Joel Morris

Should vintage comedy be judged by today’s standards?

David Stubbs takes exception to racist jokes in Fawlty Towers – but comedy depends on the assumptions of the time, and precognition is no use

Basil Fawlty and Major Gowen in the Fawlty Towers episode ‘Communication Problems’. [Getty Images] 
issue 22 July 2023
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  • Different Times: A History of British Comedy

    David Stubbs

    Faber, pp. 416, £20

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