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Monty Python legend/old man yelling out cloud John Cleese recently appeared on BBC One’s Morning Live to promote the stage revival of Fawlty Towers that’s currently playing in London. Cleese doesn’t act in the play, but he scripted the adaptation, hence why it’s billed as “John Cleese’s Fawlty Towers” (an unforgivable act of Connie Booth erasure).

Cleese also took the opportunity to discuss the production of the original series, specifically how it was as stressful and chaotic as Basil Fawlty’s hotel. “There wasn’t time to hang around — we had two hours to record that show,” Cleese recalled. “We started at 8 and finished at 10, and if it wasn’t in the can, there wasn’t an ending to the show.”

Cleese also claimed that the hurried schedule frequently led him to worry that episodes wouldn’t be completed: “Whenever there was a break,...

These days, John Cleese is as well known for his comedy career as he is for his “being an embarrassingly out-of-touch curmudgeon” career. Whether it’s complaining about imaginary persecution, feuding with his former collaborators or continually raging against the specter of cancel culture, for a lot of fans, late-stage Cleese straight-up sucks.

This begs the question: Was John Cleese always this shitty?

Certainly the Cleese of the 21st century, even before his most recent transgressions, went out of his way to share a number of garbage opinions — from his claims that London is no longer an “English city” thanks to immigration, to his suggestion that his James Bond role was minimized because of “Asians” (and not because nobody needed John Cleese to be in a James Bond movie).

And in terms of burning any goodwill he’d accrued since his Monty Python days, not many comedians have alienated an...

I think it's fair to say that Monty Python movies, much like the TV show from which they sprung, are all great. The absurdist brilliance of "Monty Python's Flying Circus," which ran on the BBC from 1969 to 1974, saw comedians John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam rewrite the rules of comedy. Alongside regular collaborators Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth, the Monty Python troupe established themselves as true comedic geniuses, leading to a run of feature films that remain just as beloved to this day as the "Flying Circus" itself.

Chief among those films is 1975's "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," a deconstruction of the British national identity by way of an irreverent retelling of Arthurian legend. The film was and is much more than its oft-quoted catchphrases would suggest, with the Python boys turning their subversive eye towards British history and sending up...

The origin story of Fawlty Towers has become the stuff of comedy legend, stemming from a 1970 Monty Python tour that took the troupe to the English seaside town of Torquay. There John Cleese was “fascinated” by the manager of a local hotel, who treated guests as if they were a “nuisance.”

The business in question was the Gleneagles Hotel, and the real-life proprietors were Donald Sinclair and his wife Beatrice. While the Pythons were guests, Sinclair allegedly chastised Terry Gilliam’s American table manners and tossed Eric Idle’s briefcase outdoors because he “thought it might be a bomb” (it “actually contained an alarm clock”).

Cleese’s wild stories have been corroborated by Michael Palin’s diaries. He recorded that “Mr. Sinclair, the proprietor, seemed to view us from the start as a colossal inconvenience.” So all the Pythons moved to another hotel after just one night, except for Cleese,...

The first preview for the West End adaptation of “Fawlty Towers — The Play,” based on the legendary British comedy series created by and starring John Cleese and Connie Booth, hits the boards later this week. The show is an amalgamation of three of the 12 episodes of the zany resort-set series, one of which is the most famous: “The Germans.”

Most remember that episode for the catchphrase “don’t mention the war,” the talking moose, and Cleese goosestepping around his humble Torquay hotel lobby. But it also included its share of envelope-pushing material. Indeed, the character The Major – an old senile drunk played by Ballard Berkeley – tells a rambling story about his time in India in which someone got their racial slurs confused. The scene includes the use of the N-word, as well as a derogatory term for Indians.

In 2020, UKTV removed it, but later reinstated it after Cleese called the move “stupid.

One of the most successful strategies that Sony implemented over these two generations of consoles were the PlayStation exclusives. These titles generate a lot of sales for the platforms. Games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, The Last of Us, and God of War have made consoles like the PS4 one of the most popular and sold gaming platforms ever.

Connie Booth was a key part of this strategy; this executive left Sony last year and now joins EA in a similar position. The title that Booth will have in EA is Group General Manager Action RPG.

The PlayStation business model is the path that EA wants to take Former PlayStation executive, Connie Booth joins EA.

One of the best strategies in gaming that works for companies like PlayStation and Nintendo is to sell exclusive single-player games that will increase sales of the consoles. Both companies made some of the best games in history,...

