Stunning performances in wonderfully funny play at Kenilworth theatre

‘Black Magic’, said to be the basis of Basil and Sybil Fawlty’s strange marriage, may also cast a glow over the affection we feel for the sitcom.

Fawlty Towers, with protagonists Basil (Bill Davis) and Sybil (Jill Laurie), holds such a place in sitcom history that it’s possibly both difficult and dangerous to recreate it.

Yet this is the Talisman’s second go and their reprise (with three different episodes) is both wonderfully funny and elegantly recreated. There were only 12 episodes, and here are three of the best – A Touch of Class, The Hotel Inspectors and Basil the Rat.

Basil’s snobbery underlies A Touch of Class. An advert in Country Life, an extravagance at £40, is supposed to raise the calibre of clients and true to form self-styled ‘Lord Melbery’ (John Fenner) arrives. But he’s no Lord - and Manuel (David Draper) saves the day with a deft wallop with a bar stool.

The Hotel Inspectors, with a stunning performance from Colin Richie as the verbose spoon salesman Mr Hutchison, plays to the stresses of running a clean and efficient hotel … mmmm. The enemy is ever at the gates. Nuff said!

Basil the Rat – my favourite - uses the same theme with wonderful performances from all the main cast. Polly (Aurelia Storey) takes care of the grieving Manuel as his banished pet ‘Siberian Hamster’ escapes among the cream crackers.

A word of praise for the set wouldn’t go amiss: WOW would be it. This is a lovely evening spent with old friends. Five stars.

Jane Howard