Python's Flying Circus (1969) (as well as defending the series against its detractors within the BBC), and he produced and directed the first two seasons of The Goodies (1970–72), including the classic "Kitten Kong" episode, which won the "Silver Rose of Montreaux" Eurovision TV award. He directed the young Anthony Hopkins in the first episode of the Biography series in "Danton", written by Arden Winch, and also worked on All Gas and Gaiters (1969–70) and the seventh series of Steptoe and Son in 1972. He briefly left the BBC to become managing director of EMI Television Productions in 1973, but soon returned to the corporation. Davies produced and directed the first series of Fawlty Towers (1975). Casting Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty was Davies' idea, as the actress originally sought turned down the part; he is also credited with the idea of having the comedic changes to the lettering on the hotel sign in each episode, as well as the slapstick device of having Basil hit Manuel on the head with a spoon. Davies was producer for all four series of The Good Life (1975–78). He was the BBC's Head of Comedy from 1977 to 1982, then Head of Light Entertainment, before joining Thames Television in 1985. Thames was then an ITV contractor, for which Davies was head of light entertainment from 1988. During the last role he was cited by the popular press as the man who fired comedian Benny Hill when the company decided not to renew his contract after a connection lasting 20 years. He told Hill's biographer Mark Lewisohn, "It's very dangerous to have a show on ITV that doesn't appeal to women, because they hold the purse strings, in a sense." Davies subsequently produced No Job for a Lady (1990–1992) and Mr. Bean (1990), before returning to the BBC later in the 1990s. His final work for the BBC was directing the Easter Special of The Vicar of Dibley in 1996. Death Davies died from cancer on 22 August 2011 at his home in Blewbury, Oxfordshire. Filmography Film References Further reading John Holmstrom, The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995, Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 211. External links The TV IV – John Howard Davies 1939 births 2011 deaths BBC executives BBC television producers Deaths from cancer in England English male child actors English male film actors English male television actors