John Cleese has adapted three episodes of Fawlty Towers into a play, which will premiere in the West End in May.

Fawlty Towers is often, quite rightly, cited as one of the best sitcoms ever made. Starring John Cleese, Prunella Scales, Andrew Sachs and Connie Booth, it was written by Cleese and Booth who, according to the DVD commentaries, took six weeks to plot and write each episode.

The show was based on a real hotel the Monty Python team stayed at, with Basil Fawlty based on its proprietor Donald Sinclair, after whom Cleese later named his character in Rat Race.

According to the British Comedy Guide, Cleese has adapted three episodes for the stage as a play which will premiere at the Apollo Theatre in the West End in June. Caroline Jay Ranger will direct.

The episodes are The Hotel Inspector and The Germans from Series 1 and Communication Problems...

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 based on three episodes: “The Hotel Inspectors,” “The Germans” and “Communication Problems,” and 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,...

It's nothing short of a miracle that anything nearly as weird as "Monty Python's Flying Circus" became a pop culture phenomenon. In the BBC television series that ran from 1969 to 1974, comedians Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, along with animator Terry Gilliam and frequent co-stars Carol Cleveland and Connie Booth, obliterated all sense of sanity on the airwaves.

Their sketch comedy show — which had neither circuses, pythons, nor a character named "Monty" — crafted off-the-wall sketches about every strange thing they could think of. Silly walks, Hungarian phrase books, and how not to be seen were just the tip of the very absurd iceberg, and the comedy troupe's absolute dedication to defying convention remains, to this day, a gold standard to which any comedian can aspire.

Monty Python didn't stay on the airwaves forever. The troupe created four feature films together over the course of twelve years,...

"Ted Lasso" is a big-hearted sports sitcom first and foremost, but the Apple TV+ show also works because it capitalizes on one of the most tried-and-true comedy premises out there: the fish out of water. Coach Ted's (Jason Sudeikis) ridiculous, folksy sayings wouldn't be nearly as funny if he were in charge of an American football team on his home turf, and the Britishisms of the AFC Richmond teammates and staff wouldn't be as delightful if an outsider weren't there to point out their novelty.

The arranged professional marriage between Ted and the UK is one of the best parts of the show, and even though Ted seems to be regularly considering taking the next flight home this season, "Ted Lasso" certainly wouldn't be the same without its culture-blending humor. When it came to the decision to set the show in the UK, co-creators Sudeikis and Brendan Hunt (who also...

Classic sitcom Fawlty Towers is set to be rebooted by John Cleese and his daughter, Camilla Cleese.

The Monty Python’s Flying Circus actor, who starred in the original series as irascible hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is making the new series in collaboration with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.

Both Cleese and his daughter will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development.

According to Deadline, the series will “explore how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.

“John Cleese is a comedy legend. Just the idea of working with him makes me laugh,” Reiner said.

As well as Reiner, Michele Reiner, Derrick Rossi, and Matthew George will all serve as executive producers.

Speaking to the outlet, John Cleese praised George’s “understanding of the ‘creative process’” and claimed that their initial meeting had yielded “one of the best creative sessions I...

Paul Whitehouse was asked if he had any advice for John Cleese following the news that the Monty Python star was reviving his hit Seventies sitcom, Fawlty Towers.

Earlier this month, Cleese announced that he and his daughter Camilla Cleese would be writing and starring in the reboot.

Fellow veteran comedic actor Whitehouse was asked about the revival by Andrew Marr on his eponymous Lbc talk show on Tuesday (21 February).

“You think I'm going to give Cleese advice? Don’t do it, John! Get someone younger in!” Whitehouse joked.

Marr then asked the Harry and Paul star about the state of comedy and the acceptability of jokes made years ago.

“Things you could say last year, you have to reevaluate now and you have to tread very carefully,” the 64-year-old replied.

“There’s a zeal about it – of addressing, perhaps, issues that have gone unaddressed in the past,” Whitehouse said,...

John Cleese has issued an “apology” for rebootingFawlty Towers with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.

It was recently announced that the Monty Python’s Flying Circus actor – who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty – is making the reboot in collaboration with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.

Cleese, 83, and Camilla, 39, will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development.

The actor told fans that the forthcoming series – which follows Basil discovering he has a secret daughter and struggling to navigate the modern world – won’t be an “anti-woke nightmare”. He also ruled out BBC hosting the series.

