‘Fawlty Towers’ Star John Cleese Rips BBC for Removing Episode with Racial Slurs

UPDATED 6/12/2020 AT 6:15 PM ET: The episode of Fawlty Towers containing racial slurs will be reinstated, Variety reports. After John Cleese slammed the BBC for removing the episode earlier today, the BBC’s UKTV will reinstate it “in the coming days” with “extra guidance.”

“We already offer guidance to viewers across some of our classic comedy titles, but we recognize that more contextual information can be required on our archive comedy, so we will be adding extra guidance and warnings to the front of programs to highlight potentially offensive content and language,” the streamer stated.
British actor John Cleese is taking the BBC to task for removing an episode of his 1970s sitcom Fawlty Towers that contains racial slurs. In a heated series of tweets, Cleese blasted the broadcaster for removing the 1975 episode “The Germans,” a decision he believes emphasizes the network’s “stupidity” when it comes to engaging viewers. “They’re so cowardly and gutless and contemptible,” he said of the BBC’s current programming executives.
This week, as anti-racism protests continue to sweep the globe and Hollywood reflects on its own role in shaping the public conversation, BBC-owned streaming service UKTV removed a 1975 episode from Cleese’s Fawlty Towers that contains inappropriate language. According to the BBC, “The Germans” includes the use of a racial slur and sees Cleese’s cynical hotel owner Basil Fawlty say, “Don’t mention the war.”
In a statement provided to the BBC, UKTV confirmed that “The Germans” episode was removed due to the slur. “We are taking the episode down while we review it. We regularly review older content to ensure it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of outdated language,” a spokesperson said. “Some shows carry warnings and others are edited. We want to take time to consider our options for this episode.”

While UKTV’s statement suggested that the Fawlty Towers episode will return to the service in the future, Cleese didn’t appreciate the removal. “I would have hoped that someone at the BBC would understand that there are two ways of making fun of human behaviour,” wrote the Monty Python alum. “One is to attack it directly. The other is to have someone who is patently a figure of fun, speak up on behalf of that behaviour.”

Cleese added that the situation reminds him of Alf Garnett, the racist character in Til Death Do Us Part and In Sickness and in Health. “We laughed at Alf’s reactionary views. Thus we discredited them, by laughing at him,” wrote the actor. “Of course, there were people – very stupid people – who said ‘Thank God someone is saying these things at last.’ We laughed at these people too. Now they’re taking decisions about BBC comedy.”
“The BBC is now run by a mixture of marketing people and petty bureaucrats,” added Cleese. “It used to have a large sprinkling of people who’d actually made programmes. Not any more. BBC decisions are made by persons whose main concern is not losing their jobs.”

Fawlty Towers’ “The Germans” may not be available on the UKTV service, but the BBC reports that the episode is still available to stream Britbox, a portion of which is also owned by the BBC. It is also available on Netflix UK, where it carries a content disclaimer.

Where to stream Fawlty Towers