1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,162 WWW.MY-SUBS.CO 1 00:00:06,767 --> 00:00:10,521 And now, a short introduction from the producers' legal representative, 2 00:00:10,567 --> 00:00:12,125 Mr Abe Appenheimer. 3 00:00:12,167 --> 00:00:15,318 Hello, and welcome to this documentary 4 00:00:15,367 --> 00:00:17,835 containing new and exclusive interviews 5 00:00:17,887 --> 00:00:20,606 with the five surviving members of Monty Python. 6 00:00:20,647 --> 00:00:24,322 The producers wish to make it clear that any opinions expressed herein 7 00:00:24,367 --> 00:00:27,564 are those of the individuals and hold no truth whatsoever. 8 00:00:27,607 --> 00:00:29,598 Pursuant, therefore, to clause 4.6 9 00:00:29,647 --> 00:00:32,605 of the Broadcasting, Video, Television Act, 1989, 10 00:00:32,647 --> 00:00:35,445 subsection 4, 3 and 2, clause... 11 00:00:46,167 --> 00:00:48,556 ..subject to clause 4.123, 12 00:00:48,607 --> 00:00:52,236 no viewer or watcher may copy, repeat, impersonate, mime, 13 00:00:52,287 --> 00:00:54,755 either contextually or noncontextually, 14 00:00:54,807 --> 00:00:57,480 any material whatsoever in any public place, 15 00:00:57,527 --> 00:01:02,442 such as a street, pub, club, hotel, oil rig, Baptist church... 16 00:01:22,327 --> 00:01:24,318 Python 17 00:01:24,367 --> 00:01:27,962 The documentary of Python 18 00:01:28,007 --> 00:01:34,401 lt's all about Mo...o-o-o-onty Python 19 00:01:34,447 --> 00:01:37,803 A no-holds-barred documentary 20 00:01:37,847 --> 00:01:41,396 That's the entirely the truth...ish! 21 00:01:41,447 --> 00:01:44,644 lt's the story of Python 22 00:01:44,687 --> 00:01:47,679 Here comes yet another one 23 00:01:47,727 --> 00:01:53,085 Similar but not quite the same as the last one 24 00:01:55,087 --> 00:02:06,442 A documentary of the team called Python 25 00:02:32,927 --> 00:02:38,126 Here is a preview of some programmes you'll see shortly on BBC Television. 26 00:02:54,327 --> 00:02:57,956 A meeting was set up, we went in to see Michael Mills, 27 00:02:58,007 --> 00:03:00,157 who was the Head of Light Entertainment. 28 00:03:00,207 --> 00:03:03,165 l always liked Michael, but it was a very strange meeting, 29 00:03:03,207 --> 00:03:06,165 cos everyone who went to see them in those days wore suits. 30 00:03:06,207 --> 00:03:10,246 And we only wore jeans. Gray and l were in sports jackets, 31 00:03:10,287 --> 00:03:14,326 and the other guys were being so bohemian in black leather jackets. 32 00:03:14,367 --> 00:03:17,279 And he was very nice, and he said, ''What do you want to do?'' 33 00:03:17,327 --> 00:03:19,761 We said, ''We want to do a funny show.'' He said... 34 00:03:19,807 --> 00:03:23,482 ''What's the show going to be about?'' We said, ''We don't know, really.'' 35 00:03:23,527 --> 00:03:27,998 He said, ''Well, now, what about film, are you going to use a lot of film?'' 36 00:03:28,047 --> 00:03:31,039 We said, ''Oh, fi... 37 00:03:31,087 --> 00:03:34,762 ''Film. Are we going to use film? Yeah, we'll probably use some film.'' 38 00:03:34,807 --> 00:03:38,197 Then he said, ''Well, is it going to have any music in it?'' 39 00:03:39,327 --> 00:03:40,555 ''No, no, no.'' 40 00:03:40,607 --> 00:03:43,485 ''ls it gonna have guest stars?'' ''We haven't thought about that.'' 41 00:03:43,527 --> 00:03:46,041 He said, ''Well, what's it going to be called?'' 42 00:03:46,087 --> 00:03:47,679 ''Well, we haven't got a title.'' 43 00:03:48,727 --> 00:03:53,926 lt was the worst interview that anyone or any group has ever done. 44 00:03:53,967 --> 00:03:57,198 Then they all go looking at each other and saying, ''Well...'' 45 00:03:57,247 --> 00:03:59,283 ''l'll give you 13 shows, but that's all!'' 46 00:04:00,127 --> 00:04:02,083 Just like... That was great. 47 00:04:02,127 --> 00:04:05,756 So, odd sort of double kind of confidence and no confidence. 48 00:04:05,807 --> 00:04:08,446 Those were the good executive-free days of the BBC. 49 00:04:08,487 --> 00:04:12,480 Now, that would only have happened at that time, 50 00:04:12,527 --> 00:04:14,802 that he would take such a huge risk 51 00:04:14,847 --> 00:04:16,883 on a completely unknown group. 52 00:04:16,927 --> 00:04:20,556 Because l was the only one who was known as a performer at that time 53 00:04:20,607 --> 00:04:22,199 because l'd been in The Frost Report. 54 00:04:22,247 --> 00:04:25,603 All the others had just done, in quotes, ''kids' television''. 55 00:04:25,647 --> 00:04:27,797 The BBC was like the RAF in those days. 56 00:04:27,847 --> 00:04:32,045 So people with pipes in the bar, saying, ''Well, time to go to the bar. 57 00:04:32,087 --> 00:04:34,760 ''Let's not waste time on these programme things.'' 58 00:04:34,807 --> 00:04:37,799 The heads of the BBC, the heads of different departments, 59 00:04:37,847 --> 00:04:40,998 couldn't wait for five o'clock to get to the bar and get pissed. 60 00:04:41,047 --> 00:04:42,844 And they let you get on with things. 61 00:04:42,887 --> 00:04:48,245 They left it to individual producers and directors to get on with it. 62 00:04:48,287 --> 00:04:50,323 They didn't read our first scripts. 63 00:04:50,367 --> 00:04:54,883 We were not interfered with, and that doesn't happen now. 64 00:04:54,927 --> 00:04:57,395 The BBC, particularly now, almost all television, 65 00:04:57,447 --> 00:05:00,359 there's so many executives, the pyramid has become inverted. 66 00:05:00,407 --> 00:05:02,967 Before, it was a few people at the top and a lot of talent. 67 00:05:03,007 --> 00:05:06,795 Now it's a little bit of talent and a lot of people sitting on top 68 00:05:06,847 --> 00:05:09,884 making important decisions about what goes or doesn't go. 69 00:05:09,927 --> 00:05:14,239 Because we'd been obeying conventions that we didn't really agree with, 70 00:05:14,287 --> 00:05:16,084 for a very long period of time, 71 00:05:16,127 --> 00:05:21,076 it was really like someone opening the gate to a field full of flowers, 72 00:05:21,127 --> 00:05:22,799 none of which had been picked. 73 00:05:22,847 --> 00:05:25,998 And we sort of ran into the field and it was so easy to pick them. 74 00:05:30,927 --> 00:05:32,326 At the beginning of Python, 75 00:05:32,367 --> 00:05:35,165 we were trying to work out what the format was, how to do it. 76 00:05:35,207 --> 00:05:37,960 l had done this one cartoon that Terry really liked, 77 00:05:38,007 --> 00:05:40,965 it was very stream of consciousness as a way of doing it. 78 00:05:41,007 --> 00:05:43,123 Milligan was doing with his Q series... 79 00:05:43,167 --> 00:05:46,125 He was breaking all the rules. l mean, there were no rules, 80 00:05:46,167 --> 00:05:48,920 except there was a structure you could never work out. 81 00:05:48,967 --> 00:05:52,755 lt was only the structure of his brain, l think, is what it was. 82 00:05:52,807 --> 00:05:55,241 l thought, ''This is really free, what they're doing. 83 00:05:55,287 --> 00:05:59,644 ''They're commenting on themselves, stepping out of character, doing anything.'' 84 00:05:59,687 --> 00:06:01,359 l thought that was fantastic. 85 00:06:12,327 --> 00:06:18,118 l remember Terry Jones and l talking on the phone and saying, 86 00:06:18,167 --> 00:06:19,759 ''Did you see Spike's show?'' 87 00:06:19,807 --> 00:06:22,037 Terry said, ''l thought that's what we were going to do.'' 88 00:06:22,087 --> 00:06:24,806 l said, ''l know, l mean, he's so far out ahead of the bunch.'' 89 00:06:24,847 --> 00:06:27,156 And that enabled us, in a sense, you know... 90 00:06:27,207 --> 00:06:30,995 What do they say? ''Dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants.'' 91 00:06:31,047 --> 00:06:33,607 ..to go further than we could have without him. 92 00:06:33,647 --> 00:06:36,605 Spike Milligan was very funny on the subject, 93 00:06:36,647 --> 00:06:38,046 because one day he would say, 94 00:06:38,087 --> 00:06:40,123 ''Those brave boys are flying the flag.'' 95 00:06:40,167 --> 00:06:43,318 The next day he'd say, ''Those bastards are ripping me off.'' 96 00:06:43,367 --> 00:06:47,121 This is a doctor sketch. What do you want? 97 00:06:47,167 --> 00:06:49,681 Doctor, do you have anything for amnesia? 