Fawlty Towers - The Play checks in and breaks records at the Princess Theatre!

The Princess Theatre, Torquay is proud to announce that Fawlty Towers - The Play has delivered one of the most remarkable weeks in our venue's history, breaking multiple records and writing a new chapter in the story of one of Britain's best-loved comedies.

The production ran from 14–18 April 2026, with the show's writer and creator, John Cleese, personally opening the production on its first night, his first return to Torquay in more than 50 years. Whilst meeting the cast, Cleese said: "I am delighted to bring Fawlty Towers to Torquay, its spiritual home."

It was a sentiment felt by audiences across the region and beyond.

Theatregoers travelled from far and wide to witness the show perform in the very town that inspired it, the seaside setting that John Cleese first visited in the early 1970s, where a notoriously rude hotel owner named Donald Sinclair gave him the idea for Basil Fawlty.

For the cast, the Torquay engagement was the most meaningful stop on the entire UK and Ireland tour, with lead actor Danny Bayne describing it as "the home of Fawlty Towers."

The response from our audiences was extraordinary. Fawlty Towers - The Play is now the highest grossing play ever staged at the Princess Theatre, the highest grossing weekly show in our history, and has set a record for the highest admissions for a play at our venue in the last 15 years.

Ross Bibby, General Manager of the Princess Theatre, said: "To welcome John Cleese back to Torquay after more than 50 years and to open a show that he wrote, in the town that inspired it, was a genuinely extraordinary moment for our theatre and for this town.

"Our audiences rose to the occasion magnificently. People travelled from across the country to be here, and the atmosphere throughout the week was electric.

"The records this production has broken speak for themselves, but what I'll remember most is the sound of a full house laughing.

"Fawlty Towers belongs to Torquay, and this week Torquay showed just how much it belongs to Fawlty Towers."

Pictured: The Cast with John Cleese. Photo by Simon Day.