Curtains for Basil in hotel techno stakes

John Cleese has criticised hotel-room technology after he found it impossible to close a pair of curtains.

Curtains for Basil in hotel techno stakes

John Cleese has criticised hotel-room technology after he found it impossible to close a pair of curtains.

Cleese, known for playing ranting hotel manager Basil Fawlty, told how he ended up calling for help from his hotel desk.

The 'Monty Python' star is presenting a series about gadgets – but admitted he only started sending text messages in the last six months.

ā€œI recently stayed at this hotel in Pasadena,ā€ Cleese told the 'Radio Times', ā€œand I wanted to close the curtains in my room.

ā€œBut, try as I might, I couldn’t pull them together. I figured there must be a remote device, so I went around the room in search of such a thing.

ā€œI found one that controlled the DVD player and another for the iPod dock, but nothing that would help me close these bloody curtains.

ā€œEventually I called the hotel desk. A few minutes later, this chap knocked on my door.

ā€œHe walked over to what looked like an air-con unit, flicked a switch and, hey presto, the curtains shut.

ā€œHe gave me a look of withering pity. I could see him thinking ’Jeez, who is this idiot?’

ā€œAnd I’m left wondering, wouldn’t it have been easier for everyone if I’d simply been able to pull them shut in the first place?ā€

Cleese is hosting a six-part series on gadgets including shower curtains that can be used as diaries and mobile phones with halitosis detectors – called 'Batteries Not Included' on the Dave TV channel.

ā€œI had a lot of fun making this show, but I’m afraid I don’t have the faintest idea what it’s called,ā€ he told the magazine. ā€œIs it called Dave? Dave’s the TV channel? How peculiar.ā€

Cleese said he was not that good with gadgets, adding: ā€œMaybe people assume I am because I played the Q character in a Bond movie ('Die Another Day').

ā€œIt took quite a lot of effort to play a gadget-meister because I was hopeless with them on the set.

ā€œI do operate something called the iPhone and I possess an iPod, but I haven’t used it in a while.

ā€œOnly in the past six months have I started texting. I do my own podcasts and blogs, but all I do is provide the content for them.ā€

Asked how his 'Fawlty Towers' character might cope with modern-day gadgets, Cleese said: ā€œJust imagine how Basil would react to someone doing something so commonplace as using a mobile phone in a restaurant.

ā€œHe’d explode with fury. And rightly so, in my opinion.ā€

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