John Cleese has commented on the news that UKTV has removed 'The Germans' episode of Fawlty Towers from its website.

Speaking to Australian newspaper The Age, Cleese said: "One of the things I’ve learned in the last 180 years is that people have very different senses of humour.Some of them understand that if you put nonsense words into the mouth of someone you want to make fun of you’re not broadcasting their views, you’re making fun of them.”

He told journalist Karl Quinn: "The Major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them. If they can’t see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?"

Following the removal which was revealed by The Guardian yesterday, UKTV has now issued the following statement: "UKTV has temporarily removed an episode of Fawlty Towers The Germans from Gold’s Box Set. The episode contains racial slurs so we are taking the episode down while we review it. We regularly review older content to ensure it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of outdated language. Some shows carry warnings and others are edited. We want to take time to consider our options for this episode.”

Read the full John Cleese interview here.

Picture: Gold