98 00:06:50,807 --> 00:06:51,796 A what? 99 00:06:54,567 --> 00:06:57,127 For people with bad memories, here it is again. 100 00:06:57,167 --> 00:06:58,520 Here's what, again? 101 00:07:00,807 --> 00:07:04,402 Spike had done Q5 which had been very silly, very off the wall. 102 00:07:04,447 --> 00:07:07,359 Your sketch has ended and there is a cheque in the post. 103 00:07:07,407 --> 00:07:10,285 Another sketch will follow almost immediately. 104 00:07:10,327 --> 00:07:14,366 He used to do sketches when the actor was doing the lines 105 00:07:14,407 --> 00:07:15,806 a caption would come up: 106 00:07:15,847 --> 00:07:19,635 ''John Bluthal, take-home pay 16 pounds, 43 pence.'' 107 00:07:19,687 --> 00:07:21,678 ''Not weekends'' and all that, you know. 108 00:07:21,727 --> 00:07:24,560 So, subversive stuff was being done. 109 00:07:24,607 --> 00:07:27,121 Terry would say, ''Let's do it like my cartoons 110 00:07:27,167 --> 00:07:28,919 ''where we don't need punch lines.'' 111 00:07:28,967 --> 00:07:30,958 Cos l'd been so aware... 112 00:07:31,007 --> 00:07:34,079 Pete and Dud were doing their series. 113 00:07:34,127 --> 00:07:38,200 They'd do these brilliant sketches great character stuff, great lines. 114 00:07:38,247 --> 00:07:40,556 Then they'd have to end with a punch line, 115 00:07:40,607 --> 00:07:43,838 and it was like... damp squib. lt wasn't really very good. 116 00:07:43,887 --> 00:07:46,924 So, let's get rid of the weak bits. Just chop them out. 117 00:07:46,967 --> 00:07:50,403 And that's where it seemed to work so well. 118 00:07:50,447 --> 00:07:54,599 We'd get to a point in the sketch and think, ''lt doesn't work beyond that.'' 119 00:07:54,647 --> 00:07:57,844 OK. l take over at that point and try to get us to the next thing. 120 00:07:57,887 --> 00:07:59,684 And it just freed us up. 121 00:08:04,727 --> 00:08:06,843 OK. All clear. 122 00:08:16,527 --> 00:08:18,324 Coming up with a title for a show 123 00:08:18,367 --> 00:08:20,756 is more difficult than writing or performing a show 124 00:08:20,807 --> 00:08:23,844 in the same way that coming up with an album title 125 00:08:23,887 --> 00:08:25,878 is more difficult than recording the album. 126 00:08:25,927 --> 00:08:28,122 Groups are well known for spending months 127 00:08:28,167 --> 00:08:30,158 trying to come up with a decent title 128 00:08:30,207 --> 00:08:33,085 after they've recorded a perfectly good album. 129 00:08:33,127 --> 00:08:35,004 And it's the same with comedy shows. 130 00:08:35,047 --> 00:08:37,641 Well, the BBC would never accept any titles we did. 131 00:08:37,687 --> 00:08:41,316 Each of the first four shows has different titles: 132 00:08:41,367 --> 00:08:44,598 ''Owl-stretching time. A Horse, A Spoon and a Basin. 133 00:08:44,647 --> 00:08:46,683 ''Bun Wackett Buzzard Stubble and Boot.'' 134 00:08:46,727 --> 00:08:49,161 My favourite one is, l think, one of Jones's: 135 00:08:49,207 --> 00:08:51,004 ''You Can't Call A Show Cornflakes.'' 136 00:08:51,047 --> 00:08:53,436 We would get very silly and giggle a lot 137 00:08:53,487 --> 00:08:57,241 and then, in the morning, telephone each other, shamefaced, and say, 138 00:08:57,287 --> 00:08:59,084 ''No. No. Forget it. Forget it.'' 139 00:08:59,127 --> 00:09:03,484 They referred to it as Barry Took's Flying Circus in their contracts. 140 00:09:03,527 --> 00:09:06,041 Barry Took was responsible for it. 141 00:09:06,087 --> 00:09:10,683 l think Michael Palin said it should be Gwen Dibley's Flying Circus. 142 00:09:10,727 --> 00:09:14,003 Somebody in his village was called Gwen Dibley, 143 00:09:14,047 --> 00:09:16,800 and how wonderful for her to see she had a show. 144 00:09:16,847 --> 00:09:17,916 That seemed good. 145 00:09:17,967 --> 00:09:20,037 Flying Circus had a nice ring to it. 146 00:09:20,087 --> 00:09:23,045 Then, we just sat around throwing names around. 147 00:09:23,087 --> 00:09:26,204 l can't remember which came first, Python or Monty. 148 00:09:26,247 --> 00:09:27,839 l said Monty 149 00:09:27,887 --> 00:09:31,596 because there was a chap in our pub in Mappleborough Green called Monty, 150 00:09:31,647 --> 00:09:33,956 had a little bow tie, one of those bar types. 151 00:09:34,007 --> 00:09:36,885 People said, ''Has Monty been in?'' ''Has Monty come in?'' 152 00:09:36,927 --> 00:09:42,843 ''Monty'' was clearly some shabby talent agent on Shaftesbury Avenue. 153 00:09:42,887 --> 00:09:46,163 And ''Python'' was as snaky and slimy as you'd hope. 154 00:09:46,207 --> 00:09:49,961 On this particular occasion, we giggled and giggled and giggled, 155 00:09:50,007 --> 00:09:53,283 and the next morning, we didn't ring around, 156 00:09:53,327 --> 00:09:54,316 we still liked it. 157 00:09:54,367 --> 00:09:56,562 Monty Python's Flying Circus. 158 00:10:02,487 --> 00:10:04,796 This was us. Would people like us or hate us? 159 00:10:04,847 --> 00:10:06,724 Were we getting the balance right? 160 00:10:06,767 --> 00:10:11,238 l still remember as Gray and Terry Jones 161 00:10:11,287 --> 00:10:13,847 did that very first of all our sketches, 162 00:10:13,887 --> 00:10:16,242 which was about the sheep who could fly. 163 00:10:18,007 --> 00:10:19,440 Good afternoon. 164 00:10:19,487 --> 00:10:21,682 Afternoon. 165 00:10:21,727 --> 00:10:23,240 Lovely day, isn't it? 166 00:10:23,287 --> 00:10:25,960 l remember Michael and l had had a conversation 167 00:10:26,007 --> 00:10:28,202 in the dressing room just beforehand. 168 00:10:28,247 --> 00:10:32,035 l said to him, ''Do you realise, we could be the first people in history 169 00:10:32,087 --> 00:10:34,965 ''to do a 30-minute comedy show to complete silence?'' 170 00:10:35,007 --> 00:10:37,157 He said, ''l was having the same thought.'' 171 00:10:37,207 --> 00:10:40,324 We just didn't know how funny it was. We thought it was funny. 172 00:10:40,367 --> 00:10:44,883 So, we really didn't know whether it was going to work at all for anyone. 173 00:10:44,927 --> 00:10:46,519 lt's my belief that these sheep 174 00:10:46,567 --> 00:10:49,718 are labouring under the misapprehension that they're birds. 175 00:10:49,767 --> 00:10:51,519 Observe their behaviour. 176 00:10:51,567 --> 00:10:53,558 Take for a start the sheep's tendency 177 00:10:53,607 --> 00:10:55,882 to hop about the field on their back legs. 178 00:11:00,087 --> 00:11:03,636 Now witness their attempts to fly from tree to tree. 179 00:11:03,687 --> 00:11:06,997 Notice they do not so much fly as plummet. 180 00:11:09,367 --> 00:11:12,040 Those early shows are actually very challenging. 181 00:11:12,087 --> 00:11:15,397 They do drop sheep suddenly in the middle of nowhere, 182 00:11:15,447 --> 00:11:16,880 for no reason at all. 183 00:11:16,927 --> 00:11:20,476 They're actually quite situationist shows. 184 00:11:20,527 --> 00:11:23,485 Some people quite close to us obviously said, ''Very good'', 185 00:11:23,527 --> 00:11:24,926 then rushed off. 186 00:11:24,967 --> 00:11:27,561 There weren't that many people who came to the bar afterwards, 187 00:11:27,607 --> 00:11:30,758 and it had been quiet in the audience, that's how l remember it. 188 00:11:30,807 --> 00:11:34,083 There were stories of coach loads of dear old pensioners, 189 00:11:34,127 --> 00:11:35,845 coming and thinking it was a circus. 190 00:11:35,887 --> 00:11:39,641 That clip of the little old ladies, that's how our first audience was. 191 00:11:41,607 --> 00:11:46,840 They were people who want to go and see a nice Saturday night variety show. 192 00:11:46,887 --> 00:11:51,005 l remember after the first recording thinking it hadn't worked. 193 00:11:52,007 --> 00:11:55,636 lt was only by about show four or five, 194 00:11:55,687 --> 00:11:58,838 that we started getting feedback. 195 00:11:58,887 --> 00:12:03,836 That was in the form of letters to the BBC from school kids. 196 00:12:03,887 --> 00:12:08,403 There's a good measure in life as to what is culturally important, 197 00:12:08,447 --> 00:12:12,156 and that is, those shows that divide the generations. 198 00:12:12,207 --> 00:12:14,516 lf older people start tut-tutting, 199 00:12:14,567 --> 00:12:17,127 and young people are having a wonderful time, 200 00:12:17,167 --> 00:12:20,125 you probably know you've hit on something interesting. 