Afterword

There were no more episodes of Fawlty Towers after Basil the Rat. John Cleese was approached on numerous occasions over the following years to write further installments but every time he declined. I have mixed feelings on this; on one hand I would have loved to have seen more Fawlty Towers (as I’m sure millions of others would), but on the other hand I admire him for sticking to his principles and ensuring that the success that the two series’ had attained was not diminished by potentially mediocre subsequent episodes. By his own admission, Cleese (and Booth) found the second series incredibly difficult to write in order to sustain the brilliance of the first, and though he managed to equal (if not better) it in the end, he was very sure it would be physically impossible to repeat it a third time.

At the end of the day I think he made the right decision. The quality of what was produced is high enough to make it almost universally acclaimed, and the fact that it was never watered down with further episodes will, I’m sure, ensure that it will still be enjoyed by future generations. By comparison, Only Fools and Horses – for the most part a brilliantly funny British sit-com - is a perfect example of a series which went on and on far beyond the point where there was really no more stories to be told, no more original laughs to be had.

Fortunately the antics at Fawlty Towers will be forever loved, forever acclaimed, and probably forever repeated – but that’s no bad thing in my mind.

Right, I’m off to hit some guests………..