Fawlty Towers star John Cleese confided that the cast and producers had been racing against the clock in their desperation to film their episodes. The pressure was on as they realised that the time limit was so strict, they wouldn't have a show at all if it wasn't wrapped within two hours. The BBC star shared his retrospective fears in a candid interview on Morning Live.
"There wasn't time to hang around - we had two hours to record that show," he exclaimed in no uncertain terms. "We started at 8 and finished at 10 and if it wasn't in the can, there wasn't an ending to the show. "Whenever there was a break I was looking at my watch and thinking, 'Oh my god are we going to get this done?' Two hours and we used to record 140 pages.
The average sitcom has 65 pages so we used to do double the amount, because it was so fast paced," he revealed. The shocking revelation highlights just how much pressure he may have faced behind the scenes as a renowned writer of the award-winning show. It has been suggested that it upholds a standard that all other BBC shows are judged by - and it's so well liked that a sequel has been announced to revive it.
In a follow-up to the tales of Basil Fawlty and his sidekicks, John and his daughter Camilla announced last year that a series starring both of them is in development. He has warned that the younger generation - and those who are easily offended - might not immediately take to it. However, he vowed that despite a potential backlash, he has no i.