201 00:12:20,167 --> 00:12:23,557 l first discovered Monty Python through people at my junior school 202 00:12:24,647 --> 00:12:27,207 who were watching it. 203 00:12:27,247 --> 00:12:30,125 Everyone else was talking about this mad programme. 204 00:12:30,167 --> 00:12:32,806 Some people had seen Monty Python and some hadn't. 205 00:12:32,847 --> 00:12:35,805 lf you hadn't seen Monty Python, 206 00:12:35,847 --> 00:12:40,045 you were just completely left utterly baffled about what was going on. 207 00:12:40,087 --> 00:12:41,520 Good evening. 208 00:12:45,487 --> 00:12:47,205 For my parents, 209 00:12:47,247 --> 00:12:51,160 l think they didn't get Monty Python at all. 210 00:12:51,207 --> 00:12:55,280 l think that they saw it as slightly subversive, 211 00:12:55,327 --> 00:12:56,919 which in many ways it was. 212 00:12:56,967 --> 00:13:01,006 But l think if you're lndians and you've gone through partition, 213 00:13:01,047 --> 00:13:04,517 and you've left lndia for a better life, 214 00:13:04,567 --> 00:13:07,081 and come to Britain which ran an empire, 215 00:13:07,127 --> 00:13:11,882 was head of the Commonwealth, and everyone spoke English, 216 00:13:11,927 --> 00:13:14,077 you didn't want your kid to be influenced 217 00:13:14,127 --> 00:13:16,118 by people who dress up as women. 218 00:13:16,167 --> 00:13:18,556 That's not why you travelled in the first place. 219 00:13:18,607 --> 00:13:21,246 You travelled so your kid has a good education, 220 00:13:21,287 --> 00:13:25,121 and becomes a doctor, or a lawyer, or an engineer, something like that. 221 00:13:26,287 --> 00:13:28,642 Not somebody who is quite patently a bloke, 222 00:13:28,687 --> 00:13:30,723 dressed as a woman with a high voice. 223 00:13:30,767 --> 00:13:34,043 - Hello, Marge! - Hello, Janet. How are you, love? 224 00:13:34,087 --> 00:13:37,079 Fancy seeing you! How is little Ralph? 225 00:13:37,127 --> 00:13:40,722 Oh, don't ask me! He's been nothing but trouble all morning. 226 00:13:40,767 --> 00:13:42,166 Stop it, Ralph! Stop it! 227 00:13:43,207 --> 00:13:46,244 Same as my Kevin. Nothing but trouble. 228 00:13:46,287 --> 00:13:47,925 Leave it alone! 229 00:13:47,967 --> 00:13:50,003 He's just been in the Florentine room 230 00:13:50,047 --> 00:13:53,642 and smeared tomato ketchup all over Raphael's baby Jesus. 231 00:13:53,687 --> 00:13:56,565 Put that Baroque masterpiece down! 232 00:13:57,567 --> 00:14:00,445 So, l think they found it slightly disturbing, 233 00:14:00,487 --> 00:14:03,524 that l'd be sitting there going, ''This is really funny!'' 234 00:14:03,567 --> 00:14:05,637 And they'd be going, ''This isn't funny. 235 00:14:05,687 --> 00:14:08,485 ''No, no. Comedy is Dickens. Dickens is comedy.'' 236 00:14:08,527 --> 00:14:10,518 l was exposed to it at a young age, 237 00:14:10,567 --> 00:14:13,400 and like a form of inoculation, 238 00:14:13,447 --> 00:14:16,359 the virus of it grew in me as a child. 239 00:14:16,407 --> 00:14:20,082 l remember shouting at my family to come, ''The programme's coming on. 240 00:14:20,127 --> 00:14:23,244 ''lt's starting. Hurry up. ''You'll miss it! You'll miss it!'' 241 00:14:23,287 --> 00:14:24,720 You can't record it. 242 00:14:24,767 --> 00:14:28,282 ''Tell Dad to finish. Come down. We have to watch it right now.'' 243 00:14:28,327 --> 00:14:30,966 Before l had a right to watch programmes like that. 244 00:14:31,007 --> 00:14:32,406 lt's quite sophisticated, 245 00:14:32,447 --> 00:14:37,362 but as a kid you can appreciate the silliness of it and the childishness, 246 00:14:37,407 --> 00:14:40,126 ''Oh, yes!'' and people dressing up. That's all right. 247 00:14:40,167 --> 00:14:43,284 - Hello, Mrs Thing. - Hello, Mrs Entity. 248 00:14:43,327 --> 00:14:45,238 How are you, then? 249 00:14:45,287 --> 00:14:47,482 - Oh, l have had a morning! - Busy? 250 00:14:47,527 --> 00:14:52,123 Busy? Huh! l got up at five o'clock, l made myself a cup of tea, 251 00:14:52,167 --> 00:14:53,680 l looked out of the window, 252 00:14:53,727 --> 00:14:57,197 well, by then l was so worn out, l had to have a sit-down. 253 00:14:57,247 --> 00:14:59,238 We'd talk about it, relive it and say, 254 00:14:59,287 --> 00:15:02,802 ''What was your favourite moment?'' Because you couldn't replay it. 255 00:15:02,847 --> 00:15:04,565 What l would do, there were no VCRs, 256 00:15:04,607 --> 00:15:07,167 my mum might say, ''Did you see that?'' 257 00:15:07,207 --> 00:15:11,439 or her sister would say, ''Did you see that programme?'' 258 00:15:11,487 --> 00:15:13,239 And you couldn't replay it. 259 00:15:13,287 --> 00:15:17,200 They'd said to me, ''Steve, do what was on the show last night.'' 260 00:15:17,247 --> 00:15:20,125 So l would just be a video recorder. 261 00:15:20,167 --> 00:15:24,319 l would just try to replicate what l had seen. 262 00:15:24,367 --> 00:15:27,165 l would get angry if l saw people trying to describe 263 00:15:27,207 --> 00:15:29,767 what was in the show, and getting it wrong. 264 00:15:29,807 --> 00:15:33,880 - l've been here for seven hours! - You must be exhausted! 265 00:15:33,927 --> 00:15:35,121 Have you been shopping? 266 00:15:35,167 --> 00:15:37,761 - No. l've been shopping. - That's funny. 267 00:15:37,807 --> 00:15:40,719 l'm worn out. l've been shopping for six hours. 268 00:15:40,767 --> 00:15:43,122 - What have you bought, then? - Nothing. 269 00:15:43,167 --> 00:15:45,237 Nothing at all. A complete waste of time. 270 00:15:45,287 --> 00:15:46,276 Wicked, isn't it? 271 00:15:46,327 --> 00:15:49,080 lt will be worse when we join the Common Market. 272 00:15:49,127 --> 00:15:52,437 That nice Mr Heath would never allow that. 273 00:15:52,487 --> 00:15:54,079 lt's funny he never married. 274 00:15:54,127 --> 00:15:57,244 - He's a bachelor. - That would explain it. 275 00:15:57,287 --> 00:16:00,962 l think as the first series went on 276 00:16:01,007 --> 00:16:04,682 we realised that there were a lot of people 277 00:16:04,727 --> 00:16:08,117 who were equivocal at the start 278 00:16:08,167 --> 00:16:10,476 who were really beginning to get it. 279 00:16:10,527 --> 00:16:14,998 l used to play football in Hyde Park, with some team. 280 00:16:15,047 --> 00:16:17,117 Every Monday... The first week was like, 281 00:16:17,167 --> 00:16:19,397 ''That was a weird fucking show you did last night.'' 282 00:16:19,447 --> 00:16:22,803 The second week, ''That was a really strange show you did last night.'' 283 00:16:22,847 --> 00:16:26,317 Then he said, ''l like that weird show you're doing, now.'' 284 00:16:26,367 --> 00:16:28,005 lt grew on people. 285 00:16:28,047 --> 00:16:33,599 Years later, the one sketch, it's one of my favourite Python sketches, 286 00:16:33,647 --> 00:16:36,684 that mum suddenly burst out laughing at, 287 00:16:36,727 --> 00:16:38,285 was the Fish Slapping Dance. 288 00:16:49,087 --> 00:16:52,636 And you kind of go, the Fish Slapping Dance talks to people 289 00:16:52,687 --> 00:16:56,236 across generations and across the cultural divide. 290 00:17:06,527 --> 00:17:11,237 That's what they should do, they should parachute in 291 00:17:11,287 --> 00:17:16,839 little mpegs of the Fish Slapping Dance into war-torn areas. 292 00:17:16,887 --> 00:17:19,242 lnto lraq, Afghanistan. 293 00:17:19,287 --> 00:17:20,686 Palestine. 294 00:17:20,727 --> 00:17:22,797 The Palestine issue could be resolved 295 00:17:22,847 --> 00:17:26,396 by a bunch of people getting together and watching the Fish Slapping Dance. 296 00:17:31,927 --> 00:17:36,955 Most of the comedy l had enjoyed, at least it understood the rules of comedy, 297 00:17:37,007 --> 00:17:40,044 you know, that you set up a joke and there was a punch line. 298 00:17:40,087 --> 00:17:42,282 This just seemed bizarre to me, 299 00:17:42,327 --> 00:17:44,363 l didn't understand what was going on. 300 00:17:44,407 --> 00:17:47,524 lt was making me laugh and l didn't understand why. 301 00:17:47,567 --> 00:17:50,684 lt was completely baffling to me. Genuinely perplexed. 