Although some of the more contentious language has been removed, the principal characters and the physical violence Cleese sometimes directs towards them remain intact.
In the stage show, Basil (played by Adam Jackson-Fox) is seen trying to restrain a guest who starts complaining about the service in front of someone Basil suspects is a hotel inspector.
He is also seen slapping Manuel and hitting him on the head with a hard spoon, but it’s clear a lot of thought has gone into staging such moves safely.
In contrast, the late Andrew Sachs, who originally played Manuel, previously recalled being physically injured, external by some of Basil’s actions.
Writing in the Telegraph last week,, external Cleese defended the character of Manuel against suggestions that a useless Spanish waiter (who was being played by an English actor) was an offensive 1970s stereotype.
Cleese said: “Manuel was simply a character with whom there could be constant misunderstandings and I’ve always found misunderstandings to be very funny.”
The two-hour play was previously staged in Australia, but this is the first time it has come to the West End.
Set in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, Fawlty Towers followed an irritable hotel owner who was frequently rude to demanding guests.
In the play, Basil will be seen attempting to be unusually courteous to guests following a tip-off that inspectors may be visiting hotels in the area.
But his plans are disrupted by a party of German guests and a particularly challenging customer, Mrs Richards.
Asked how he had gone about merging the three episodes, which will bring together all three endings, Cleese said: “It’s what I call carpentry.
“We chose Mrs Richards because everyone loves that, it’s a wonderful character. And we chose [The Hotel Inspectors] and then of course we had to do the Germans, and then we had to figure out how we dovetail together.
“Because they start at different times and people move from one story to another. Which means that it’s pretty action packed.”
