John Cleese is rebooting his classic BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers, it was announced this week.
The British actor and writer, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is collaborating on the new show with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.
He will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development, along with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
The Fawlty Towers reboot will reportedly explore “how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.
Cleese claimed that an initial meeting about the series had yielded “one of the best creative sessions I can remember”.
So what happened to the main four castmembers of Fawlty Towers?
John Cleese
After Fawlty Towers finished, Cleese, who played bedraggled hotelier Basil Fawlty, went on to enjoy a successful film career.
Highlights include 1981’s Time Bandits, directed by fellow Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, and the screwball...
The British actor and writer, who starred in the original series as hotel owner Basil Fawlty, is collaborating on the new show with Spinal Tap filmmaker Rob Reiner.
He will write and star in the revival, which is currently in development, along with his daughter, Camilla Cleese.
The Fawlty Towers reboot will reportedly explore “how Cleese’s over-the-top, cynical and misanthropic Basil Fawlty navigates the modern world”.
Cleese claimed that an initial meeting about the series had yielded “one of the best creative sessions I can remember”.
So what happened to the main four castmembers of Fawlty Towers?
John Cleese
After Fawlty Towers finished, Cleese, who played bedraggled hotelier Basil Fawlty, went on to enjoy a successful film career.
Highlights include 1981’s Time Bandits, directed by fellow Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, and the screwball...
- 2/8/2023
- by Louis Chilton and Roisin O'Connor
- The Independent - TV
BBC America has announced new cast for Killing Eve ahead of the premiere of the fourth and final season of the acclaimed drama series. Camille Cottin, who recurred as Hélène in Season 3 of Killing Eve, has been promoted to series regular for the upcoming season. Additionally, Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts) and Robert Gilbert (The Tragedy of Macbeth) have joined as series regulars and Marie-Sophie Ferdane (I Am Not An Easy Man) will recur in the series starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer.
In Season 4, Eve (Oh), Villanelle (Comer), and Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) are in very different places. Following Eve and Villanelle’s exchange on the bridge, the former is on a revenge mission, while the latter has found a brand-new community in an attempt to prove she’s not a “monster.” Having killed Paul, Carolyn goes to extraordinary lengths to continue to chase down The Twelve and the...
In Season 4, Eve (Oh), Villanelle (Comer), and Carolyn (Fiona Shaw) are in very different places. Following Eve and Villanelle’s exchange on the bridge, the former is on a revenge mission, while the latter has found a brand-new community in an attempt to prove she’s not a “monster.” Having killed Paul, Carolyn goes to extraordinary lengths to continue to chase down The Twelve and the...
- 1/13/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
It isn’t easy staying competitive in a streaming sector crowded with ventures big and small, but Britbox CEO Soumya Sriraman is secure in her corner of the market.
Britbox super-serves the super fans of British TV shows including “Vera” and “Hold the Sunset,” and the service’s demographic skews toward women over 45. That’s a core audience segment with no shortage of pay-tv and streaming brands vying for their attention with programming of all stripes. But Sriraman is confident she can hold onto her audience despite the quick-churn world of subscription VOD.
Listen to the podcast here:
“The market is very crowded, we are staying focused on who we are,” said Sriraman. “The audience that comes to us will stay loyal, all our metrics to date to tell us that.”
A joint venture of BBC Studios and ITV, Britbox has attracted more than one million subscribers in its three...
Britbox super-serves the super fans of British TV shows including “Vera” and “Hold the Sunset,” and the service’s demographic skews toward women over 45. That’s a core audience segment with no shortage of pay-tv and streaming brands vying for their attention with programming of all stripes. But Sriraman is confident she can hold onto her audience despite the quick-churn world of subscription VOD.
Listen to the podcast here:
“The market is very crowded, we are staying focused on who we are,” said Sriraman. “The audience that comes to us will stay loyal, all our metrics to date to tell us that.”
A joint venture of BBC Studios and ITV, Britbox has attracted more than one million subscribers in its three...
- 4/30/2020
- by Andrew Wallenstein
- Variety Film + TV
The streaming sector in Australia will get even more competitive when BritBox, the Svod service co-owned by BBC Studios and ITV, launches later this year.
The platform will offer a mix of exclusive and non-exclusive British content, including classic and contemporary box sets.
The plan is to recruit a local team including a country manager to lead the operations in Australia, its fourth market following the Us, Canada and the UK.
The price has not been disclosed but in the UK the service, which airs such shows as Broadchurch, Call the Midwife, Poldark, The Office, Death in Paradise, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey and Wolf Hall, costs subscribers £5.99 ($A11.65) per month.
