PRODIGAL FUN

John Cleese stars in his first BBC sitcom for 40 years as a man whose dreams of wedded bliss are scuppered when his fiancée’s not-so-grown-up son returns home

Three years ago, John Cleese vowed never to work for the BBC again. So it’s obviously taken something very special to make the Monty Python and Fawlty Towers actor change his mind.

‘A quite brilliant script – the best I’ve seen in 100 years,’ says John of Hold The Sunset, his new six-part comedy on BBC1. ‘I read it and said yes immediately. It was that funny.’

John appears as former businessman Phil – alongside Alison Steadman, Jason Watkins, Anne Reid and Joanna Scanlan – in his first BBC sitcom since he played eccentric hotelier Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers almost 40 years ago.

We first meet Phil on what is shaping up to be one of the happiest days of his life. ‘ Edith, his neighbour and close friend, has finally agreed to marry him and he’s ecstatic,’ explains John. But, just as the champagne cork pops, disaster strikes. There’s a knock on Edith’s front door and there, with a bag and two suitcases, is her 50-yearold son Roger (Jason Watkins).

‘He’s left his wife and quit his job,’ explains Alison Steadman, who is cast as Edith. ‘He wants to return to his childhood home and be looked after by his mother. This could put Phil and Edith’s plans for marriage – not to mention Phil’s dream of a new life for the two of them in a warmer climate – on hold.’

Roger’s return is the catalyst for more disruption. His wife Wendy (Rosie Cavaliero) becomes a frequent visitor to Edith’s home, where she conducts tearful arguments with her estranged husband. Edith’s daughter Sandra (Joanna Scanlan) also makes her presence felt. She needs money to finance her latest business venture and is trying to per- suade her mother to sell her house so she can share in the proceeds. Roger tries to surprise his mother by re- hiring Queenie, a cleaner who last worked for the family 40 years ago, played by Last Tango In Halifax’s Anne Reid. Phil occasionally escapes the chaos of Edith’s home, but clashes with combative neighbour Mr Dugdale (Peter Egan, who was Shrimpie in Downton Abbey).

Old flames cause further complica- tions for Edith and Phil. There’s Edith’s ex, the raffish Bob, and Desiree, Phil’s former girlfriend. ‘Phil believes Bob is a genuine romantic rival,’ says Alison. ‘Phil is also afraid his ex Desiree will reappear just at the wrong moment. Although there’s never any doubt that Phil loves Edith and Edith loves Phil, their romance can’t get a clear run.’

‘My character becomes increasingly frustrated by that,’ says John. ‘He has

to content himself with sitting around making sarcastic remarks, which is actually exactly how I am in real life – a man who sits around making sarcastic remarks!’

John vowed in 2015 not to work for the BBC again, saying many of its commissioning editors didn’t know what they were doing. But he’s clearly delighted the BBC’s comedy commissioning controller Shane Allen gave Hold The Sunset the go-ahead. ‘It’s been wonderful,’ says John. ‘I’ve never seen so much laughing on set. In fact, there’s been more laughing here than on any other set I’ve been on, even Monty Python. Anne Reid, for instance, has the wickedest sense of humour. It’s been a very happy experience.’ Hold The Sunset starts tomorrow at 7.30pm on BBC1.

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