302 00:17:50,727 --> 00:17:52,683 What they did, with their subversion 303 00:17:52,727 --> 00:17:55,958 of the typical grammar of the comedy that preceded them, 304 00:17:56,007 --> 00:18:01,035 is they overrode the tedious white noise 305 00:18:01,087 --> 00:18:02,805 of end-of-the-pier humour. 306 00:18:02,847 --> 00:18:06,999 When a joke is delivered in that fashion, it's no longer interesting. 307 00:18:07,047 --> 00:18:12,644 Sometimes they were... They can't be bothered to finish a sketch. 308 00:18:12,687 --> 00:18:15,326 So they would have Graham Chapman come on and go, 309 00:18:15,367 --> 00:18:16,800 ''Stop it. This is silly!'' 310 00:18:16,847 --> 00:18:20,476 They broke down that grammar, the way you receive information. 311 00:18:20,527 --> 00:18:23,439 So, it's not like they couldn't think of a punch line, 312 00:18:23,487 --> 00:18:25,205 it was just that it was boring! 313 00:18:26,607 --> 00:18:30,316 Yes, you know, it's a man's life in England's mountains green. 314 00:18:30,367 --> 00:18:33,359 Right, l heard that. l'm going to stop this sketch now. 315 00:18:33,407 --> 00:18:36,001 lf there's any more of this, l'll stop the whole programme. 316 00:18:36,047 --> 00:18:38,083 lt was supposed to be about teeth. 317 00:18:38,127 --> 00:18:40,038 Do something about teeth. Go on. 318 00:18:41,327 --> 00:18:43,636 What about my rustic monologue? 319 00:18:44,687 --> 00:18:47,440 l'm not sleeping with that producer again. 320 00:18:47,487 --> 00:18:51,878 What they did, like all true innovative geniuses, 321 00:18:51,927 --> 00:18:57,479 is that they ignore the predilections of their immediate antecedents, 322 00:18:57,527 --> 00:18:59,757 like, comedy doesn't have to be like that, 323 00:18:59,807 --> 00:19:02,526 it doesn't have to be so prescriptive and formulaic. 324 00:19:07,327 --> 00:19:09,477 Now, where does it go? 325 00:19:11,247 --> 00:19:12,919 lt's... No, no. 326 00:19:17,847 --> 00:19:19,166 Bloody hell. 327 00:19:29,967 --> 00:19:34,643 There hadn't been a comedy show that had wonderful animation, 328 00:19:34,687 --> 00:19:35,881 not to that extent, 329 00:19:35,927 --> 00:19:39,283 so you knew straight away you were watching something different. 330 00:19:39,327 --> 00:19:43,320 lt wasn't going to be quite the sort of thing you'd seen before. 331 00:19:52,087 --> 00:19:57,207 Terry's animation was hugely important to Python, 332 00:19:57,247 --> 00:20:01,957 because just the animation itself was so well executed. 333 00:20:02,007 --> 00:20:04,521 lt just seemed to get the timing right, the humour was right, 334 00:20:04,567 --> 00:20:07,684 this kind of absurdity, the surrealism of it was all right. 335 00:20:07,727 --> 00:20:11,640 What he was doing was extraordinary. He didn't know what he was doing, 336 00:20:11,687 --> 00:20:15,726 but his collaging of art made a whole new art form. 337 00:20:15,767 --> 00:20:20,966 lt also sort of, you know, plastered over a lot of cracks in shows, 338 00:20:21,007 --> 00:20:23,965 where sketches didn't end in the right place or, you know, 339 00:20:24,007 --> 00:20:25,884 didn't even have an ending. 340 00:20:25,927 --> 00:20:29,317 For he's a jolly good fellow 341 00:20:29,367 --> 00:20:33,360 Which nobody can deny... 342 00:20:47,527 --> 00:20:50,405 lt's no good, Spider, you can't escape that easily. 343 00:20:50,447 --> 00:20:51,960 We're coming in after you. 344 00:20:52,007 --> 00:20:54,475 He would explore his own subconscious. 345 00:20:54,527 --> 00:20:57,963 There was always something and he was always going into stomachs. 346 00:20:58,007 --> 00:21:00,441 All right, we'll check the spleen. 347 00:21:02,887 --> 00:21:07,403 So much of the show is still basic, just traditional sketch format, 348 00:21:07,447 --> 00:21:12,202 but by breaking it up as we did, it seemed to be new, l think, 349 00:21:12,247 --> 00:21:16,160 it seemed to be fresh and it also avoided embarrassing bits. 350 00:21:16,207 --> 00:21:19,279 lt can go from one sketch into another sketch, 351 00:21:19,327 --> 00:21:22,046 and it doesn't feel like this is a new sketch. 352 00:21:22,087 --> 00:21:24,999 You kind of just accept, you just go along with the ride. 353 00:21:25,047 --> 00:21:29,563 l think it in some ways encapsulated how the world was changing. 354 00:21:29,607 --> 00:21:33,043 Up until then, Spam had seemed like a perfectly normal, 355 00:21:33,087 --> 00:21:36,523 wholesome sort of food substance. 356 00:21:36,567 --> 00:21:39,525 - What you got, then? - Well, there's egg and bacon. 357 00:21:39,567 --> 00:21:41,717 Egg, sausage and bacon. 358 00:21:41,767 --> 00:21:43,405 Egg and Spam. 359 00:21:43,447 --> 00:21:45,085 Egg, bacon and Spam. 360 00:21:45,127 --> 00:21:48,005 Egg, bacon, sausage and Spam. 361 00:21:48,047 --> 00:21:49,958 Spam, bacon, sausage and Spam. 362 00:21:50,007 --> 00:21:52,726 Spam eggs, Spam Spam, bacon and Spam. 363 00:21:52,767 --> 00:21:55,964 Spam, Spam, Spam egg and Spam. 364 00:21:56,007 --> 00:21:58,999 Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, 365 00:21:59,047 --> 00:22:02,278 baked beans, Spam, Spam, Spam and Spam. 366 00:22:02,327 --> 00:22:05,399 Or lobster thermidor aux crevettes with a mornay sauce, 367 00:22:05,447 --> 00:22:08,996 garnished with truffle pate, brandy and fried egg on top and Spam. 368 00:22:09,047 --> 00:22:13,438 The Spam sketch was actually something l wrote, really. 369 00:22:13,487 --> 00:22:15,762 Have you got anything without Spam in it? 370 00:22:15,807 --> 00:22:19,880 Well, Spam egg, sausage and Spam has not got much Spam in it. 371 00:22:19,927 --> 00:22:21,326 l don't want any Spam. 372 00:22:21,367 --> 00:22:23,756 Why can't she have egg, bacon, Spam and sausage? 373 00:22:23,807 --> 00:22:24,922 That's got Spam in it. 374 00:22:24,967 --> 00:22:27,242 Not as much as Spam, egg, sausage and Spam. 375 00:22:27,287 --> 00:22:32,680 Look, could l have egg, bacon, Spam and sausage without the Spam? 376 00:22:33,647 --> 00:22:36,605 lt's like one of those moments when you write something, 377 00:22:36,647 --> 00:22:38,797 and, you know, is this funny? 378 00:22:38,847 --> 00:22:41,156 l remember reading it to Mike and Mike saying, 379 00:22:41,207 --> 00:22:43,243 ''lt's all right. lt's quite funny.'' 380 00:22:43,287 --> 00:22:47,917 Then l think we put in bits about the Vikings and things like that. 381 00:22:47,967 --> 00:22:49,923 l wanted to put those in. 382 00:22:49,967 --> 00:22:53,277 Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam 383 00:22:53,327 --> 00:22:57,286 Lovely Spam, wonderful Spam! 384 00:22:57,327 --> 00:22:59,682 Shut up! Shut up! 385 00:22:59,727 --> 00:23:02,400 Shut up! Shut up! 386 00:23:02,447 --> 00:23:07,567 We read it out. l think Mike read it out in the group session, 387 00:23:08,607 --> 00:23:13,635 and John and Graham said that they'd take it away and rework it. 388 00:23:13,687 --> 00:23:16,724 And so John and Graham rewrote it, 389 00:23:16,767 --> 00:23:21,079 and Mike and l felt they'd missed the point. 390 00:23:21,127 --> 00:23:23,846 l don't know what it was, they'd missed the rhythm, 391 00:23:23,887 --> 00:23:25,718 the whole thing is a rhythm joke. 392 00:23:25,767 --> 00:23:27,564 lt's just like, it's just rhythms. 393 00:23:28,567 --> 00:23:32,446 And so, we absolutely, without saying anything to them, 394 00:23:32,487 --> 00:23:36,924 we just substituted our original sketch in the final shooting script. 395 00:23:36,967 --> 00:23:38,366 And that's what we did. 396 00:23:38,407 --> 00:23:40,477 l don't like Spam! 397 00:23:40,527 --> 00:23:43,325 Don't make a fuss, dear. l'll have your Spam. l love it. 398 00:23:43,367 --> 00:23:46,723 With the Pythons, there is a lot of satirical stuff, 399 00:23:46,767 --> 00:23:52,478 but there is a thing about a curse on all your houses. 400 00:23:52,527 --> 00:23:55,678 lt doesn't shut anyone out. lt's very inclusive. 401 00:23:55,727 --> 00:23:59,322 lf you get it, it doesn't really matter where you've come from. 402 00:23:59,367 --> 00:24:02,279 lt doesn't matter what kind of day you've had, 403 00:24:02,327 --> 00:24:05,364 your ethnic background, your age, or anything like that. 404 00:24:05,407 --> 00:24:09,116 They would take the piss out of a working-class guy. 405 00:24:09,167 --> 00:24:10,919 You know, the Gumby... 