News of the reboot divided fans of the original series, with many critics urging that Fawlty Towers should be left alone.

Cleese responded to the criticism with a sarcastic apology posted to Twitter on Monday (20 February).

“I must apologise,” he wrote. “I had no idea that the idea...

John Cleese has issued an “apology” for rebootingFawlty Towers with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.

It was recently announced that the Monty Python’s Flying Circus actor – who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty – is making the reboot in collaboration with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.

Cleese, 83, and Camilla, 39, will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development.

The actor told fans that the forthcoming series – which follows Basil discovering he has a secret daughter and struggling to navigate the modern world – won’t be an “anti-woke nightmare”. He also ruled out BBC hosting the series.

News of the reboot divided fans of the original series, with many critics urging that Fawlty Towers should be left alone.

Cleese responded to the criticism with a sarcastic apology posted to Twitter on Monday (20 February).

“I must apologise,” he wrote. “I had no idea that the idea...

Netflix users have been left baffled by a forthcoming removal from the service.

Recently, several titles labelled “Netflix Originals” have been taken down, leading to confusion among viewers.

Each month, Netflix quietly removes several of these films and TV shows, some of which are not widely streamed.

However, the removal of Lilyhammer and Hemlock Grove, two of Netflix’s first-ever Original projects, caused anger among subscribers.

Netflix was able to reverse Lilyhammer’s removal, much to the happiness of lead star Steven Van Zandt, but due to the expiration of a licencing deal with another of Hemlock Grove’s distributors, that series was taken down.

Now, users are concened by the realisation that Arrested Development will be removed.

While the removal of the sitcom’s first three seasons may be understandable, considering they aired on Fox, it’s the fact that season four and five will also be leaving that is angering many.

Netflix users are being left perplexed by You season four’s understanding of London.

The new season of the hit Netflix show was released earlier this month, bringing back Penn Badgley’s murderous Joe Goldberg to screens.

This time around, Joe is in London, with Badgley filming the series in the UK’s capital in 2021.

However, the show, which is an adaptation of the book series by Caroline Kepnes, immediately raised eyebrows for the way it shows Joe travelling around the city.

“Campus is across town from where I stay, but in a city like London, I don't mind the walk.” he says, leaving Royal Holloway, the university based in Egham, Surrey.

Joe is then shown walking past the Commercial Tavern in Shoreditch, before arriving at his destination in South Kensington, all the way over in West London.

Viewers used Google Maps to work out how long this walk would have taken Joe,...

Several of the stars of Parks and Recreation have shared a reunion photograph to mark “Galentine’s Day”.

In the hit NBC sitcom, the celebration is held annually on the day before Valentine’s Day, having been conceived as an all-female get-together by Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler).

On Instagram, Rashida Jones and Aubrey Plaza – who played Ann Perkins and April Ludgate in Parks – shared an image of themselves alongside Poehler and Kathryn Hahn, who played political strategist Jen Barkley on the series.

“Happy Galentine’s Day,” the post was captioned.

Parks and Recreation originally ran from 2009 to 2015, and focused on the exploits of an eccentric government department in the town of Pawnee, Indiana.

The series did, in fact, briefly return for a reunion special in 2020, which was filmed remotely during the early days of the Covid pandemic.

Reviewing the special for The Independent, Adam White wrote: “Props to Parks and Recreation for trying,...

Blackadder is returning to screens for the first time in two decades – but without the involvement of Rowan Atkinson.

The acclaimed sitcom, which saw Atkinson play various descendants of the scheming Edmund Blackadder throughout different points in history, is being revived for a Red Nose Day 2023 sketch in aid of Comic Relief.

While Atkinson will not be returning in the titular role, Tony Robinson is set to reprise the part of Baldrick, Blackadder’s slow-witted subordinate.

Richard Curtis, who created the series alongside Atkinson, confirmed the news during an interview on BBC Radio 2’s breakfast show on Tuesday (14 February).

“For the first time in 20 years, Baldrick is going to be giving some kind of performance,” he said. “We’re just conspiring about it now, so I think there’s going to be a marvellous, turnip-based thing with Tony Robinson now back in action, so I’m excited about that.

Steven Spielberg has said he is “very happy” to have “sacrificed” directing the first Harry Potter film to spend time with his family.

The award-winning filmmaker was initially presented with the opportunity to direct Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001) – the first film adaptation of Jk Rowling’s best-selling book series – but revealed he “chose to turn down” the offer “to be with family”.

