John Cleese has lashed out at the BBC in a candid new interview, raging that ‘British people deserve better’ than the channel which he claimed is too easily influenced by the ‘nastiness of the extremely woke’.
The Fawlty Towers actor, 85, claimed that the corporation hasn’t commissioned anything funny in years as he recounted meeting with executives to discuss possible future projects.
He told The Radio Times how he recently met with two people from BBC Comedy – complaining that one had to leave the meeting early while the other was ‘one of the most stupid men he’s ever met’.
Speaking to the publication he said: ‘When was the last thing, the last, really good thing they ran. The Office? How long ago was that? It was a major contribution to society. Now? Let me tell you. Let me be absolutely frank…’
He then recounted his meeting with BBC Comedy saying: ‘We had some good, comedic ideas, but they weren’t interested. Not what they wanted. They were looking for Basil Fawlty on a ship or something.
‘It was a hopeless idea but they seemed keen on it. I wanted to say to him: ‘You have absolutely no idea what you’re doing.’
John Cleese has lashed out at the BBC in a candid new interview, raging that ‘British people deserve better’ than the channel which he claimed is too easily influenced by the ‘nastiness of the extremely woke ‘
The Fawlty Towers actor, 85, claimed that the corporation hasn’t commissioned anything funny in years as he recounted meeting with executives to discuss possible future projects
‘The people in charge now have no idea at all. The writers deserve better than this. The British people deserve better than this.’
He added that he thinks the the BBC is ‘cowardly about offence’.
John explained: ‘We are a long way from the days when a BBC director-general would say, ‘There are some people one would wish to offend.’
‘Now, they’re too influenced by the passion and nastiness of the extremely woke. A huge slice of comedy is put straight into the fridge because executives don’t want to get phone calls at dinner.
‘They don’t seem to realise you tease people, you’re rude to people, that you’re fond of.’
The BBC declined to comment when contacted by The Daily Mail over his remarks.
His comments in The Radio Times came shortly after he blasted them again earlier this month.
He launched a withering attack on ‘clueless’ BBC bosses he claimed ‘have no idea what they’re doing’ – and again blamed woke censorship for the death of British comedy.
The comedy icon co-wrote the hit sitcom Fawlty Towers with his then-wife Connie Booth, also his co-star.
He told how he recently met with two people from BBC Comedy – complaining that one had to leave the meeting early while the other was ‘one of the most stupid men he’s ever met’
Just two series aired in the 70s, but they have nonetheless gone down in British comedy history as an example of genius writing and comic timing.
But Cleese, who starred as the hapless and perpetually irritated hotel owner Basil Fawlty, insisted fans will never again see work from him on the BBC.
Speaking on stage at the Slapstick comedy festival in Bristol at the start of September, Cleese said of the broadcaster: ‘If you put a script in now it has to go through a f***ing committee who have no idea what they are doing.
‘There has been nothing funny since The Office. It is sad and it is because the people in charge have no idea how to make comedy happen.
‘The whole process has been replaced by a bureaucratic process which does not begin to work.’
The Monty Python star lamented the decline of British comedy, saying: ‘We used to be really good at it and now we are not and that is very sad.
‘There weren’t committees when we started. Comedy now has to be clean. You must not play for laughs. I am going to write a book about writing comedy to make people aware how difficult it is.’
And in a brutal takedown of BBC executives, Cleese continued: ‘The people organising comedy have never been very good but at the moment, particularly at the BBC, they are clueless.
‘I don’t think it is a lack of talent – except among the executive classes. Those classes have no idea what they are doing.’
For avid fans of Fawlty Towers, Cleese is now working on a sequel to the hugely popular 2016 stage adaptation of the sitcom.
Bristol-born Cleese is in the process of assembling scripts for the new show, inspired by three episodes from the TV original.
Among them is The Psychiatrist – where Basil accidentally gropes a guest’s breast as he reaches for a light switch – and The Kipper And The Corpse, where the desperate hotel staff try to hide the body of a dead guest.
Fawlty Towers was revived by Cleese with a stage show in London’s West End last year, which has received glowing reviews.
John Cleese, Connie Booth and Andrew Sachs seen in Fawlty Towers
