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Fawlty Towers The Play Review: Shamelessly recycled it may be, but this is a fine reproduction of a vintage antique... it's as if time stood still, writes PATRICK MARMION

As shamelessly recycled 50-year-old comic material goes, John Cleese and Connie Booth's stage replica of their classic TV comedy, Fawlty Towers, is still very good fun.

And Liz Ashcroft’s staging distils the chintzy Torquay hotel into an open plan design faux pas — from lobby with flock wallpaper and dining room with lacy tablecloths, to upstairs bedroom sans sea view. I’ve always loved the sweetly sad story of two young actors at the butt end of the swinging Sixties, heading for the Lake District in the hope of respite from poverty, pills and booze. Malcolm Sinclair ensures flamboyant uncle Monty remains a rueful, Edwardian throwback, and there are nice touches from Adam Young as nasally philosopher and drug dealer Danny.

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