At your SERVICE

JOHN CLEESE introduces the stage version of his classic sitcom

- WORDS: IAN MACEWAN

FAWLTY TOWERS: THE PLAY

NEW FRIDAY, 9PM, U&GOLD COMEDY

It was 50 years ago this week that BBC2 aired the first episode of Fawlty Towers, a slapstick-style sitcom co-written by and starring John Cleese as irascible Torquay hotelier Basil Fawlty, alongside Prunella Scales as his bossy wife Sybil and Andrew Sachs as disorganised Spanish waiter Manuel.

The show, which ran for just 12 episodes across two series between 1975 and 1979, would become one of Britain's all-time favourite comedies, and has since been reimagined as a stage play.

Now, to mark the milestone anniversary on Friday 19 September, a recording of the theatre version – which, following a successful run in London's West End, will embark on a UK and Ireland tour later this month – is being shown on U&Gold. It will also feature a special introduction from John, who penned the TV series with then-wife Connie Booth, AKA long-suffering waitress Polly Sherman, and adapted it for the stage.

THE POWER OF THREE

Combining a trio of classic episodes into one storyline, Fawlty Towers: The Play stars Adam Jackson-Smith, Anna-Jane Casey and Hemi Yeroham as Basil, Sybil and Manuel, alongside Victoria Fox as Polly, while actor and singer Paul Nicholas takes on the role of long-term hotel resident the Major.