In 1989, when the six cast members of anarchic BBC radio comedy I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again reunited for a 25th anniversary episode, one of them was very much more famous than his former colleagues. Not that the rest went on to do badly: three found success as The Goodies, another rose to be head of BBC Radio. John Cleese, however, had come to occupy a different stratum in the sphere of public recognition.
Propelling him into this higher orbit had been Fawlty Towers, Clockwise, A Fish Called Wanda and of course Monty Python’s Flying Circus...