“The personal meaning about [how the conflict between] art and family will tear you in half happened to me later, after I had already established myself as a filmmaker, as a working director,” Spielberg told Rrr director SS Rajamouli during a recent conversation for Reliance Entertainment.

“Kate [Capshaw] and I started raising a family and we started having children. The choice I had to make was taking a job that would move me to another country for four or five months where I wouldn’t see my family every day... That...

Ted Lasso has blessed fans with its season three premiere date, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

It’s been well over a year since the second season finale of the heartwarming comedy-drama, which stars Jason Sudeikis as an upbeat American football coach who moves to the UK and becomes the manager of a Premier League football club.

And ever since the Emmy-winning Apple TV+ series gutted fans with the news that its forthcoming third season would be the last, viewers have been left hanging for a confirmed release date.

Alas, no longer, because on Tuesday (14 February), the streamer officially announced the highly anticipated return of TV’s favourite football team.

“Ted Lasso Season 3 premieres 15 March,” the social media post reads. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”

Attached to the post is a video teaser of the show’s cast crafting “Believe” posters.

“Hmm, well, if seeing is believing, I believe we’ve been seeing,...

Netflix users are being left perplexed by You season four’s understanding of London.

The new season of the hit Netflix show was released earlier this month, bringing back Penn Badgley’s murderous Joe Goldberg to screens.

This time around, Joe is in London, with Badgley filming the series in the UK’s capital in 2021.

However, the show, which is an adaptation of the book series by Caroline Kepnes, immediately raised eyebrows for the way it shows Joe travelling around the city.

“Campus is across town from where I stay, but in a city like London, I don't mind the walk.” he says, leaving Royal Holloway, the university based in Egham, Surrey.

Joe is then shown walking past the Commercial Tavern in Shoreditch, before arriving at his destination in South Kensington, all the way over in West London.

Viewers used Google Maps to work out how long this walk would have taken Joe,...

Forrest Gump’s famous box of chocolates from 1994 has sold for over £20,000 at auction.

The legendary box of confectionary, which were used as Forrest’s (Tom Hanks) prop on the set of the film were sold for Valentine’s day.

The box from the film was synonymous with the words the character’s mother would say to him as a child: “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.”

The signed box was sold to Ripley’s Believe It or Not!, an American company which collects rare and bizarre artefacts, for $25,000.

The company also recently bought a handwritten address book owned by The Beatles’ former manager Brian Epstein, containing old contact details of the band members, as well as Mick Jagger.

Instead of being filled with chocolates, the box actually contains four ounces of sand, which was added to stop it falling...

A couple has marked Valentine’s Day in unforgettable fashion by getting engaged live on This Morning.

The soon-to-be-newlyweds appeared on Tuesday’s edition (14 February) of the ITV daytime programme in a special segment, dedicated to romance.

Dan had arranged to publicly ask his partner Ellen to marry him with the This Morning producers ahead of time.

Unbeknownst to Ellen, secret cameras were placed inside a London café where they were having breakfast.

Then, at a crucial moment, fellow customers revealed the words “will you marry me?” under their shirts, as Dan dropped to his knee.

“Since the day I met you Ellen, you make me happy, so happy every day,” Dan began his speech, before referring to their child.

“You’re the perfect mum to Arthur, and I just want to spend the rest of my life with you – which is why I want to ask you to marry me.

Netflix users have been left baffled by a forthcoming removal from the service.

Recently, several titles labelled “Netflix Originals” have been taken down, leading to confusion among viewers.

Each month, Netflix quietly removes several of these films and TV shows, some of which are not widely streamed.

However, the removal of Lilyhammer and Hemlock Grove, two of Netflix’s first-ever Original projects, caused anger among subscribers.

Netflix was able to reverse Lilyhammer’s removal, much to the happiness of lead star Steven Van Zandt, but due to the expiration of a licencing deal with another of Hemlock Grove’s distributors, that series was taken down.

Now, users are concened by the realisation that Arrested Development will be removed.

While the removal of the sitcom’s first three seasons may be understandable, considering they aired on Fox, it’s the fact that season four and five will also be leaving that is angering many.

Fawlty Towers co-creator and actor, Connie Booth has said she didn’t know the show was getting a reboot.

The former actor – who played Polly in the show – claims she found out about the news the same way as anyone else, by reading it “in the papers”.

Last week, John Cleese announced he would be rebooting the classic sitcom with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.

The Monty Python’s Flying Circus actor, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is currently working on the new series in collaboration with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.