406 00:24:10,967 --> 00:24:16,837 l would put a tax on all people 407 00:24:16,887 --> 00:24:19,447 who stand in water. 408 00:24:26,647 --> 00:24:29,002 ..and an upper-class guy... 409 00:24:29,047 --> 00:24:33,359 l would tax the nude in my bed. 410 00:24:33,407 --> 00:24:35,921 No. Not tax. 411 00:24:35,967 --> 00:24:36,956 What is the word? 412 00:24:38,447 --> 00:24:42,645 ..and, you know, women in the hairdressers and God knows what. 413 00:24:42,687 --> 00:24:45,440 You know, so everybody was fair game. 414 00:24:45,487 --> 00:24:48,285 That's the great thing about absurd and surreal comedy, 415 00:24:48,327 --> 00:24:51,399 is that, even a lot of Python stuff is based on word play, 416 00:24:51,447 --> 00:24:56,362 a lot of it is based on literary references and stuff like that. 417 00:24:56,407 --> 00:24:58,159 lt's still absurd. 418 00:24:58,207 --> 00:25:02,166 l suddenly felt that l kind of understood this world. 419 00:25:02,207 --> 00:25:06,598 But, also, then it became a sort of currency within which 420 00:25:06,647 --> 00:25:10,242 you connected with other people, because other people got it, as well. 421 00:25:10,287 --> 00:25:12,721 That became your community. 422 00:25:12,767 --> 00:25:15,281 You didn't define your community by your ethnicity, 423 00:25:15,327 --> 00:25:16,726 or by where you lived. 424 00:25:16,767 --> 00:25:20,726 Suddenly, there was a comedy ethnicity, 425 00:25:20,767 --> 00:25:22,803 which was much more interesting. 426 00:25:22,847 --> 00:25:26,396 lt also made you feel a bit superior, because you got all the references. 427 00:25:26,447 --> 00:25:28,563 You knew who Proust was. 428 00:25:28,607 --> 00:25:32,236 And then you got beaten up by the kids who didn't know who Proust was. 429 00:25:32,287 --> 00:25:34,562 Proust in his first book wrote about, wrote about 430 00:25:34,607 --> 00:25:36,837 Proust in his first book wrote about, he wrote about 431 00:25:36,887 --> 00:25:38,957 Proust in his first book, he wrote about, he wrote about 432 00:25:39,007 --> 00:25:41,043 He wrote about, he wrote about, he wrote about, he wrote about 433 00:25:41,087 --> 00:25:42,679 He wrote about, he wrote about 434 00:25:42,727 --> 00:25:44,319 lt's a typical Python thing. 435 00:25:44,367 --> 00:25:47,518 lt pretends to be intellectual, but isn't. Nobody's fucking read Proust! 436 00:25:47,567 --> 00:25:51,082 But a Summarize Proust competition sounds very intellectual. 437 00:25:51,127 --> 00:25:53,243 lt isn't, because nobody's read the fucking stuff. 438 00:25:53,287 --> 00:25:55,721 Well, ladies and gentlemen. 439 00:25:55,767 --> 00:25:59,646 l don't think any of our contestants this evening have succeeded 440 00:25:59,687 --> 00:26:03,441 in encapsulating the intricacies of Proust's masterwork, 441 00:26:03,487 --> 00:26:06,559 so l'm going to award the first prize this evening 442 00:26:06,607 --> 00:26:08,563 to the girl with the biggest tits. 443 00:26:13,327 --> 00:26:17,559 What l loved about Monty Python is they would not compromise. 444 00:26:17,607 --> 00:26:21,646 And l would hear sketches and laugh at things, 445 00:26:21,687 --> 00:26:24,360 and it's only... as a child, 446 00:26:24,407 --> 00:26:27,240 and l wouldn't understand these references often. 447 00:26:27,287 --> 00:26:30,882 There's stuff that l know, that l only know because of like, 448 00:26:30,927 --> 00:26:32,645 because l would have seen it in... 449 00:26:32,687 --> 00:26:35,121 l wouldn't have known that Beethoven was deaf 450 00:26:35,167 --> 00:26:37,761 but for a Morrissey album and a Monty Python sketch. 451 00:26:37,807 --> 00:26:43,723 l didn't know who Reginald Maudling was, you know. A forgotten politician. 452 00:26:43,767 --> 00:26:45,439 A lot of my education, 453 00:26:45,487 --> 00:26:48,445 and this is important if you've been state educated, 454 00:26:48,487 --> 00:26:52,275 is received by proxy from programmes like Python and Blackadder. 455 00:26:52,327 --> 00:26:54,841 That's where l learned what those things mean. 456 00:26:54,887 --> 00:26:59,597 La Fontaine, l mean, l didn't know, l had no idea what that meant, 457 00:26:59,647 --> 00:27:02,207 but these were funny words that Monty Python used, 458 00:27:02,247 --> 00:27:05,045 so it kind of worked in a rhythmic way. 459 00:27:05,087 --> 00:27:07,999 There's was nothing supercilious or haughty about... 460 00:27:08,047 --> 00:27:10,481 ''Oh, God, we know who Wittgenstein is.'' 461 00:27:10,527 --> 00:27:14,839 lt's like, there's Wittgenstein's mum and look at his tits. 462 00:27:14,887 --> 00:27:17,720 Like, sort of, it was never overtly... 463 00:27:17,767 --> 00:27:20,440 like you don't notice that you're learning stuff. 464 00:27:20,487 --> 00:27:22,637 And that's how education should work. 465 00:27:22,687 --> 00:27:25,645 ln retrospect, had l said to my parents at any point 466 00:27:25,687 --> 00:27:28,076 while they were saying, ''Turn this rubbish off. 467 00:27:28,127 --> 00:27:30,436 ''Why are you watching these people? lt's a man. 468 00:27:30,487 --> 00:27:33,001 ''lt's patently a man and he's dressed as a woman.'' 469 00:27:33,047 --> 00:27:37,040 lf l'd said, ''He went to Oxford.'' They'd go, ''Really? lt's very good. 470 00:27:37,087 --> 00:27:39,237 ''Be like him. Why don't you wear a dress?'' 471 00:27:45,647 --> 00:27:46,762 As you get older, 472 00:27:46,807 --> 00:27:51,278 you start to see traces of the fact that they are highly educated men 473 00:27:51,327 --> 00:27:55,115 with brilliant vocabularies and dangerous, subversive ideas. 474 00:27:55,167 --> 00:28:00,321 All the Pythons are essentially middle class. 475 00:28:00,367 --> 00:28:03,962 They are the sons of professional people. 476 00:28:04,007 --> 00:28:06,999 And what their revolt is, really, 477 00:28:07,047 --> 00:28:10,278 is against their parents and their generation. 478 00:28:10,327 --> 00:28:15,162 l don't think anybody really took Flying Circus to be as filthy 479 00:28:15,207 --> 00:28:18,358 and as subversive as it is, because it's so silly 480 00:28:18,407 --> 00:28:21,479 that you don't view it as being politically incendiary 481 00:28:21,527 --> 00:28:23,677 or anything like that, but it is. 482 00:28:23,727 --> 00:28:27,117 l never thought of Pythons as being politically ''on the nose''. 483 00:28:27,167 --> 00:28:31,683 Their genius was that they were wonderfully subversive. 484 00:28:31,727 --> 00:28:35,640 Subversive in the sense that they would allow their imaginations, 485 00:28:35,687 --> 00:28:40,078 and impulses to take them places where we hadn't been before. 486 00:28:40,127 --> 00:28:42,083 Don't say the kid's name, Vic. 487 00:28:42,127 --> 00:28:44,482 Francesco Luigi... 488 00:28:48,207 --> 00:28:51,279 We was too late. The Reverend Nuke saw the light. 489 00:28:51,327 --> 00:28:55,400 They are anti-Establishment because, of course, 490 00:28:55,447 --> 00:28:57,597 the architects they're always sending up, 491 00:28:57,647 --> 00:29:00,559 the programme planners they're always sending up, 492 00:29:00,607 --> 00:29:04,043 the accountants they've always got it in for. 493 00:29:04,087 --> 00:29:08,922 All those people represented the kind of deferential society 494 00:29:08,967 --> 00:29:11,720 into which they'd been introduced by their parents. 495 00:29:11,767 --> 00:29:13,883 Of course, that is finally political. 496 00:29:13,927 --> 00:29:18,398 They've nailed the foibles and the characters in English society. 497 00:29:18,447 --> 00:29:20,961 lt was a sociological triumph, really. 498 00:29:32,367 --> 00:29:35,439 Oh, l've had such a morning in the High Court. 499 00:29:35,487 --> 00:29:38,957 l could stamp my little feet the way those QCs carry on. 500 00:29:39,007 --> 00:29:39,996 Don't l know it, love. 501 00:29:40,047 --> 00:29:42,117 Objection here and objection there, 502 00:29:42,167 --> 00:29:44,761 and that nice policeman gave his evidence so well. 503 00:29:44,807 --> 00:29:46,525 Beautiful speaking voice. 504 00:29:46,567 --> 00:29:49,001 After a bit, all l could do was bang my little gavel. 505 00:29:49,047 --> 00:29:51,242 - You what, love? - l banged me gavel. 