'Fawlty Towers' was a huge influence on me. I mean, it was so slapstick, too. 'Are You Being Served?' was on 15 times a day, it seemed like, and I loved it.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
There was a lot of terrible, terrible comedy in the seventies along with 'Fawlty Towers.' It's easy to forget.
My portrayal of Fagin was all to do with my experience in comedy and revue.
I do have a regard for the musicality of language that came from BBC sitcoms like 'Fawlty Towers.'
As a kid I watched television 24 hours a day and loved every minute of it. The two shows that always make me laugh and are therefore my favourites are The Dick Van Dyke Show and Fawlty Towers.
I was fantastically well versed by the time I left school. I had a teacher who put 'A Clockwork Orange' my way, and 'Catcher in the Rye.'
'The Dick Van Dyke Show' was a huge influence on me as a kid. It looked like a really fun job.
I was warped early by Ray Bradbury and Edgar Allan Poe. I was very fond of Franz Kafka.
My biggest blast-off hit was 'You Raise Me Up.' If you ever have a wedding or a funeral, it's a good pick.
The radio was my big influence. Comedy came from the instinctual feel I had for language.
I was greatly influenced by 'The Goons' and 'Monty Python' reconstituting what comedy was - it could come from a funny word, not just a set up and a pay-off. I liked the zaniness; they were satirical, slightly saucy and very literary in their references.