Both Cleese and his daughter will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development.

The original series starred Connie Booth – Cleese’s then-wife who co-created the series – along with Prunella Scales as Basil’s wife Sybil and the late Andrew Sachs as hotel employee Manuel.

The new series will not...

Yes, it’s finally happened. Fawlty Towers is getting a reboot.

For decades, the very idea seemed unthinkable. Running for 12 episodes (two series of six episodes apiece) in 1975 and 1979, John Cleese and Connie Booth’s Torquay-set comedy was a paragon of restraint. From the writing through to the performances, it was bottled lightning. Each episode was a classic. And then, after 1979, it was gone. No more. Decades later, the series would still be widely celebrated for this “quit while you’re ahead” philosophy. Ricky Gervais, for instance, has often compared the decision to endThe Office after two series to the precedent set by Cleese. To some extent, Fawlty Towers came to embody the UK’s entire attitude towards TV, establishing one of its golden rules: less is more.

And yet, on Tuesday, it was announced that Cleese would be returning to the character of Basil Fawlty, in a new series created alongside his daughter,...

John Cleese has said his surprise revival of Fawlty Towers won’t be returning to its original home on the BBC because the UK broadcaster would not give him sufficient editorial freedom.

The 83-year-old British comedy icon said the revived series, which is in the works at Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment, would find a new home as he writes scripts with his daughter Camilla Cleese.

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Asked if he wanted to work with the BBC, he said: “No, because you wouldn’t get the freedom.”

He told Gb News, the right-leaning British news channel, that the series will take the central character of...

John Cleese is rebooting his classic BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, it was announced this week.

The British actor and writer, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is collaborating on the new show with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.

He will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development, along with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.

The Fawlty Towers reboot will reportedly explore “how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.

Cleese claimed that an initial meeting about the series had yielded “one of the best creative sessions I can remember”.

So what happened to the main four castmembers of Fawlty Towers?

John Cleese

After Fawlty Towers finished, Cleese, who played bedraggled hotelier Basil Fawlty, went on to enjoy a successful film career.

Highlights include 1981’s Time Bandits, directed by fellow Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, and the screwball...

Pack your bags, friends, because we’re traveling to the seaside town of Torquay on the English Riviera for a Fawlty Towers reboot! The British television sitcom is returning with John Cleese as Basil Fawlty, and he’s bringing friends and family along for the ride. In addition to reprising his iconic role as the cynical proprietor of the hotel Fawlty Towers, Cleese is writing and starring in the series alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese.

The Fawlty Towers reboot hails from Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment and focuses on Basil Fawlty as he navigates the modern world. Further plot details remain a mystery. However, we know the show explores Basil’s relationship with his estranged daughter as the pair attempt to buck fate and run a boutique hotel as a team. Reiner, Michele Reiner, Derrick Rossi, and Matthew George executive produce.

Cleese spoke about George’s “understanding of the...

One of the most acclaimed comedy series of all time is returning to TV more than four decades later. “Fawlty Towers,” the beloved British sitcom starring John Cleese, is getting a revival, with the “Monty Python” star set to return.

The show is being developed at Castle Rock Entertainment, with Matthew George, Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner, and Derrick Rossi executive producing for the studio. Cleese will write and star in the revival with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.

“What I like about Matt is that, unlike many producers, he really ‘gets’ the creative process,” Cleese said in a statement announcing the project. “When we first met, he offered an excellent first idea, and then Matt, my daughter Camilla, and I had one of the best creative sessions I can remember. By dessert we had an overall concept so good that, a few days later, it won the approval of Rob and Michele Reiner.

Classic British sitcom “Fawlty Towers” is being revived at Castle Rock Entertainment with original series writer and star John Cleese and his daughter Camilla Cleese set to write and star.

Matthew George, Rob Reiner, Michele Reiner and Derrick Rossi are executive producing the series for Castle Rock Television, which is developing the project.

“Fawlty Towers,” written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally ran in two seasons of six episodes each that were broadcast on the BBC in 1975 and 1979. The series followed the unfortunate exploits of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) as he struggled to keep his hotel and marriage afloat. The series currently airs on BBC2 and is also available to stream on BritBox.

The show was ranked first by the British Film Institute in their 100 Greatest British Television Programs list in 2000, and in 2019, Radio Times named it the greatest ever British TV sitcom based on a panel of comedy experts.

