The article analyses the popular British situation comedy Fawlty Towers
(1975, 1979) as a comedic representation of conservatism and its lead
character, Basil Fawlty (played by John Cleese), as a ‘pre-Thatcherite’.
The article discusses how the character of Fawlty can help us
understand the processes that led to Margaret Thatcher winning the
election in 1979 and becoming prime minister. Fawlty promotes similar
values to Thatcher, but with ambiguity as the series is a comedy; comedy
makes interpretation of ideological issues problematic as it is an
alternative meaning-making system to non-comedic forms