News

Fawlty Towers reboot – the darker side of Basil Fawlty

Published

3 years ago

February 12, 2023

Fawlty Towers is back in the news, due to the announcement of a US reboot where Basil Fawlty is now running a boutique hotel in the States with his daughter – to be played by Cleese’s real-life daughter, stand-up comedian Camilla Cleese.

One question this raises is how on earth did Basil Fawlty, the cantankerous parochial hotelier in the English countryside, somehow end up with an American daughter? A second question is why are they bringing the show back at all?

Stylistically Fawlty Towers is a farce, which is a genre of comedy built around a series of increasingly absurd, exaggerated and improbable situations.

Sitcom wise, the last great farce was Frasier. But despite the extraordinary stage farce Noises Off being revived for a 40th-anniversary production, rebooting Fawlty Towers as a farce in the 21st century would be a mistake.

That’s because, as a form, the farce has been eclipsed by comedy drama (aka “dramedy”).

Fawlty Towers was released at a time when farce was a dominant cultural form – joined, for example, by Bedroom Farce by Alan Ayckbourn (National Theatre, London 1975) and the works of Ray Cooney. Farces are powered by a lie that gets out of control, the comedy driven by the increasingly desperate attempts of the protagonist to keep the lie going and all the chaos and absurdity this causes.

In a Fawlty Towers plot, for instance, Basil tells an initial lie to get out of a tight spot, then is forced into more and more convoluted lies in order to sustain the original lie, until it all becomes too convoluted and comes crashing down.

In classic stage farces, you’ll often find a lover hiding in a wardrobe of a hotel bedroom. In a nod to this kind of bedroom farce, in the “Kipper and the Corpse” episode of Fawlty Towers, Basil – along with a reluctant waiter Manuel and maid Polly – have carried the deceased guest Mr Leeman’s body out of his room whereupon resident guest Miss Tibbs sees the corpse and becomes hysterical.

On Basil’s urging, Polly slaps her to bring her to her senses but applies too much force and knocks her out cold. In a panic, they manhandle both the unconscious Miss Tibbs and the corpse into a nearby empty bedroom and hide them in the wardrobe. At which point – like the unfaithful wife’s husband – the couple who are staying in the room return and, of course, want to get something from their wardrobe.

Having an unconscious pensioner and a dead body inside is certainly upping the ante on the classic lover “hiding in the wardrobe” scenario.

If the show returned in the form of a farce, it would feel chronically dated alongside today’s best comedies that are a heady mix of comedy and drama. A case in point is the celebrated White Lotus, itself set in a hotel but with a class of guest that Basil could only dream of.

Comedy dramas have all the gloss of big-budget dramas and tackle darker and deeper subjects within their comedic frame than the traditional TV sitcom ever could.

The first season of White Lotus, in a pleasing echo of Basil Fawlty, has hotelier Armond, a tall moustachioed volcano of emotion covered up by a supercilious exterior. Armond, however, goes in directions Basil never would. He’s gay and a recovering addict, who falls spectacularly off the wagon and runs amok – leading to a death with more gravity and consequences than the demise of Mr Leeman.

But like Fawlty Towers, at the heart of the comedy, are lies that spiral out of control. For example, Armond claims to not have found a lost rucksack belonging to two young guests because this bag is his supply of drugs. Armond also continuously lies to cover up his incorrect booking of a room – a lie that spirals spectacularly out of control collides with his drug taking and leads to a grisly finish.

While the style and subject matter changes, the fundamentals of comedy remain the same. So it’s not that the new Basil shouldn’t be a chronic liar losing control of his falsehoods, but rather that stylistically the revival would be better off being in the dramedy mode, like White Lotus. This also opens up the show to the delicious possibility of a much darker and wilder Basil Fawlty.

News

Trump to meet Xi at APEC amid trade tensions

Trump to meet Xi at APEC summit as trade tensions escalate and tariffs loom

Published

1 hour ago

October 21, 2025

Ahron Young

Trump to meet Xi at APEC summit as trade tensions escalate and tariffs loom

In Short:
– Trump will meet Xi Jinping at the APEC summit in South Korea later this month amid trade tensions.
– China has reshuffled its trade team, appointing Li Yongjie as the new WTO representative.

President Donald Trump confirmed he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later this month in South Korea.

It marks their first face-to-face encounter in six years amid ongoing trade tensions.Trump expressed hope about achieving a “fantastic deal,” despite escalating disputes. He is prepared to impose significant tariffs on Chinese imports if no agreement is reached. Current U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods average 55%, with a potential increase to 155% looming.

Trump mentioned that he believes an excellent trade deal would benefit the U.S., China and the global economy. He acknowledged the importance of the negotiations, stating that China respects the U.S. but is always seeking advantages in trade.

China’s Trade Reshuffle

China has reshuffled its trade negotiation team. Li Chenggang has been removed from his position as the representative to the World Trade Organization, while retaining his role as vice minister of commerce. This change aligns with Beijing’s strategy to adjust its trade diplomacy amid tensions.

Li Yongjie has been appointed as the new WTO representative. This team transition comes after scrutiny from U.S. officials and reflects China’s commitment to recalibrating its approach within the ongoing trade discussions.

The upcoming APEC summit will gather leaders from 21 economies, representing a significant portion of global GDP. It serves as a pivotal platform for dialogue, despite the backdrop of intensified trade negotiations.

News

The global race is on to secure critical minerals. Why do they matter so much?