Basil Fawlty is back. A reboot of John Cleese’s British comedy sensation Fawlty Towers is in the works and Rob Reiner’s Castle Rock Entertainment is developing.

More than 40 years after the second and final season drew to a close, Monty Python star Cleese is set to write and star alongside daughter Camilla Cleese, in news that will bring joy to a generation of British comedy fans.

The new series will explore how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world. Plot details are largely being kept under wraps but the development will bring the story forward to explore Basil’s relationship with a daughter he has just discovered he had, as the pair tempt fate and team up to run a boutique hotel.

The Cleeses have joined with Reiner’s Castle Rock on the development, with Reiner, Michele Reiner, Derrick Rossi and Matthew George exec producing.

London – Co-founding one of the most influential comedy troupes in history just wasn’t enough for Terry Jones, of “Monty Python’s Flying Circus.” He also had to become one of the foremost amateur medieval history scholars in the world, among his many achievements as author, director and comic sketch creator. Jones passed away in London on January 21st, 2020. He was 77.

Terrence Graham Parry “Terry” Jones was born in Colwyn Bay on the north coast of Wales in England. He graduated from St Edmund Hall, a constituent college of Oxford University, where he met future writing partner Michael Palin. He broke into British television in 1967 along with Palin in the show “Twice a Fortnight,’ worked with Eric Idle in “Do Not Adjust Your Set,” and wrote alongside Graham Chapman John Cleese, Idle and Palin (all soon-to-be Pythoners) on “The Frost Report.”

’She’s a Witch!’ Terry Jones and Connie Booth in...

Hugh Grant has been very active in U.K. press reform initiatives, but he knows the problem is even bigger than the media moguls who control the world’s major news outlets. That’s why Hacked Off, the campaign he’s involved with, is also expanding its scope to include the impact of online propaganda.

“It’s particularly terrifying, the triumph of technology over democracy,” Grant told Variety‘s “My Favorite Episode” podcast. “You realize, Trump couldn’t have happened without Facebook manipulation, and Brexit couldn’t have happened without it. It’s all the ability now, people with enough money and resources, to manipulate swing voters through very highly tailored Facebook ads.”

Grant’s solution: “I would just pull the plug on social media,” he said. “I look at the pluses and minuses, and to me the minuses way outweigh the pluses. We had perfectly decent lives before social media.

One of the most surprising games of E3 2016, Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding, will not be on stage this year when Sony presents their wares. Read Kojima's tweet below and see if you can decipher it. Plus, find out when you can see the man, himself, live and in person at E3!

When we began on the long, winding road to E3 2017, one of the games we were most excited to get an update on was Hideo Kojima's first game since Konami, Death Stranding. Alas, we aren't so lucky this year as Kojima has tweeted out that his team has decided to forego E3 2017 in favor of spending that time developing. That didn't mean Kojima, himself, wouldn't still be in attendance, though.

Apologies to our fans, Death Stranding will not be @ E3 as we are fully focused on development. Pls see me with @geoffkeighley on 6/14! pic.twitter.com/w...

“She turned me into a newt!” claims John Cleese’s muddy-cheeked peasant in the famed Monty Python and the Holy Grail scene in which a woman (his then wife Connie Booth, no less) is accused of being a witch by a bunch of rowdy medieval villagers. Looking a little shifty about his distinctly un-lizardlike appearance, he then adds: “I got better.”

First-time feature helmer Rungano Nyoni might not be aiming for Python-esque lunacy in I Am Not a Witch, a “present-day satire about beliefs in witchcraft” set and shot in Zambia that is one of the most eye-catching titles...

There’s a thing that’s been happening in London since 2012 (and elsewhere around the world for 20 years). Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience is exactly what it sounds like, if not what it spells like. It replicates the abusive experience of being served a meal by noted hotelier and ball of rage Basil Fawlty in the just-about-serviceable dining room of his Torquay lodging establishment Fawlty Towers, where they are always out of waldorfs for the salad. Faulty Towers has started a new permanent residency at the Kingsway Hall Hotel in Covent Garden (not far from Holburn tube station), and I recently attended a performance.

Manuel has a most likely foolproof method of clearing the table between courses.

It is an absolute riot. I have not laughed so hard in ages.

The production goes out of its way to explain that the original scripts for the classic 1970s BBC sitcom are not used in this event.

