wimbledon Theatre until October 25 and runs to July 2026 nationally.

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Fawlty Towers: The Play - Review at New Wimbledon Theatre