John Cleese has issued a scathing review of modern BBC comedy, stating the broadcaster has not aired a funny sitcom since The Office, which ended in 2003.
The 85-year-old actor and comedian, who starred in and co-wrote 1970s comedy Fawlty Towers alongside Connie Booth, has vowed his work will not air on the channel again.
Speaking at the Slapstick Festival in Bristol, he told crowds: "If you put a script in now it has to go through a f***ing committee who have no idea what they are doing.
"There has been nothing funny since The Office. It is sad and it is because the people in charge have no idea how to make comedy happen."
John Cleese gave his verdict on modern BBC comedy
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He continued to tell The Sun: "The whole process has been replaced by a bureaucratic process which does not begin to work."
On British comedy, he shared his view that "we used to be really good at it", but no longer are.
"And that is very sad," he added, continuing: "There weren't committees when we started.
"Comedy now has to be clean. You must not play for laughs. I am going to write a book about writing comedy to make people aware how difficult it is."
John Cleese starred in and co-wrote BBC's Fawlty Towers, which aired between 1975 and 1979
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Taking aim at the broadcaster, he continued: "The people organising comedy have never been very good, but at the moment, particularly at the BBC, they are clueless.
"I don't think it is a lack of talent - except among the executive classes. Those classes have no idea what they are doing."
Mr Cleese hasn't retired from comedy himself, though, and fans will be relieved to learn he is working on a sequel to the 2016 stage adaptation of Fawlty Towers.
GB News has contacted the BBC over Mr Cleese's claims.
As well as the popular sitcom, Mr Cleese is well-known for several other acting roles as well as being part of the beloved comedy troupe Monty Python.
His remaining Monty Python co-stars, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle and Michael Palin, also remain in the public eye.
Mr Palin, 82, recently shared a candid grief update as he talked about the loss of his wife Helen in 2023.
Speaking in June of this year, Mr Palin spoke movingly about how his grief has transformed two years on from the loss, saying he now feels her spirit around him rather than the acute pain of bereavement.
"I can see why people say it takes two years or so before your response gradually changes. It becomes less about loss and more about the spirit of that person being around, so that's very nice."
John Cleese branded the BBC 'clueless' in a scathing analysis
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The comedian and travel presenter continued to tell Saga Magazine: "I feel less grief now, and more that I've got to keep on doing things, looking after the children we made together."
His reflections came as he promoted his latest volume of diaries, There and Back.
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John Cleese was part of comedy troupe Monty Python
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Mr Palin first met Helen Gibbins on a beach in Southwold, Suffolk, in 1959 when he was still a teenager. The encounter was later fictionalised in his 1987 BBC drama East of Ipswich.
The couple were married for 57 years and had three children together, as well as four grandchildren.
Mr Palin and his former co-star, Mr Cleese, remain in close contact, with the two embroiled last year in a jokey war of words after the Shrek star labelled his friend "boring".