We regret to report that German-born British actor Andrew Sachs has died at the age of 86. While his death was announced last night, Deadline report Sachs passed away on November 23rd, in a London nursing home.Active on the stage, as well as both the big and small screens, Sachs is perhaps best known for playing Spanish waiter Manuel in the Fawlty Towers TV show, opposite John Cleese. Only two seasons totaling 12 episodes of the classic comedy series were ever made. Cleese produced the BBC Two sitcom with then-wife Connie Booth, but the couple divorced after the first season ran in 1975. Season two did not air until 1979. Us viewers may have caught the sitcom on PBS.Read More…...

By Tim Greaves

Numerous actors have occupied the role of Sherlock Holmes over the decades, some more suited to the shoes of author Arthur Conan Doyle's famous consulting detective than others. One of the finest portrayals is that by Ian Richardson. Yet, sadly, his is also one that is often overlooked, not leastways because he played the character just twice (in a pair of 1983 films made for television), but also because his light was to be quickly eclipsed a year later by the arrival on TV screens of Jeremy Brett, whose interpretation of Holmes is considered by many to be the definitive one.

Sy Weintraub – who produced several Tarzan movies throughout the 60s and was executive producer on the popular long-running Ron Ely TV series –teamed up with Otto Plaschkes (whose producer credits include Georgie Girl and The Holcroft Covenant) with the intention of making several Holmes adventures headlining Richardson.

The Torquay hotel that inspired John Cleese and Connie Booth to create Fawlty Towers is being demolished. The Guardian reports that retirement flats will be built in its place. Cleese and Booth starred in the BBC Two sitcom with Prunella Scales and Andrew Sachs. Fawlty Towers ran for two non-concurrent series (seasons) in 1975 and 1979.

The Monty Python comedy group (aka The Pythons) reportedly stayed at Torquay's Gleneagles Hotel in the early '70s, while shooting Monty Python's Flying Circus. Flabbergasted by the rude behavior of then-owners Donald and Beatrice Sinclair, most of the team moved on. Booth and Cleese, who were married at the time, stayed on to study the couple's behavior. Per The Guardian, Cleese described Mr. Sinclair as "the most wonderfully rude man I have ever met."

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St Patrick's Day gets a lot of love, what with all the pub going and the Guinness drinking. In comparison, England's St George's Day tends to be a much more low-key affair, but there is a benefit to this: an evening free to catch up on some great TV.

To celebrate dragon slaying and all the other things that make our country great, we've put together a list of the best films and television shows from the UK available to watch on Netflix right now:

Sherlock

Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss have redefined Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary detective for the 21st century.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman have both been heaped with praise for their roles as the dynamic duo of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, in stories that bring a modern twist to the classic mysteries.

Doctor Who

Digital Spy readers hardly need us to list the virtues of Doctor Who.

Rob Schneider is returning to series television, this time on his own terms. In a endeavor he hopes “shakes up Hollywood”, the actor-comedian is self-financing and starring in an eight-episode independently produced comedy series he co-wrote with his wife, Mexican writer-producer Patricia Azarcoya Schneider, who will co-star on the show, and his friend, comedian Jamie Lissow. “I want to do my own Fawlty Towers,” said Rob Schneider, referring to the popular British sitcom, which John Cleese co-wrote and starred in with his then-wife Connie Booth. Like his 2012 comedy Rob on CBS, where his wife was played by a professional actress, the new show will be loosely based on Schneider’s life. But the similarities end there. Rob, which is the subject of a joke in the pilot of the new series, was a traditional multi-camera, multi-generational sitcom about a guy, his Mexican wife and his in-laws. As the title of the new series,...

The BBC's cutting of racial insults from a repeat of The Germans has brought the integrity of the hit comedy show into question. But the words are clearly used to satirise English upper-class bigotry

Rivalled only by Dad's Army as Britain's most-loved sitcom, Fawlty Towers seems an unlikely candidate to merit comparison with the movies of Quentin Tarantino. But the BBC has cut from a repeat of the episode The Germans (screened many times since it was first seen in 1975) a speech in which the blimpish hotel resident Major Gowen uses two outlawed racial insults while reporting on a trip to see an England v India cricket match at the Oval.

It is impossible to discuss properly the censored dialogue without quoting the line. Very sensitive readers should stop now and it should not be assumed that I, the Guardian – or, indeed, John Cleese and Connie Booth, the show's writers...

"Monty Python" actor John Cleese is doing everything he can to fund his pricey 2008 divorce from Alyce Faye Eichelberger.

