In one of the most memorable scenes from Fawlty Towers, Basil resorts to giving his car a ‘damn good thrashing’ after it has the audacity to break down just once too often.
The scene was nearly scrapped because of the wrong kind of tree branch, John Cleese has disclosed.
Cleese, the star and creator of the show, said an episode showing him beating a car with a tree branch in a rage was “not funny at all” at first try. After trying three different branches ridged, floppy, he found the perfect branch and comedy gold was made.
