Bearing in mind the seventies television comedy Fawlty Towers only ran for 12 episodes it is impressive how much the programme is part of our psyche. Its characters and certainly some famous scenes remain hugely familiar and loved worldwide today.

It’s perhaps surprising that it’s therefore taken 50 years for the show to reach the stage in this current iteration but it’s now here in all its live action for fans to enjoy.

The production has been adapted by John Cleese, who wrote the original series with Connie Booth and played the constantly stressed hotel manager Basil Fawlty, and his stamp is evident on the show.

The storyline is based on three episodes from the series – The Hotel Inspectors, Communication Problems and The Germans – and anyone who knows the programme will recognise much-loved characters, familiar dialogue and, of course, many of the famous actions.

Directed by Caroline Jay Ranger, the cast have clearly been told to replicate the roles as they were played out by the television actors and it is easy to see those original physical appearances, mannerisms and speech replicated in the stage show.

Danny Bayne is uncannily similar to Cleese in his portrayal of Basil, giving us a man constantly tipping over the edge, bawling out his own customers, arguing with his colleagues, particularly wife Sybil, and generally causing mayhem. Bayne is great at the physical comedy which sees him fighting with guests or miming the name of the horse he’s secretly put a bet on.

Mia Austen has Prunella Scales’ Sybil firmly in her grasp capturing that element of exasperation and bossiness – and Austen also gives us a fine rendition of Sybil’s famous laugh.

Andrew Sach’s much-loved crazed waiter Manuel is brought to life with plenty of humour by Hemi Yeroham who runs from place to place, constantly fails to understand what is going on and shouts ‘Que?’ to everything. Joanne Clifton is the ever-competent maid Polly, smoothing ruffled feathers and attempting to keep the peace between the staff and the customers. They are given solid support from the rest of the cast who take on a host of roles from disgruntled customers through to the infamous inspectors.

At press night at Wolverhampton Grand Paul Nicholas’ role of the Major was understudied by Neil Stewart who gave us just the right level of befuddlement in the old boy who means well but does sometimes take things just a bit too far.

The sets and costumes created by Liz Ascroft cleverly recreate the hotel we know so well from our small screens. A single set incorporates the ‘welcome’ desk, the restaurant, the main entrance, a staircase, a single bedroom and an exterior, a bit like a large doll’s house. And as the action moves, often frantically, from one room to another it is easy to follow without any pause for set changes which helps keep the show’s non-stop pace.

Fans of the television series will love seeing all their favourite characters brought to life on stage and will enjoy watching the scenarios play out. In some ways it’s like putting on your favourite old cardigan which is familiar and comfortable with no nasty surprises up the sleeve.

But you can’t help but wonder what Cleese could have given us if he’d decided to throw something fresh into the mix. How interesting it would be to see all these well-honed characters face the unexpected, creating something additional to the Fawlty Towers canon and giving us a whole new set of adventures for now and posterity.

Three stars

Fawlty Towers was reviewed by Diane Parkes on Tuesday 10 February at Wolverhampton Grand, where it continues to show until 21 February. It then plays Regent Theatre, Stoke-on-Trent from Tuesday 24 - Saturday 28 February; and Birmingham's Alexandra Theatre from Tuesday 17 - Saturday 21 March.