John Cleese playfully apologises for the revival of Fawlty Towers

Comedy icon John Cleese has issued an amusing apology for the upcoming Fawlty Towers reboot after the announcement of the revival received considerable backlash.

News of the upcoming show seemingly ruffled some feathers with many people quickly taking to social media to voice their concerns, with many believing the show will end up cancelled.

In response, Cleese took to Twitter to offer a facetious apology for the “anger and distress” the new sitcom has caused.

“I must apologise I had no idea that the idea of writing a new sitcom with my daughter would cause so much anger and distress,” he wrote.

“I truly meant no harm.

“Naively I thought it might be fun. But I feel terrible about having released this tide of negative emotion

“Please forgive me.”

Following Cleese’s light-hearted apology, fans were quick to respond with messages of support for the series while encouraging Cleese not to “listen to haters”.

Please keep going! Ignore the utter nonsense. Whatever you write is always TV gold ???????? Britain needs some Cleese back in their lives!

— Laura Anne Jones MS (@LauraJ4SWEast) February 20, 2023

You have nothing to apologise for. You responsible for one of the characters in British television history. You do you, John. Your legacy will remain for generations.

— Darren Altman (@DarrenAltman) February 20, 2023

There is no reason for you to apologize. You did not engage in malice or have the intention of causing harm, nor have your taken action which could be reasonably construed to cause harm. This is nothing I would like more than to enjoy more of your art.

— Jason Robinson (@9thousandbytes) February 20, 2023

Don’t listen to haters! Please write more comedy; the world is a better place because of your art! ❤️

— Neda (@neda14114584) February 20, 2023

Cleese announced that he would be reviving the comedy masterpiece for a third season in which he will also reprise his role as Basil Fawlty.

While major plot points have not been announced, the show’s revival will be about Cleese’s character discovering he has a daughter, leading to the two of them opening a hotel together.

As reported by the BBC, the Fawlty Towers reboot came to life over dinner with American director Rob Reiner and producer Matthew George.

“By dessert, we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner,” Cleese said.

“Camilla and I look forward enormously to expanding it into a series.”

In addition to the backlash the upcoming series has received the program has previously been hit with its fair share of criticism during its original run.

An episode of the program, titled The Germans, famously known for its quote “don’t mention the war”, was banned from numerous TV stations for the character Major Gowen’s use of racial slurs.

In 2020, the former Monty Python star spoke out about the episode being pulled from television for offensive language.

“I would have hoped that someone at the BBC would understand that there are two ways of making fun of human behaviour,” Cleese said of the decision not to air the episode.

“One is to attack it directly. The other is to have someone who is patently a figure of fun, speak up on behalf of that behaviour.”