John Cleese Revives Classic Basil Fawlty Scene For New Specsavers Ad
One of the most iconic comedy shows of all time has been rebooted for a new Specsavers ad in the UK.
John Cleese has revived his famous hotelier Basil Fawlty of Fawlty Towers fame 40 years after the last episode aired on TV.
Cleese agreed to recreate a scene from an episode from 1975 where he gives his car a “damn good thrashing”.
Check out the new Specsavers ad here:
And check out the original 1975 scene here:
Cleese reportedly agreed to revise the scene for Specsavers as he thought it would be “genuinely funny”.
The ad sees Fawlty lose his patience with an in-car GPS and take out his anger on the wrong target – a nearby police car.
The 76-year-old comic is still regularly working but rarely reprises his most famous creation – befuddled hotel owner Basil Fawlty. However, he admits to not being adverse to the idea.
“A lot of people have sent me Fawlty Towers scripts, or Basil scripts, and they were always absolutely awful,” Cleese said.
“But these people had an idea, and I have to say, I met them and they were all very nice, and within 20 minutes we’d written the script. Because it was kind of obvious. And I looked at that, and I thought, no I think that will work and it’s genuinely funny.”
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