The launch date and distribution are yet to be revealed but the content will be curated especially for this market, according to BBC Studios.
BritBox North America launched in March 2017 and has signed up more than one million subscribers, doubling...
The platform will offer a mix of exclusive and non-exclusive British content, including classic and contemporary box sets.
The plan is to recruit a local team including a country manager to lead the operations in Australia, its fourth market following the Us, Canada and the UK.
The price has not been disclosed but in the UK the service, which airs such shows as Broadchurch, Call the Midwife, Poldark, The Office, Death in Paradise, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey and Wolf Hall, costs subscribers £5.99 ($A11.65) per month.
The launch date and distribution are yet to be revealed but the content will be curated especially for this market, according to BBC Studios.
BritBox North America launched in March 2017 and has signed up more than one million subscribers, doubling...
- 3/4/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: BritBox, the U.S. streamer backed by the BBC and ITV, has hit 1M subscribers. The service has doubled its take-up since January 2019.
The platform, which launched in March 2017, attributed its success to tapping into an “underserved” audience of women 45 years and older with a slew of British series. It noted that by “super-serving” this audience, it was also able to record low single-digit churn.
It has also been closing the gap between the time a show launches in the UK and its debut on BritBox with shows such as The Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special, nature doc series Spring Watch, Piers Morgan-fronted Good Morning Britain and political series Prime Minister’s Questions all airing day-and-date on the platform.
In addition to series such as Brenda Blethyn’s Vera, Kelly Macdonald’s The Victim and John Cleese’s Hold the Sunset, it has been increasingly moving into original...
The platform, which launched in March 2017, attributed its success to tapping into an “underserved” audience of women 45 years and older with a slew of British series. It noted that by “super-serving” this audience, it was also able to record low single-digit churn.
It has also been closing the gap between the time a show launches in the UK and its debut on BritBox with shows such as The Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special, nature doc series Spring Watch, Piers Morgan-fronted Good Morning Britain and political series Prime Minister’s Questions all airing day-and-date on the platform.
In addition to series such as Brenda Blethyn’s Vera, Kelly Macdonald’s The Victim and John Cleese’s Hold the Sunset, it has been increasingly moving into original...
- 3/4/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The number of subscribers to BritBox has hit 500,000, the streaming service said Thursday. The platform, launched as a collaboration between BBC Studios and ITV, is designed to offer U.S. and Canadian viewers the best of recent and classic British television content.
The streaming service launched in the U.S. in March 2017 with a host of the latest British dramas and soaps, as well as classic comedy titles such as “Fawlty Towers,” “The Office,” “Gavin & Stacey” and “Absolutely Fabulous.” The service’s Canadian launch followed in February 2018.
Content and subscribers have grown rapidly, with BritBox leveraging programming including simulcast events, such as the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry last May, and new star-led programming like “Hold the Sunset,” which marked “Fawlty Towers” and Monty Python star John Cleese’s first leading role in a British sitcom in nearly 40 years. BritBox is now home to the largest collection...
The streaming service launched in the U.S. in March 2017 with a host of the latest British dramas and soaps, as well as classic comedy titles such as “Fawlty Towers,” “The Office,” “Gavin & Stacey” and “Absolutely Fabulous.” The service’s Canadian launch followed in February 2018.
Content and subscribers have grown rapidly, with BritBox leveraging programming including simulcast events, such as the wedding of Meghan Markle and Prince Harry last May, and new star-led programming like “Hold the Sunset,” which marked “Fawlty Towers” and Monty Python star John Cleese’s first leading role in a British sitcom in nearly 40 years. BritBox is now home to the largest collection...
- 1/17/2019
- by Robert Mitchell
- Variety Film + TV
Day two of the 2018 Television Critics Association summer press tour was anything but dull.
A+E Networks left the room stunned with the panel for “The Hunt for the Trump Tapes with Tom Arnold,” while also demonstrating the creepiness of social media for the new drama series “You.” Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav also hinted at the company’s potential future in streaming, and John Cleese was delightful while promoting his BritBox “Hold the Sunset.”
Here are four things we learned from Thursday’s sessions:
1. Tom Arnold is mad as hell and he isn’t going to take it anymore. The actor and comedian made a fiery appearance in support of his upcoming Viceland series “The Hunt for the Trump Tapes with Tom Arnold” in which he pledged to continue hunting for damning audio evidence of Trump’s misdeeds until he gets him to resign the presidency. Arnold also...
