FAWLTY aficionados will know that the name of the English Riviera's most dysfunctional hotel changed from week to week.

At least it changed on the signpost outside Fawlty Towers which appeared in the opening title sequence.

And one of the anagrams the jumbled letters spelt was Watery Fowls – the title of Stone Reveller's homage to the BBC's sublime, if short-lived sitcom.

Written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, only 12 episodes of Fawlty Towers were made in the 1970s, but each one is a TV classic.

The show the Revellers are presenting next week will feature all the regulars, not least the hotel's bickering proprietors, Basil and Sybil.

Or, to use their own terms of endearment, the brilliantined stick insect and the little nest of vipers.

For legal reasons, the Stone company are not allowed to use the name Fawlty Towers in the title of the show.

Hence Watery Fowls (some of the other anagrams would have been entirely unsuitable, of course).

Leo Capernaros, who has written the "13th episode" for the Revellers with David Wild, says it was a rather daunting challenge to tinker with an enduring comedy classic.

"We wanted to produce an entertaining piece of theatre that was respectful of the original show," he says.

"We've loved doing it, but we were constantly aware that we were working with one of the jewels in Britain's TV comedy crown.

"It's the perfect British sitcom, and it's hard to believe that only 12 episodes were ever made, although that's what sets it apart from other great sitcoms.

"Each episode is unique and packed with classic moments."

The new play, which is in three acts, is loosely based on Gogol's comedy The Government Inspector.

"Basil and the staff roll out the red carpet for whom they believe to be a hotel inspector, unaware that the real inspector has been a guest all along," said Leo.

The show has echoes of one of the original episodes of Fawlty Towers, but the story is developed in a different way.

Richard Halsall will star as Basil, with Tracey Brought as Sybil, Matthew Wright as Manuel and Bethany Harrison as Connie. Michel Caygill, a newcomer to the Revellers, appears as the inspector.

Leo and his co-writer have tried to make the most of the live theatre format, making the Major (Bill Coles) a narrator, addressing the audience directly.

"A meal will be served, and the audience will become part of the show as hotels guests," said Leo.

Watery Fowls is at St Michael's Church Hall, Stone from June 21 to 25 (the ticket price of £8.50 includes a pie supper). Tel 01785 817307.