First, the British funnyman launched a stand-up comedy "Alimony Tour," then he moved to Monaco to skirt high tax rates and now he is selling his TV and film memorabilia to pay for his multi-million dollar split, according to the Daily Mail.

The items will be sold on the Original Memorabilia Company website and include props such as a fiberglass helmet from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," as well as signed photographs from famous "Monty Python" and "Fawlty Towers" sketches.

Cleese and Eichelberger -- an American psychotherapist -- divorced in 2008 after 16 years of marriage. Their 2009 divorce settlement stipulated that he pay his ex-wife $13 million in cash and assets, and nearly $1 million a year until 2016. The former couple has no children.

Cleese married his fourth wife, Jennifer Wade, who is 31 years his junior,...

'The worst thing anyone's ever said to me? "Are you Michael Palin?"'

John Cleese, 72, was born in Weston-super-Mare. At Cambridge University, he studied law and joined the Footlights, where he met Graham Chapman. In the late 60s, he formed the Monty Python troupe with Chapman, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. Cleese went on to further success as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, which he wrote with his then wife, Connie Booth. In 1988, Cleese wrote and starred in the hit movie, A Fish Called Wanda. His latest film, Spud, is out on DVD. Cleese recently married for the fourth time and lives in Monaco.

When were you happiest?

There are different kinds of happiness, but the simplest was when I was 13 because what one had to do was so obvious.

What is your greatest fear?

Lack of meaning.

Which living person do you most admire, and why?...

Camelot (it.s only a model) gets a Blu-ray upgrade as the comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail comes to Blu-ray loaded with bonus material and still bringing the laughs. On the format, the film has considerable grain, but you are too busy laughing to notice any problems with the picture. Released in 1974 and directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones, the film stars Monty Python.s Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Gilliam, Jones, and Michael Palin. It also features Connie Booth (who looks like a witch), Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes, Bee Duffell, John Young, and Rita Davies. The film is easily one of the most quotable comedies ever released and stays funny no matter how many...

John Cleese was upset for 'two years' following the breakdown of his first marriage. The three-times wed actor is grateful he stayed friends with Connie Booth - who he married in 1968 - after they split because they shared so much 'love' for one another. He said: 'When Connie and I broke up in 1978, I was very upset for about two years. There was a great deal of love in that relationship, and we've managed to remain good friends.' John split with third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger in 2008 and had to pay her a divorce settlement worth around £12 million. Because...

John Cleese thinks he is getting worse at marriage. The 71-year-old funnyman divorced third wife Alyce Faye Eichelberger in 2008 and thinks his relationships with his former spouses have been increasingly strained and gone progressively downhill. He said: 'I'm not very good at marriage. And the awful thing is, well probably, I've got worse at it. I'm definitely going backwards. 'I'm still on very, very good terms with Connie Booth, we talk all the time, you know, and we still laugh together. We always loved each other. I mean, we confused everyone by writing the first series of 'Fawlty Towers', getting divorced...

A child star as Oliver Twist, he became a key figure in epoch-making TV comedy

'Please, sir – I want some more." Rationing was still in force when, under the eye of David Lean's camera, a thin, pale eight-year-old boy named John Howard Davies raised his gruel bowl and dared to request a second serving. That image of Davies in Oliver Twist (1948) spoke to the mood of the moment – suggesting the sort of deprivation that postwar Britain was attempting to legislate out of existence. One scene called for Davies, who has died of cancer aged 72, and his fellow child actors to look on enviously as the bigwigs of the workhouse devoured a great pile of pastries, hams and chicken. The astonished expressions are genuine. None of these boys had ever seen food like it.

The film's production company, Cineguild, had launched a national campaign to secure a talented unknown for the title role.

Greta Gerwig on her Fawlty Towers obsession, and a Will Self short story is set for the big screen

Greta's towering ambition

Actress Greta Gerwig as an offbeat charm. Once the queen of the "mumblecore" indie scene, she has now moved into the mainstream with appearances in the Natalie Portman/Ashton Kutcher rom-com No Strings Attached and, now, taking over the Liza Minnelli role as Arthur's love interest in the Russell Brand remake of Arthur.

Although neither of these films could claim comic greatness, Gerwig attributes her taste for comedy to growing up with the complete set of Fawlty Towers on VHS. "I didn't watch much American TV," she told me. "My dad had these Fawlty Towers tapes and I watched them over and over. When all my friends were quoting off American comedies, I couldn't really join in. I'd just say things like, 'He put Basil in the...