Prunella Scales

Fawlty Towers is a sitcom that needs no introduction for those familiar with British comedy, and yet it only lasted for two short series with a total of 12 episodes. Created by comedy legends John Cleese and Connie Booth, the show quickly became iconic after its first series in 1975. Basil Fawlty, the hotel owner with a short fuse, and his chaotic attempts to run a Torquay hotel, captivated millions. The series reached heights of popularity few shows at the time could rival. So, why does the show only exist in a re-cut, sanitised, edited form, with some of the original scenes deleted? In this programme, we explore these controversies, peeling back the layers of Fawlty Towers and examining its sometimes uncomfortable place in today's world. Through unearthed deleted scenes and archival interviews, we piece together the story of how a sitcom that seemed untouchable in the 1970s came to be viewed through a more critical lens.

Documentary charting and celebrating five decades of often groundbreaking, boundary-pushing comedy from BBC Two.

Sub Rosa observes the 8 year old Tilda, she lives with her grandmother who runs a flower shop. The young girl roams around freely and discovers a world of indecent activities lurking behind the flower store walls.

Heather is a shy lady who works in a helpline call centre. When she receives a phone call from a mystery man, she has no idea that the encounter will change her life forever.

John Smith has been happily involved in a bigamous marriage for five years. He lives with Stephanie in Finsbury and Michelle in Stockwell. Fortunately, for John, he's a taxi driver which involves varying shift work! Simple? Well, when John unwittingly becomes a have-a-go hero and the Finsbury and Stockwell police forces discover something suspicious in their paperwork, John's happy bubble is about to be burst. The action of the movie takes place during the next hectic 24 hours as John, with the assistance of his gullible neighbor Gary, rush between North and South London attempting to thwart the police and prevent the two loving wives coming face to face!

When Henry fails yet again to hand in his homework for the umpteenth time, he has no idea that this will set off a chain of events which will see him forming an unlikely alliance with Moody Margaret, the infuriating girl next door, and his irritating little brother Perfect Peter, outwitting corrupt School Inspectors and toppling an evil Headmaster, winning a talent contest and facing his ultimate nemesis with no way out.

30 years after Fawlty Towers (1975) ended, Stephen Fry narrates a documentary about the making of this classic sitcom.

Penelope Keeling, a sixty-four-year-old daughter of a famous artist, reflects on her life, and the fate and choices that defined it, when she arrives in the Mediterranean to stay with her headstrong daughter. Shifting through time, and falling into place like the pieces of a jigsaw, the truth of Penelope's rich, heartbreaking and surprising life unfolds.

A look at the careers of John Cleese, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam in the years after Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969).

Satirical drama by Evelyn Waugh, adapted by Sam Hobkinson. Visiting her father Lord Moping in the county asylum, Angela meets a fellow inmate who appears far too sane to be locked up in an institution. She manages to get him released, but he returns two hours later, having achieved a terrible ambition.