John Cleese has revealed that the Fawlty Towers follow-up will begin with the death of a major character.
The iconic show - widely considered to be one of the best British comedies of all time - ran for just 12 episodes across two series in the 1970s, with Cleese starring as the hapless hotel manager Basil Fawlty.
Earlier this year Cleese made the shock announcement that he is working on new episodes almost 45 years later with his real-life daughter Camilla, who will play the part of his long-lost daughter in the new series.
Andrew Sachs, who played Spanish waiter Manuel, died in 2016 and the character will therefore not feature, but Cleese has now revealed that the character of Basil's long-suffering wife Sybil will be killed off.
Sybil actress Prunella Scales is now aged 90 but in 2014 her actor husband Timothy West announced that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and she formally retired in January 2020.
"The new one starts with Sybil's death and Basil's daughter getting a text message from her father saying, 'Sybil did'," Cleese told The Mirror.
"She texts back, 'Sybil did what?'. Basil is about to deliver the eulogy and says what an absolutely wonderful woman Sybil was.
"And then the camera pans around and you see that behind his back he has his fingers crossed."
He continued: "Basil goes to see his daughter because it was all part of a naughty affair that he once had with a guest at the hotel.
"My daughter will probably be a hotelier who's running this small hotel. It's going to be a sort of slightly posh boutique hotel in the Caribbean with a multicultural staff because that's the world of hotels. And there'll be no-one in except Basil."
A broadcaster for the new series has yet to be revealed.
Neil Wilkes
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