506 00:29:51,287 --> 00:29:53,164 l did me ''silence in court'' bit. 507 00:29:53,207 --> 00:29:54,606 Ooh, if looks could kill, 508 00:29:54,647 --> 00:29:57,320 that prosecuting council would be in for thirty years. 509 00:29:57,367 --> 00:30:00,996 They were anti-Establishment, but not, l mean... 510 00:30:01,047 --> 00:30:02,605 A lot of the jokes were, again, 511 00:30:02,647 --> 00:30:07,596 this thing about becoming a little bit more, 512 00:30:07,647 --> 00:30:11,322 not abstract, but the sort of madness of it. 513 00:30:12,087 --> 00:30:13,679 Come in. 514 00:30:16,647 --> 00:30:19,844 - What do you want? - l'd like to leave the army, please, sir. 515 00:30:19,887 --> 00:30:21,559 Good heavens, man. Why? 516 00:30:21,607 --> 00:30:24,041 - lt's dangerous. - What? 517 00:30:24,087 --> 00:30:26,601 - There are people with guns. - What? 518 00:30:26,647 --> 00:30:30,526 Real guns, sir. Not toy ones, sir, proper ones, sir. They've all got 'em. 519 00:30:30,567 --> 00:30:33,365 All of 'em, sir. And some of 'em have got tanks. 520 00:30:33,407 --> 00:30:35,398 Watkins, they are on our side. 521 00:30:35,447 --> 00:30:37,483 And grenades, sir, and machine guns, sir. 522 00:30:37,527 --> 00:30:40,519 So, l'd like to leave, sir, before l get killed, please. 523 00:30:40,567 --> 00:30:42,637 You've only been in the army a day. 524 00:30:42,687 --> 00:30:44,837 l know, sir, but people get killed. 525 00:30:44,887 --> 00:30:49,165 Properly dead, sir. No barley crossed fingers, sir. 526 00:30:49,207 --> 00:30:52,404 A bloke was telling me if you're in the army and there's a war, 527 00:30:52,447 --> 00:30:54,039 you have to go and fight. 528 00:30:54,087 --> 00:30:56,317 That's true. 529 00:30:56,367 --> 00:31:00,918 Well, l mean, blimey, l mean, if it was a big war somebody could be hurt. 530 00:31:02,047 --> 00:31:04,083 Watkins, why did you join the army? 531 00:31:04,127 --> 00:31:07,085 For the water-skiing and for the travel, sir. 532 00:31:07,127 --> 00:31:11,006 You could say things that ordinarily you wouldn't be able to say, 533 00:31:11,047 --> 00:31:16,758 by having this comic licence, things that would be unacceptable 534 00:31:16,807 --> 00:31:19,799 if it weren't for the fact that you were making people laugh. 535 00:31:19,847 --> 00:31:21,883 lt was your ''get out of jail free'' card. 536 00:31:21,927 --> 00:31:22,916 Miss Rita Fairbanks, 537 00:31:22,967 --> 00:31:26,357 you organised this reconstruction of the Battle of Pearl Harbor. Why? 538 00:31:26,407 --> 00:31:29,763 Well, we've always been extremely interested in modern drama. 539 00:31:29,807 --> 00:31:33,436 We were, of course, the first townswomen's guild 540 00:31:33,487 --> 00:31:35,842 to perform Camp On Blood lsland 541 00:31:35,887 --> 00:31:39,846 and last year, of course, we did an extremely popular re-enactment 542 00:31:39,887 --> 00:31:41,718 of Nazi war atrocities. 543 00:31:41,767 --> 00:31:45,999 So, this year we thought we'd like to do something in a lighter vein. 544 00:31:46,047 --> 00:31:50,837 l think that Pythons were probably a little unsophisticated, 545 00:31:50,887 --> 00:31:54,323 so far as the fair sex was concerned. 546 00:31:54,367 --> 00:31:58,645 And, l don't think that we would have felt very comfortable 547 00:31:58,687 --> 00:32:01,440 writing anything that approached a genuine love scene. 548 00:32:01,487 --> 00:32:04,365 l think... ''Ooh, dear. We're English, after all.'' 549 00:32:04,407 --> 00:32:06,875 ''This isn't emotion, this is sentiment, 550 00:32:06,927 --> 00:32:08,918 ''and, therefore, to be despised.'' 551 00:32:08,967 --> 00:32:13,006 So, what we wrote was caricatured stuff, 552 00:32:13,047 --> 00:32:14,560 and, most of the time, 553 00:32:14,607 --> 00:32:18,441 it was the sort of stuff you saw when you went to a pantomime. 554 00:32:18,487 --> 00:32:20,717 Well, l can see you're all ready to go, 555 00:32:20,767 --> 00:32:23,327 l'll wish you good luck in your latest venture. 556 00:32:23,367 --> 00:32:25,119 Thank you very much, young man. 557 00:32:25,167 --> 00:32:28,842 Ladies and gentlemen, the World of History is proud to present 558 00:32:28,887 --> 00:32:31,162 the premiere of the Batley Townswomen's Guild 559 00:32:31,207 --> 00:32:34,040 re-enactment of the Battle of Pearl Harbor. 560 00:32:45,847 --> 00:32:48,566 And if we wrote something that was about sex, 561 00:32:48,607 --> 00:32:50,404 like the marriage guidance counsellor, 562 00:32:50,447 --> 00:32:53,644 then we brought in Carol Cleveland who was genuinely sexy. 563 00:32:53,687 --> 00:32:56,440 But, most of the time, we stayed away from those areas. 564 00:32:56,487 --> 00:32:58,478 Are you the marriage guidance counsellor? 565 00:32:58,527 --> 00:33:00,995 - Yes. Good morning. - Morning, sir. 566 00:33:02,127 --> 00:33:03,924 And good morning to you, madam. 567 00:33:05,087 --> 00:33:06,566 Name? 568 00:33:06,607 --> 00:33:08,518 Mr and Mrs Arthur Pewtey. 569 00:33:08,567 --> 00:33:10,398 Pewtey. 570 00:33:10,447 --> 00:33:13,803 And what is the name of your ravishing wife? 571 00:33:13,847 --> 00:33:16,122 Wait. Don't tell me. 572 00:33:16,167 --> 00:33:19,239 lt's something to do with moonlight. lt goes with her eyes. 573 00:33:19,287 --> 00:33:22,120 lt's soft and gentle, warm and yielding, 574 00:33:22,167 --> 00:33:26,604 deeply lyrical and yet tender and frightened like a tiny white rabbit. 575 00:33:26,647 --> 00:33:28,365 lt's Deirdre. 576 00:33:30,007 --> 00:33:32,441 lt was the producer/director at the time 577 00:33:32,487 --> 00:33:36,162 who took me on to be in only five... 578 00:33:36,207 --> 00:33:38,562 that's all l was meant to be in, five episodes. 579 00:33:38,607 --> 00:33:42,520 And, by the time we got to the second or third episode, 580 00:33:42,567 --> 00:33:44,319 the guys decided they liked me a lot. 581 00:33:44,367 --> 00:33:49,282 They thought l fitted in beautifully and they put their foot down. 582 00:33:49,327 --> 00:33:51,795 l wasn't going to be in any more episodes. 583 00:33:51,847 --> 00:33:54,600 But they put their big Python foot down and said, 584 00:33:54,647 --> 00:33:58,083 ''No. We want Carol. We're not having anybody else.'' 585 00:33:58,127 --> 00:33:59,924 So, thanks, guys. 586 00:34:01,327 --> 00:34:05,605 Tonight, l want to examine the whole question 587 00:34:05,647 --> 00:34:08,878 of 18th-century social legislation... 588 00:34:11,927 --> 00:34:15,442 ..its relevance to the hierarchical structure 589 00:34:15,487 --> 00:34:17,842 of post-Renaissance society... 590 00:34:20,727 --> 00:34:25,801 ..and its impact on the future of parochial organisation 591 00:34:25,847 --> 00:34:28,964 in an expanding agrarian economy. 592 00:34:29,007 --> 00:34:32,522 She just was so good at doing what she did. 593 00:34:33,607 --> 00:34:37,566 And l can never work out how she does it, but... 594 00:34:37,607 --> 00:34:40,201 Cos everybody could be so bizarre and strange, 595 00:34:40,247 --> 00:34:43,319 and she would just float right through it with... 596 00:34:43,367 --> 00:34:46,803 lntegrity's a funny word for Carol, but there it is. 597 00:34:46,847 --> 00:34:49,998 There's something that's so solid and she... 598 00:34:50,047 --> 00:34:53,596 There were other girls in the show, but they never got it right. 599 00:34:53,647 --> 00:34:58,277 They never seemed to get the way of performing right, and she got it. 600 00:34:58,327 --> 00:35:03,799 To put England's social legislation in a European context, 601 00:35:03,847 --> 00:35:09,046 is Professor Gert Van Der Whoops of the Rijksmuseum in the Hague. 602 00:35:09,087 --> 00:35:13,319 She always saw the irony of it. There was always an extra twist. 603 00:35:13,367 --> 00:35:16,518 She knew what she was sending up and how she was sending it up. 604 00:35:16,567 --> 00:35:19,365 So, she would play the dumb blonde, but she was no dumb blonde. 605 00:35:29,767 --> 00:35:31,803 Part of the reason l watched Python, 606 00:35:31,847 --> 00:35:34,315 this is terrible as a comedy fan, 607 00:35:34,367 --> 00:35:39,487 but l watched it for Carol Cleveland possibly getting her tits out. 608 00:35:39,527 --> 00:35:42,837 You had a good shot at seeing a pair of tits, even cartoon tits. 609 00:35:42,887 --> 00:35:48,086 They had that woman. Carol Cleveland? l remember she was sort of sexy. 610 00:35:48,127 --> 00:35:51,756 But no, l was in it for the songs and the voices. 