THE MUCH-LOVED SITCOM COMES TO THE PLYMOUTH THEATRE AS A SIDE-SPLITTING PLAY BETWEEN TUESDAY 2 AND SATURDAY 6 DECEMBER 2025. BOOK YOUR TICKETS NOW. JUST DON’T MENTION THE WAR!
Que? “Fawlty Towers” is coming to Plymouth? Say it isn’t so! Well, it is so. The classic sitcom may have been set in nearby Torquay but it’s at the Theatre Royal Plymouth between Tuesday 2 and Saturday 6 December 2025 (don’t worry, it will be in Torquay in April 2026, though!).
“Fawlty Towers – The Play” has already sold out two West End seasons and now it’s going national as it tours across the UK over 10 months. By all accounts, it’s as funny as the original TV show and doesn’t shy away on that classic slapstick humour either.
Is there any point in outlining “Fawlty Towers”? The show is so etched into the collective cultural consciousness in the UK (and across most of the world) that it seems too obvious to spell it out. But just in case you’ve never had the pleasure, the sitcom was written by Monty Python alumni John Cleese and his then wife Connie Booth back in the 1970s, with the first episode airing in September 1975. Famously, there were only ever 12 episodes.
It starred Cleese as the irate, awkward Basil Fawlty and Prunella Scales as his long-suffering wife, Sybil. Booth was the wily waitress and maid, Polly Sherman, and Andrew Sachs was the much-loved, much-confused Spanish waiter Manuel. The show continually tops “best sitcom” lists and, of course, it spawned this hugely popular stage show.
Cleese, who adapted the show himself with Caroline Jay Ranger directing the performance, has spoken about the runaway success of “Fawlty Towers – The Play”. He says: “To be honest, I was more confident about it than almost anything I’ve ever done. I remember reading the finished script and thinking it was really funny. And the English do love farce.”
The play, which opened at London’s Apollo theatre in May 2024, brings together three of the TV show’s most legendarily hilarious episodes – “The Hotel Inspector”, “Communication Problems” and “The Germans” – into one rip-roaring theatrical experience. The Daily Mail has already said it is “a fine reproduction of a vintage antique” and The Express has called it “the funniest show in town”.
The performance sees Danny Bayne playing cranky Basil with Mia Austen as Sybil. Joanne Clifton takes on the role of Polly and British-institution-in-his-own-right Paul Nicholas is The Major.
Grab your tickets now if you’re a Fawlty fan. And then make sure your car is working so you can get to the Theatre Royal Plymouth on time. You don’t want that car to break down on the way… and then you get mad with a big leafy branch and… ah, you know the scene…