John Cleese Is Back as Basil Fawlty for Specsavers

Specsavers' "Should have gone to Specsavers" gag has been running for so many years it ought to be wearing thin -- but it isn't, especially when the brand enlists the likes of comedy legend John Cleese to star in in its spots.

In this ad, directed by Tim Bullock of Blink, Cleese reprises his role as Basil Fawlty of "Fawlty Towers" and indeed creates an updated version of the famous scene where an enraged Basil attacks his own car with a tree branch. Of course, in this case it's not his own car.

Cleese worked closely with the team on script development and you can see a behind-the-scenes interview with the actor on YouTube, where he mentions how he's rejected many previous advertising approaches. That's a real tribute to Spescavers.