Hello everyone! 🙂
Welcome to ‘Bradley’s Basement’ blog and I’m Tim Bradley!
Last weekend, I spent a couple of days in London, which included enjoying a couple of stage shows. The first of the stage shows was seeing ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ again at the Apollo Theatre. I had a great time attending this play a second time in August 2025. 🙂
Earlier this year, I saw ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ in February. That was part of the original run of performances which began from May 2024 and ended at the start of March 2025. I’m glad I got to see the original ‘Fawlty Towers’ theatre production with the original cast.
The performance I saw on Friday the 1st of August is part of a second run of performances in London’s West End from July to September 2025. This included new cast members playing some of the ‘Fawlty Towers’ characters in the production, which I greatly enjoyed.
When I reviewed ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ the first time back in February, I was quite critical about the blending of three episodes into one plotline, including ‘The Hotel Inspectors’, ‘Communication Problems’ and ‘The Germans’, which I found quite distracting.
Thankfully, on my second viewing of the play, I was able to enjoy it more. I knew what to expect when it came to the transition of plots from one episode into the next. I was able to laugh more, helped by the fact that I booked a front row seat in the Apollo Theatre’s Grand Circle.
The performances of the cast are also better in watching the theatre play for a second time compared to the first time. It was easier to appreciate the actors’ performances in my second viewing of the play compared to first seeing the theatre play back in February.
Danny Bayne plays Basil Fawlty in the second run of performances at London’s West End, and he’s clearly very into the role when watching him perform on stage. 😀 There’s Mia Austen as Sybil Fawlty, who’s equally good as Danny Bayne when she plays her character.
Hemi Yeroham reprises his role of Manual in the second run of ‘Fawlty Towers’ theatre performances. There’s Joanne Clifton as Polly, Paul Nicholas reprises his role as the Major, and there’s Helen Lederer as Mrs. Richards, who I found very enjoyable in the play.
Other cast members include Greg Haiste as Mr. Hutchison, Adam Elliot as Mr. Walt, Emily Winters as Miss Tibbs and Dawn Buckland as Miss Gatsby. I wonder how much was prepared in getting the cast rehearsed for this second run of ‘Fawlty Towers’ performances. 😀
In revisiting ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’, I picked up the ‘French food’ joke that’s said between Basil Fawlty and Mr. Walt in the theatre production. That was originally said between Basil Fawlty and Mr. Johnson in ‘The Psychiatrist’ episode. I enjoyed it in the play.
My best friend Stephen joined me in watching ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ in the Apollo Theatre last Friday. I could tell he enjoyed the play very much, as he was laughing away. 😀 It goes to show how the comedy in ‘Fawlty Towers’ still works for people, even today. 🙂
Of course, the inappropriate slurs said by the Major are excluded from the theatre play, including whose funeral he was attending in ‘Communication Problems’ and the recollections of his India trip in ‘The Germans’. They wouldn’t work well, especially in today’s context.
A thing I noticed in revisiting the play is that the signpost saying ‘FAWLTY TOWERS’ in Act One had changed to ‘FARTY TOWELS’ in Act Two. It was very funny when spotting that. Here are a couple of photos showing the stage with the ‘FAWLTY TOWERS’ signpost changing during acts.
I’m afraid I still missed the rat at the end of the production, especially with everything being so chaotic in terms of a climax with the fire bell going off and Basil screaming that the hotel inspectors were in his hotel. I noticed the Major having his gun for the rat though. 😀
I still regard ‘Fawlty Towers’ very highly as a comedy series and I’m very pleased I got to see ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ twice this year – in February with the original cast and in August with the new cast. Pretty soon, ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ will be on tour in the UK.
This will include places like Plymouth, Guildford, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Ipswich and Birmingham as well as Cardiff for a week in June 2026. I don’t know if I’ll be seeing ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ a third time in Cardiff when it happens. It’d be nice if I could see it again.
I don’t think I need to do a third review of the play, as I think reviewing it twice is enough. I’m sure I’ll provide something ‘Fawlty Towers’-related once it comes to the play for a third time in Cardiff. Maybe I might do a quick review on the complete ‘Fawlty Towers’ BBC audio collection.
Whatever happens, I’m very pleased that I got to see ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ for a second viewing in London and I’m pleased I was able to do it recently with Stephen, my best friend from school. I’m happy he enjoyed the play as much as I’ve enjoyed seeing it again.
Please check out the links for ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’, including the West End performances in London and the UK and Ireland tour dates. I leave you with a trailer for the current run of performances of ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ at the Apollo Theatre in London from July to September 2024.
Enjoy!
Oh, incidentally, ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ is also going to be shown on U&Gold sometime in September 2025. Keep a look out for that! And to think this year is ‘Fawlty Tower’s 50th anniversary! Nice for me to celebrate the occasion with checking out ‘Fawlty Towers – The Play’ in London twice, isn’t it? 😀
Thanks for reading and watching!
Bye for now!
Tim 🙂
Bradley's Basement 