Published

13 hours ago

October 21, 2025

The Conversation

Amir Razmjou, Edith Cowan University

Critical minerals are having a moment. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is at the White House to talk up Australia’s rich deposits with President Donald Trump. China, which has a global stranglehold on rare earth elements, recently imposed new export restrictions, much to Trump’s annoyance.

It’s clear there’s an era of global competition underway. Critical minerals are essential for manufacturing advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles and renewables. And governments everywhere are racing to secure a future supply.

Australia holds vast reserves of lithium, rare earths, cobalt and tungsten. This presents both a golden opportunity and a looming challenge.

What, exactly, are critical minerals? And what advantages might they offer to Australia?

What are they?

Critical minerals are the raw materials used to manufacture objects like mobile phones, wind turbines and weapons. They underpin the technologies of the next industrial age, from lithium-ion batteries to F-35 fighter jets.

There’s no single list of critical minerals, as countries have their own definitions of what is essential. The Australian government describes them as elements essential for modern technologies, the economy and national security with supply chains vulnerable to geopolitical risk.

In Australia, the 31 minerals and rare earths defined as ‘critical’ include lithium, magnesium and zirconium. Rare earths are heavy metals used in electrical and magnetic components. These elements aren’t truly rare in the Earth’s crust but occur in low concentrations, making them difficult and expensive to extract.

Geoscience Australia has mapped extensive deposits of critical minerals across the continent. Accessing them could position Australia as a key supplier to global clean-energy industries.

A booming industry

Australia’s current Critical Minerals Strategy sets out a plan to move from simply mining and extracting these minerals to going further to refine, process and manufacture them.

This is backed by initiatives such as the $4 billion Critical Minerals Facility to support projects aligned with the strategy. This also includes a new 10% production tax credit for onshore refining.

Together, these policies form a strong foundation for stimulating domestic mineral processing and investment. But their effectiveness will depend on how quickly they can translate into operational projects.

These are already emerging. Mining companies such as Arafura Rare Earths and Alpha HPA are developing chemical processing plants for magnet materials and high-purity alumina. The CSIRO-led Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub is pioneering new refining technologies that will enable domestic production of high-value materials. Australia’s technical capability, long seen as lagging behind its geological advantage, is catching up.

Yet most of Australia’s critical minerals are still exported in raw form. Domestic processing and refining remain limited, while high energy costs and workforce shortages constrain growth. Australia still relies on overseas processing, which limits the economic benefit from its resources.

Extracting critical minerals has a considerable environmental footprint. Producing one tonne of lithium generates 15–20 tonnes of CO₂ and consumes 77 tons of fresh water. The government needs to invest in sustainable technologies with minimal environmental impact.

A tightening global race

The urgency to act has intensified amid escalating US–China trade tensions. In recent weeks, China imposed tighter export controls on rare-earth materials and magnet technology, forcing foreign firms to seek special approval to export items that contain even trace Chinese content.

In response, President Trump announced a 100% tariff on Chinese imports from next month, a move designed to decouple US supply chains from Chinese dominance.

This geopolitical shift presents both a risk and an opening for Australia. Washington is accelerating investment with Australian miners to diversify its supply chains away from China.

Canberra, for its part, is exploring a Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, an investment initiative that would see the federal government acquire agreed volumes of critical minerals from commercial projects, selective stockpiling and offering preferential access to allied buyers.

Global energy giants are turning their focus to critical minerals. With such deep-pocketed players entering the field, the pace toward commercial-scale extraction technologies is set to accelerate dramatically. Australia must keep up if it wants to stay ahead in the race.

Amir Razmjou, Associate Professor, Edith Cowan University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

News

Trump, Albanese sign minerals deal

Trump and Albanese sign minerals deal, supporting submarine pact to counter China’s influence in critical resources

Published

13 hours ago

October 21, 2025

Ahron Young

Trump and Albanese sign minerals deal, supporting submarine pact to counter China’s influence in critical resources

In Short:
– Trump and Albanese signed an agreement on rare earths to secure supplies amidst concerns over China’s control.
– The U.S. and Australia plan a $2 billion investment in mining projects to enhance critical minerals production.

President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signed a rare earths and critical minerals agreement aimed at securing material supplies amid concerns over China’s control of global supply.The leaders discussed a nuclear-powered submarine deal intended to counter China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific region. The agreement includes a joint investment of $2 billion into mining and processing projects over the next six months.

Trump indicated confidence in the deal, suggesting significant increases in critical mineral production within a year. The U.S. seeks access to rare earths worldwide as tensions with China escalate ahead of an upcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Australia holds substantial rare earth reserves, valuable for various technologies, including electric vehicles and military applications. Despite friendly exchanges, Trump had a tense moment regarding past comments made by Australia’s Ambassador Kevin Rudd.

Submarine Agreement Confirmed

Trump expressed support for the AUKUS submarine agreement between the U.S., Australia, and the UK, which involves Australia purchasing U.S. nuclear submarines by 2032. Despite concerns regarding the U.S.’s ability to meet its submarine needs, Trump described the AUKUS deal as moving forward smoothly, emphasizing economic contributions from Australia to U.S. military capabilities.

Concerns over delays in meetings between the two leaders raised anxieties in Australia about defense spending. The rare earths agreement is part of a broader strategy to enhance cooperation and streamline mining operations to ensure supply security, with a focus on countering China’s influence in strategic industries.