Famous ‘don’t mention the war’ Fawlty Towers episode has been removed from streaming - here’s why

The famous “don’t mention the war” episode of beloved 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers has been removed from streaming services.

UKTV, which is owned by the BBC, has temporarily made ‘The Germans’ episode unavailable while it carries out a review.

Why has the episode been removed?

The iconic episode has temporarily been axed because of “racial slurs” used by characters in the show.

First aired in 1975, the episode shows eccentric hotel owner Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, goose-stepping around while shouting “don’t mention the war” in front of a family of visiting Germans.

It also contains scenes in which elderly resident Major Gowen uses offensive language to talk about the West Indies cricket team.

The scene had already been edited out of repeats that were shown on the BBC in 2013, following consultation with representatives of star and co-writer Cleese.

A UKTV spokesman said: "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“We regularly review older content to ensure it meets audience expectations and are particularly aware of the impact of outdated language.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.”

What did John Cleese say?

Fawlty Towers’ creator and star of the sitcom, John Cleese, branded the move to remove the episode as “stupid”.

Speaking to The Age Newspaper, 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.

“The Major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them.