A+E Networks left the room stunned with the panel for “The Hunt for the Trump Tapes with Tom Arnold,” while also demonstrating the creepiness of social media for the new drama series “You.” Discovery president and CEO David Zaslav also hinted at the company’s potential future in streaming, and John Cleese was delightful while promoting his BritBox “Hold the Sunset.”
Here are four things we learned from Thursday’s sessions:
1. Tom Arnold is mad as hell and he isn’t going to take it anymore. The actor and comedian made a fiery appearance in support of his upcoming Viceland series “The Hunt for the Trump Tapes with Tom Arnold” in which he pledged to continue hunting for damning audio evidence of Trump’s misdeeds until he gets him to resign the presidency. Arnold also...
- 7/27/2018
- by Joe Otterson and Daniel Holloway
- Variety Film + TV
“For the first time in my life I’m playing myself,” John Cleese said, via satellite, of his starring role in BritBox’s new comedy series Hold the Sunset.
Cleese plays the love interest of widow Edith (Alison Steadman), whose retirement plans derail when her son leaves his wife and job and moves back in with Mom.
Cleese’s character is a sort of no-filters guy, as is Cleese. “The closer you get to death the more you don’t give a f*ck,” Cleese advised TV critics at TCA on Thursday during the show’s panel.
Speaking of not giving a f*ck, Cleese’s answers to the beauty-pageant questions he got asked during the Hold the Sunset Q&A:
His greatest personal and professional accomplishments?
“My greatest professional accomplishment s will be a movie I’m writing now, a light comedy about cannibalism. It’s called Yummy.”
“My...
Cleese plays the love interest of widow Edith (Alison Steadman), whose retirement plans derail when her son leaves his wife and job and moves back in with Mom.
Cleese’s character is a sort of no-filters guy, as is Cleese. “The closer you get to death the more you don’t give a f*ck,” Cleese advised TV critics at TCA on Thursday during the show’s panel.
Speaking of not giving a f*ck, Cleese’s answers to the beauty-pageant questions he got asked during the Hold the Sunset Q&A:
His greatest personal and professional accomplishments?
“My greatest professional accomplishment s will be a movie I’m writing now, a light comedy about cannibalism. It’s called Yummy.”
“My...
- 7/26/2018
- by Lisa de Moraes
- Deadline Film + TV
Piers Morgan, one of Donald Trump’s most trusted cheerleaders, is heading back to the U.S. after Svod service BritBox picked up daily British breakfast news program Good Morning Britain.
The digital platform is also set to debut a raft of British dramas including Tom Riley’s Dark Heart and BAFTA Award-winning drama Three Girls as part of its latest slate of acquisitions, announced as part of its TCA presentation.
Morgan, who previously hosted a talkshow on CNN, fronts Good Morning Britain, which runs on ITV, alongside Susanna Reid. Morgan has courted controversy on the light entertainment format recently with his interview with Trump aboard Air Force One as well as recent run ins with communists. The show will form part of BritBox’s ‘Now’ offering, alongside This Morning, which is hosted by Phillip Schofield & Holly Willoughby.
Elsewhere, Dark Heart, which stars Da Vinci’s Demons’ Riley as Detective...
The digital platform is also set to debut a raft of British dramas including Tom Riley’s Dark Heart and BAFTA Award-winning drama Three Girls as part of its latest slate of acquisitions, announced as part of its TCA presentation.
Morgan, who previously hosted a talkshow on CNN, fronts Good Morning Britain, which runs on ITV, alongside Susanna Reid. Morgan has courted controversy on the light entertainment format recently with his interview with Trump aboard Air Force One as well as recent run ins with communists. The show will form part of BritBox’s ‘Now’ offering, alongside This Morning, which is hosted by Phillip Schofield & Holly Willoughby.
Elsewhere, Dark Heart, which stars Da Vinci’s Demons’ Riley as Detective...
- 7/26/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Unexpected Moonlighting reunion alert: Cybill Shepherd will take part in The Comedy Central Roast of Bruce Willis, airing Sunday, July 29 at 10/9c.
Shepherd and Willis, of course, starred as love-hate private detectives Maddie and David in the aforementioned ABC dramedy, which ran for five seasons from 1985 to 1989.
Additional roasters include Nikki Glaser, Lil Rel Howery, Dom Irrera, Edward Norton, Kevin Pollak and Jeff Ross.
Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…
* Netflix has released a teaser for its adult animated comedy fantasy series Disenchantment, from creator Matt Groening (The Simpsons) and premiering Friday, Aug. 17:
* The Young and the Restless...
Shepherd and Willis, of course, starred as love-hate private detectives Maddie and David in the aforementioned ABC dramedy, which ran for five seasons from 1985 to 1989.