611 00:35:51,807 --> 00:35:55,277 Cos my interest in it predated my interest in breasts. 612 00:35:55,327 --> 00:35:56,919 That must be hard for you to imagine. 613 00:35:56,967 --> 00:35:58,844 You find, if you ask all these kids, 614 00:35:58,887 --> 00:36:02,766 the reason they were watching is cos they had bare breasts on that show. 615 00:36:02,807 --> 00:36:04,718 Sometimes real, even. 616 00:36:04,767 --> 00:36:10,603 A good 40 per cent of why l watched it was because it was naughty, 617 00:36:10,647 --> 00:36:13,684 and there might be boobs, which is terrible, really. 618 00:36:19,047 --> 00:36:21,197 What's my favourite sketch? 619 00:36:21,247 --> 00:36:24,478 That's the hardest question you could ever ask a Python fan. 620 00:36:24,527 --> 00:36:27,883 Favourite Monty Python sketch... 621 00:36:27,927 --> 00:36:30,043 - Man! - Monty Python. 622 00:36:30,087 --> 00:36:31,406 l'd have to think. 623 00:36:38,847 --> 00:36:40,121 God, that's tricky. 624 00:36:40,167 --> 00:36:42,920 lf l had a favourite sketch... 625 00:36:42,967 --> 00:36:44,685 What would that be? 626 00:36:44,727 --> 00:36:45,955 l'd have a top ten. 627 00:36:46,007 --> 00:36:47,725 The Mr Hilter sketch. 628 00:36:47,767 --> 00:36:50,725 The fact that Hitler got away and is living in Minehead. 629 00:36:50,767 --> 00:36:53,235 And, over here, is Mr Hilter. 630 00:36:56,407 --> 00:36:57,601 Good afternoon. 631 00:36:57,647 --> 00:37:00,081 Planning a little excursion, Mr Hilter? 632 00:37:00,127 --> 00:37:02,687 Ja. Ja. We make a little... 633 00:37:04,207 --> 00:37:05,606 - Hike. - Hiking. 634 00:37:05,647 --> 00:37:08,366 We make a little hike for Bideford. 635 00:37:08,407 --> 00:37:11,479 Oh, well, you'll be wanting the A39 there. 636 00:37:11,527 --> 00:37:15,236 No. No. You've got the wrong map there. This is Stalingrad. 637 00:37:15,727 --> 00:37:19,515 You want the llfracombe and Barnstaple section. 638 00:37:19,567 --> 00:37:22,445 Reginald. You have the wrong map here, 639 00:37:22,487 --> 00:37:25,081 you silly old leg-before-wicket English person. 640 00:37:25,127 --> 00:37:27,800 l'm sorry. Sorry, mein Fuhrer, l did not... 641 00:37:27,847 --> 00:37:30,122 Mein dickie old chum. 642 00:37:30,167 --> 00:37:32,556 Lucky Mr Johnson pointed that out, eh? 643 00:37:32,607 --> 00:37:35,485 You wouldn't have had much fun in Stalingrad. 644 00:37:36,647 --> 00:37:39,241 lf you say, ''Pick one and put it in the time capsule'' 645 00:37:39,287 --> 00:37:40,959 it would have to be the Parrot. 646 00:37:41,007 --> 00:37:43,202 ''l wish to register a complaint.'' 647 00:37:44,247 --> 00:37:48,081 You know, l mean, we've all met them, haven't we? 648 00:37:48,127 --> 00:37:50,846 Hello. l wish to register a complaint. 649 00:37:50,887 --> 00:37:52,286 Hello, Miss. 650 00:37:52,327 --> 00:37:55,239 What you mean ''Miss''? 651 00:37:55,287 --> 00:37:58,404 Oh, l'm sorry. l have a cold. l wish to make a complaint. 652 00:37:58,447 --> 00:38:00,483 - We're closing for lunch. - Never mind that. 653 00:38:00,527 --> 00:38:02,995 l wish to complain about this parrot what l purchased 654 00:38:03,047 --> 00:38:05,402 not half an hour ago from this very boutique. 655 00:38:05,447 --> 00:38:07,324 The Norwegian Blue. What's wrong with it? 656 00:38:07,367 --> 00:38:10,962 l'll tell you what's wrong. lt's dead, that's what's wrong with it. 657 00:38:11,007 --> 00:38:16,081 That humour of deniability and just the stubbornness, 658 00:38:16,127 --> 00:38:19,085 the way Palin plays it, it's just fantastic, fantastic. 659 00:38:19,127 --> 00:38:20,958 No. No. lt's resting. Look. 660 00:38:21,007 --> 00:38:25,762 Look, my lad. l know a dead parrot when l see one and l'm looking at one right now. 661 00:38:25,807 --> 00:38:28,275 - No. lt's not dead. lt's resting. - Resting? 662 00:38:28,327 --> 00:38:32,002 Yeah. Remarkable bird, the Norwegian Blue. Beautiful plumage, innit? 663 00:38:32,047 --> 00:38:35,278 The plumage don't enter into it. lt's stone dead. 664 00:38:35,327 --> 00:38:36,442 No. No. lt's resting. 665 00:38:37,207 --> 00:38:38,765 All right, then. 666 00:38:38,807 --> 00:38:41,275 lf it's resting l'll wake it up. 667 00:38:41,327 --> 00:38:42,919 Hello, Polly. 668 00:38:42,967 --> 00:38:46,437 l've got a nice cuttlefish for you when you wake up, Polly Parrot. 669 00:38:46,487 --> 00:38:48,921 - There, it moved. - No, it didn't. 670 00:38:48,967 --> 00:38:54,280 Just after l married Connie, beginning of '68, 671 00:38:54,327 --> 00:38:56,636 we did a show called How To lrritate People, 672 00:38:56,687 --> 00:39:00,282 and we wrote a sketch about a second-hand car salesman 673 00:39:00,327 --> 00:39:05,720 that was quite cliche, but it was based on a guy called Mr Gibbins, 674 00:39:05,767 --> 00:39:09,521 who Michael Palin used to buy cars from. 675 00:39:09,567 --> 00:39:14,197 Michael would ring him up and say the gearbox is sticky. 676 00:39:14,247 --> 00:39:16,397 Mr Gibbins would say, ''A quality car. 677 00:39:16,447 --> 00:39:19,359 ''You always get a sticky gearbox inside of a quality car.'' 678 00:39:19,407 --> 00:39:21,796 A completely slippery person. 679 00:39:21,847 --> 00:39:25,476 We wrote a second-hand car sketch and then, years later, 680 00:39:25,527 --> 00:39:28,803 looked at it and l said, ''There's something about this l like.'' 681 00:39:28,847 --> 00:39:31,998 And we decided that the thing was to change into an animal. 682 00:39:32,047 --> 00:39:35,084 We had a bit of a discussion about if it was a dog or a parrot. 683 00:39:35,127 --> 00:39:37,800 ln the end, we just thought the parrot was funnier. 684 00:39:37,847 --> 00:39:41,362 Look, my lad. l've had just about enough of this. 685 00:39:41,407 --> 00:39:43,921 That parrot is definitely deceased. 686 00:39:43,967 --> 00:39:46,083 And when l bought it not half an hour ago, 687 00:39:46,127 --> 00:39:49,881 you assured me that its lack of movement was due to it being tired 688 00:39:49,927 --> 00:39:52,316 and shagged out after a long squawk. 689 00:39:53,207 --> 00:39:56,597 Gray and l used to write out of the thesaurus all the time. 690 00:39:56,647 --> 00:40:00,925 lf we couldn't think of something, l'd flip through the thesaurus and shout out words. 691 00:40:00,967 --> 00:40:02,719 Plummet. 692 00:40:02,767 --> 00:40:03,882 Cardigan. 693 00:40:03,927 --> 00:40:07,203 And, sometimes, we would go... And we'd be off. 694 00:40:07,247 --> 00:40:09,044 Most the time, of course. 695 00:40:09,087 --> 00:40:10,725 And, so, l just looked up ''Dead'', 696 00:40:10,767 --> 00:40:15,443 and there was this extraordinary, wonderful list of synonyms for dead 697 00:40:15,487 --> 00:40:16,886 and we started to write it. 698 00:40:16,927 --> 00:40:19,999 This parrot is no more. 699 00:40:20,047 --> 00:40:22,402 lt has ceased to be. 700 00:40:22,447 --> 00:40:26,326 lt's expired and gone to meet its maker. 701 00:40:26,367 --> 00:40:28,642 This is a late parrot. 702 00:40:29,447 --> 00:40:32,598 One of the sketches where l remember being really amused, 703 00:40:32,647 --> 00:40:34,558 and thinking, ''Wow, this was really cheeky'', 704 00:40:34,607 --> 00:40:38,759 is the one where there appears to be a TV game show, 705 00:40:38,807 --> 00:40:40,638 centred around blackmail. 706 00:40:40,687 --> 00:40:43,724 Hello, good evening and welcome to Blackmail. 707 00:40:43,767 --> 00:40:47,760 To start tonight's programme, we go north to Preston in Lancashire, 708 00:40:47,807 --> 00:40:49,559 and Mrs Betty Teal. 709 00:40:49,607 --> 00:40:51,404 Hello, Mrs Teal. 710 00:40:52,407 --> 00:40:54,716 Now, this is for 15 pounds, 711 00:40:54,767 --> 00:40:59,966 and it's to stop us revealing the name of your lover in Bolton. 