British comedian John Cleese is selling signed photographs to bankroll alimony payments to his ex-wife.

Cleese split from his third wife, Alyce Faye Eichelberger, in 2008 after 16 years of marriage and her divorce settlement included an annual handout of more than STG960,000 ($1.45 million) for seven years.

The writer famously devised a stand-up comedy show - dubbed The Alimony Tour - which is based on his divorce battle, to help raise money to pay his bills.

He also sold his prized Bentley car and props from his 1974 movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail to boost his coffers, and now it has emerged Cleese is offering signed photographs of classic moments from his TV comedy shows.

The limited-edition prints, showing scenes from sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and sitcom Fawlty Towers, are available for around STG30 from an online memorabilia website.

Cleese bounced back from the divorce by marrying his fourth wife, Jennifer Wade, last August.

Meanwhile, BBC bosses have come under fire for censoring racist language in a re-run of classic 1970s British sitcom Fawlty Towers.

The vintage comedy, starring Cleese as manic hotelier Basil Fawlty, was broadcast by the UK network earlier this month, but many fans were outraged when they realised one episode had been edited.

A scene featuring a disparaging reference to the Indian national cricket team was cut, prompting a wave of protest online, but a spokesman for the corporation insisted the language had to be censored for modern audiences, and even implied Cleese had approved the edit.

"We are proud of Fawlty Towers and its contribution to British television comedy. But public attitudes have changed since it was made and it was decided to make minor changes, with the consent of John Cleese's management, to allow the episode to transmit to a family audience," the representative told Britain's Daily Express newspaper.