Additional roasters include Nikki Glaser, Lil Rel Howery, Dom Irrera, Edward Norton, Kevin Pollak and Jeff Ross.
Ready for more of today’s newsy nuggets? Well…
* Netflix has released a teaser for its adult animated comedy fantasy series Disenchantment, from creator Matt Groening (The Simpsons) and premiering Friday, Aug. 17:
* The Young and the Restless...
- 6/28/2018
- TVLine.com
BritBox, the U.S. Svod service operated by BBC Studios and ITV, has picked up comedies starring Monty Python’s John Cleese and Heather Graham as part of its summer slate. The digital platform has also dated its first original, The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco.
The company has bought Bliss, created by Arrested Development star David Cross, and BBC sitcom Hold The Sunset. Bliss, which was originally commissioned by Sky, follows the complicated double-life of a successful travel writer who, through extenuating circumstances, finds himself living between two families. It also stars Episodes’ Stephen Mangan.
Meanwhile, Hold The Sunset, which stars Cleese and Alison Steadman, follows a widow who gives into the advances of an old flame at the same time as her adult son moves back in with her.
BritBox will also launch its first original series The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco on July 26. The drama, which is the...
The company has bought Bliss, created by Arrested Development star David Cross, and BBC sitcom Hold The Sunset. Bliss, which was originally commissioned by Sky, follows the complicated double-life of a successful travel writer who, through extenuating circumstances, finds himself living between two families. It also stars Episodes’ Stephen Mangan.
Meanwhile, Hold The Sunset, which stars Cleese and Alison Steadman, follows a widow who gives into the advances of an old flame at the same time as her adult son moves back in with her.
BritBox will also launch its first original series The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco on July 26. The drama, which is the...
- 6/28/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
BritBox, the subscription video streaming service from BBC Studios and ITV, in which AMC Networks also has a stake, has picked up two U.K. comedies to exclusively stream in the U.S.
Bliss, from David Cross (Arrested Development) and starring Stephen Mangan (Episodes) and Heather Graham (Austin Powers), will be added to the platform in August, with the John Cleese- and Alison Steadman-led ensemble Hold the Sunset following in September.
The pair of rom-coms join BritBox’s first original series The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, which is set to debut July 26. Picking up in 1956, the follow-up to The Bletchley Circle focuses ...
Bliss, from David Cross (Arrested Development) and starring Stephen Mangan (Episodes) and Heather Graham (Austin Powers), will be added to the platform in August, with the John Cleese- and Alison Steadman-led ensemble Hold the Sunset following in September.
The pair of rom-coms join BritBox’s first original series The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco, which is set to debut July 26. Picking up in 1956, the follow-up to The Bletchley Circle focuses ...
- 6/28/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Sophie Rundle, Gemma Whelan, Timothy West and Gemma Jones have been tapped to co-star opposite Suranne Jones in Gentleman Jack (fka Shibden Hall), HBO and BBC One’s eight-episode drama series from BAFTA-winning writer Sally Wainwright. Filming will begin next month in and around West Yorkshire and on location in Copenhagen. The series will premiere on BBC One in the UK.
Set in 1832 Halifax, West Yorkshire, Gentleman Jack focuses on landowner Anne Lister (Jones) and her determination to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, by reopening the coal mines and marrying well. The story examines Anne’s relationships at home with her family, servants, tenants and industrial rivals and, most importantly, would-be wife. Based in historical fact, the real-life...
Set in 1832 Halifax, West Yorkshire, Gentleman Jack focuses on landowner Anne Lister (Jones) and her determination to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home, Shibden Hall, by reopening the coal mines and marrying well. The story examines Anne’s relationships at home with her family, servants, tenants and industrial rivals and, most importantly, would-be wife. Based in historical fact, the real-life...
- 4/26/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The pilot sitcom starring Alison Steadman, John Cleese, and Jason Watkins is a British effort of Director Sandy Johnson and writer Charles McKeown that ventures into the unfortunate but all too-familiar world of an adult child returning home to his parents and deciding to stay for a while. A long while. Producers Moira Williams, Humphrey Barclay, and Chris Sussman try to find success exploring the sunset of the Baby Boomer generation and the “rising” of the Millennials. Airing Sundays on BBC One, the storyline is that Edith (Steadman), a widow who has managed to find life and happiness in her
Trailer for New John Cleese Sitcom ‘Hold the Sunset’...
Trailer for New John Cleese Sitcom ‘Hold the Sunset’...
- 2/13/2018
- by Nat Berman
- TVovermind.com
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