John Cleese blasts Britain and says Basil Fawlty would be 'bewildered'

John Cleese said his angry hotelier character would not like modern Britain (Image: Getty)

John Cleese has blasted the UK claiming his Basil Fawlty character would have been "bewildered" by modern Britain.

Cleese said the angry Torquay hotelier would be "bewildered by the country England has become – and so am I".

The actor said Britain was a "happier place" during the time in which Fawlty Towers is set, adding he wished the country could return to how it was in the 1970s.

Cleese told the Telegraph: "By the time we meet Basil in the 1970s, England had diminished as a country and amid economic stagnation, lost its place in the world. Everywhere you looked revolution was afoot, from multiculturalism to feminism, and the England Basil lives in is no longer the country it was.

"I sometimes feel this about England, too. When I look at our country today I yearn for a return to what seemed to be a happier, friendlier, calmer, more ironic culture. I remember an England where everyone was extremely polite when people were doing their best, and when life seemed relatively simple."

John Cleese as Basil Fawlty (Image: Getty)

Cleese said Basil would be "even more of a fish out of water in today’s world than he was in the 1970s" adding he "would find things like the proliferation of call centres maddening".

The actor added: "I know he would, because I do, too."

Despite his frustration with modern Britain, Cleese did say that he thought "a lot of the so-called woke attitudes of today are about being kind and inclusive" adding: "Who is going to disagree with that?".

But he added that he felt the "extreme woke" believe that "whatever you feel about something is entirely valid and should never be questioned".

Cleese went on to say that he felt his series was "ahead of its time" as female characters, Polly and Sybil, who ran the hotel with Basil were seen "as the voice of sanity" and "can run rings around him".

Cleese also confirmed he has been writing a new Fawlty Towers TV series with his daughter Camilla which he hopes will air later this year.

He added: "It’s a modern update in which Basil (played by me) goes out to the Caribbean where his long-lost daughter (played by Camilla) is a hotelier and wants a bit of help. But he will still be repressed and trapped. That’s his condition."