Fawlty joins mobile revolution

CLASSIC clips of Basil Fawlty whacking his temperamental car with branches and beating long-suffering waiter Manuel with a spoon will soon be seen on mobile phones.

They are among snippets of BBC comedy footage which can be played on handsets in a new deal with phone firm Vodafone.

It is the first deal of its kind for the corporation’s marketing wing, BBC Worldwide, and involved tying up deals with stars, writers and other rights holders. Licensing clips for phones is a new area to allow old TV shows to be exploited, but one which Worldwide says it “expects to grow rapidly”.

Users of the Vodafone Live! service in Britain can download the Fawlty Towers excerpts and some other comedies directly to their handsets.

Fawlty Towers is one of the most internationally successful comedy programmes for the BBC, with sales to broadcasters in more than 70 countries, including India, Russia and Thailand.