John Cleese has launched another furious attack on the BBC, claiming the corporation is too timid and overly influenced by what he described as the “nastiness of the extremely woke”.
The Monty Python and Fawlty Towers star, 85, told Radio Times that the broadcaster has not commissioned anything truly funny in years and argued that “the British people deserve better”.
Recalling a recent meeting with BBC Comedy executives, Cleese alleged one left early and another was “one of the most stupid men I’ve ever met”.
He claimed bosses were uninterested in his ideas, instead suggesting a “hopeless” concept that sounded like Basil Fawlty on a ship.
Cleese told the magazine: “When was the last really good thing they ran? The Office? How long ago was that? It was a major contribution to society. The people in charge now have no idea at all. The writers deserve better than this. The British people deserve better than this.”
He went on to accuse the BBC of being “cowardly about offence”, contrasting today’s leadership with past directors-general who “would say there are some people one would wish to offend”.
Now, he claimed, executives fear angry calls at dinnertime and sideline comedy material that could be deemed controversial.
The Standard has contacted a representative for the BBC for comment.
His latest comments echo a blistering tirade he delivered at the Slapstick comedy festival in Bristol earlier this month, where he said: “If you put a script in now it has to go through a f***ing committee who have no idea what they are doing. There has been nothing funny since The Office.”
Cleese insisted Britain had once excelled at comedy but said bureaucratic processes and risk-averse attitudes have stifled creativity: “Comedy now has to be clean. You must not play for laughs. I am going to write a book about writing comedy to make people aware how difficult it is.”
While he ruled out ever working with the BBC again, Cleese is still keeping busy. He is developing a sequel to his 2016 stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers, drawing inspiration from episodes including The Psychiatrist and The Kipper and the Corpse. The West End revival of the sitcom ran last year to glowing reviews.