712 00:41:00,007 --> 00:41:04,558 They show some footage of two people having an affair, 713 00:41:04,607 --> 00:41:06,916 shot on a grainy camera through a window, 714 00:41:06,967 --> 00:41:09,606 and say if you don't call soon 715 00:41:09,647 --> 00:41:12,115 and donate money, then we'll show the rest of it. 716 00:41:12,167 --> 00:41:14,920 Hello, sir. Hello. Yes. 717 00:41:14,967 --> 00:41:17,481 No, sir. l'm sure you didn't. lt's all right, sir. 718 00:41:17,527 --> 00:41:20,519 We don't morally censure, we just want the money. 719 00:41:20,567 --> 00:41:23,240 l just remember that being really amazing to me, 720 00:41:23,287 --> 00:41:27,758 because l'd never seen anyone explode the conventions of TV before. 721 00:41:27,807 --> 00:41:31,482 l thought that was... l mean, even though l came to it late, 722 00:41:31,527 --> 00:41:35,315 l'd never really seen someone mocking television before. 723 00:41:35,367 --> 00:41:38,996 That just seemed really outrageous to me. Really naughty, you know. 724 00:41:39,047 --> 00:41:41,720 And kind of saucy and quite adult. 725 00:41:41,767 --> 00:41:44,235 l remember that seeming quite exciting in a way. 726 00:41:44,287 --> 00:41:47,006 Not at all, sir. Thank you. 727 00:41:47,047 --> 00:41:49,117 The eruption of the lnquisition into the room 728 00:41:49,167 --> 00:41:53,399 and the torture by a comfy armchair, that still makes me laugh. 729 00:41:53,447 --> 00:41:54,562 l love that. 730 00:41:54,607 --> 00:41:58,395 So, you think you are strong because you can survive the soft cushions? 731 00:41:59,407 --> 00:42:02,046 Well, we shall see. 732 00:42:02,087 --> 00:42:05,523 Biggles! Put her in the comfy chair. 733 00:42:07,767 --> 00:42:08,836 Now... 734 00:42:09,567 --> 00:42:12,286 You will stay in the comfy chair until lunch time, 735 00:42:12,327 --> 00:42:14,522 with only a cup of coffee at eleven. 736 00:42:14,567 --> 00:42:16,523 - ls that really all it is? - Yes, lord. 737 00:42:16,567 --> 00:42:17,602 l see. 738 00:42:17,647 --> 00:42:19,877 l suppose we make it worse by shouting a lot? 739 00:42:23,847 --> 00:42:25,678 Confess, woman. 740 00:42:25,727 --> 00:42:27,126 Confess. 741 00:42:27,167 --> 00:42:29,681 Confess. Confess. 742 00:42:29,727 --> 00:42:30,876 Confess! 743 00:42:30,927 --> 00:42:32,326 l confess! 744 00:42:32,367 --> 00:42:33,482 Not you. 745 00:42:33,527 --> 00:42:35,563 l like the one where he goes in... 746 00:42:35,607 --> 00:42:38,883 lsn't it he goes into a shop and it's all about being a spy? 747 00:42:38,927 --> 00:42:41,646 Wasn't there one where it's all supposed to be passwords 748 00:42:41,687 --> 00:42:43,279 and the guy has no idea what he's talking about? 749 00:42:43,327 --> 00:42:46,637 l hear the gooseberries are doing well this year. 750 00:42:46,687 --> 00:42:48,518 And so are the mangoes. 751 00:42:50,807 --> 00:42:51,796 l'm sorry? 752 00:42:52,847 --> 00:42:55,919 Oh, l was just saying, thinking of the weather, 753 00:42:55,967 --> 00:42:59,277 l hear the gooseberries are doing well this year, 754 00:42:59,327 --> 00:43:01,841 and so are the mangoes. 755 00:43:01,887 --> 00:43:04,845 - Mine aren't. - Go on. 756 00:43:04,887 --> 00:43:06,559 - What? - Go on. Mine aren't but... 757 00:43:07,327 --> 00:43:08,316 What? 758 00:43:08,367 --> 00:43:11,757 You say, mine aren't, but the big cheese gets his at low tide tonight. 759 00:43:11,807 --> 00:43:14,037 No. 760 00:43:14,087 --> 00:43:15,406 Oh. Ah, good morning. 761 00:43:15,447 --> 00:43:16,436 Wait. 762 00:43:16,487 --> 00:43:20,002 And it's all code words and there's people with, l don't know, 763 00:43:20,047 --> 00:43:22,561 it's probably Cleese in a sort of trench coat, 764 00:43:22,607 --> 00:43:25,326 and everyone's looking like a spy and he's not. 765 00:43:25,367 --> 00:43:28,803 How much do you know? Are you from the British Dental Association? 766 00:43:28,847 --> 00:43:30,838 - l'm a tobacconist. - Get away from that door. 767 00:43:30,887 --> 00:43:32,878 - l'll go over the other... - Stay where you are. 768 00:43:32,927 --> 00:43:35,760 - You'll never leave this bookshop alive. - Why not? 769 00:43:35,807 --> 00:43:38,082 You know too much, my dental friend. 770 00:43:38,127 --> 00:43:41,278 - l don't know anything. - Come clean. You're a dentist. 771 00:43:41,327 --> 00:43:42,726 No. l'm a tobacconist. 772 00:43:42,767 --> 00:43:47,557 A tobacconist who just happens to be buying a book on teeth. 773 00:43:47,607 --> 00:43:49,484 My favourite sketch is a strange one. 774 00:43:49,527 --> 00:43:52,997 lt's the one where Graham and John are watching television 775 00:43:53,047 --> 00:43:54,878 and there's a penguin on top of the TV. 776 00:43:54,927 --> 00:43:58,317 Funny that penguin being there, innit? 777 00:43:58,367 --> 00:43:59,595 What's it doing there? 778 00:43:59,647 --> 00:44:01,797 - Standing. - l can see that. 779 00:44:01,847 --> 00:44:05,726 lt's brilliant, because for the level of hilarity they were getting across 780 00:44:05,767 --> 00:44:07,359 they were very good at not laughing. 781 00:44:07,407 --> 00:44:11,958 Penguins don't come from next door, they come from the Antarctic. 782 00:44:12,007 --> 00:44:15,158 But, in that one sketch, l think Graham Chapman shouts... 783 00:44:15,207 --> 00:44:16,435 Burma. 784 00:44:16,487 --> 00:44:17,966 ..and then has to turn away. 785 00:44:20,207 --> 00:44:22,118 - Why did you say Burma? - l panicked. 786 00:44:24,247 --> 00:44:28,206 And l just remember watching it as a 15-year-old kid, 787 00:44:28,247 --> 00:44:32,445 just loving the fact that they found it funny and they were enjoying it. 788 00:44:32,487 --> 00:44:34,955 And seeing them having such enormous fun, 789 00:44:35,007 --> 00:44:38,204 just dressing up as old women and being utterly batty. 790 00:44:38,247 --> 00:44:40,761 - Lions don't moult. - No, but penguins do. 791 00:44:40,807 --> 00:44:43,162 There, l run rings round you logically. 792 00:44:43,207 --> 00:44:46,119 Oh, intercourse the penguin. 793 00:44:50,767 --> 00:44:52,246 lt's just gone eight o'clock 794 00:44:52,287 --> 00:44:55,199 and time for the penguin on top of your television set to explode. 795 00:44:57,967 --> 00:45:02,643 l really like that one where Graham Chapman goes into a shop. 796 00:45:02,687 --> 00:45:05,679 He goes, ''Oh, hello, Mr Luxury Yacht.'' 797 00:45:05,727 --> 00:45:08,287 And he says, ''Oh, no, it's spelt Luxury Yacht, 798 00:45:08,327 --> 00:45:10,841 ''but it's pronounced 'Throatwobbler Mangrove'.'' 799 00:45:10,887 --> 00:45:13,117 l have with me in the studio tonight, 800 00:45:13,167 --> 00:45:18,321 one of the country's leading skin specialists, Raymond Luxury Yacht. 801 00:45:18,367 --> 00:45:19,356 That's not my name. 802 00:45:21,167 --> 00:45:23,886 l'm sorry. Raymond Luxury Yacht. 803 00:45:23,927 --> 00:45:26,760 No, no, no. lt's spelt ''Raymond Luxury Yacht'', 804 00:45:26,807 --> 00:45:29,685 but it's pronounced ''Throatwobbler Mangrove''. 805 00:45:29,727 --> 00:45:33,561 The joy of ''Fucking hell, that sounds amazing. 806 00:45:33,607 --> 00:45:36,246 '''Throatwobbler Mangrove', what does that mean? 807 00:45:36,287 --> 00:45:40,166 ''What could that ever mean? And it's spelt Luxury Yacht.'' 808 00:45:40,207 --> 00:45:41,196 l like that. 809 00:45:43,367 --> 00:45:46,962 You're a very silly man and l'm not going to interview you. 810 00:45:47,007 --> 00:45:49,077 - Anti-Semitism. - Not at all. 811 00:45:49,127 --> 00:45:53,120 lt's not even a proper nose. lt's polystyrene. 812 00:45:53,167 --> 00:45:56,045 - Give me my nose back. - You can collect it at reception. 813 00:45:56,087 --> 00:45:57,759 - l want to be on television. - You can't. 814 00:45:57,807 --> 00:46:00,275 There is a such a thing as a classical sketch. 815 00:46:00,327 --> 00:46:03,478 The other one is the slapstick one with the custard tarts. 816 00:46:03,527 --> 00:46:07,884 First, the simple, straightforward offensive deposit. 817 00:46:23,647 --> 00:46:24,716 Second... 818 00:46:25,727 --> 00:46:29,163 Second, the simple sideways offensive deposit. 819 00:46:40,927 --> 00:46:44,761 Next, the simple surprise deposit. 820 00:46:49,607 --> 00:46:52,963 l remember them first doing that up at Edinburgh, l guess, 821 00:46:53,007 --> 00:46:55,396 and it had me rolling in the aisles. 822 00:46:56,407 --> 00:46:57,806 And it still does. 823 00:47:04,767 --> 00:47:08,396 l remember in the Piranha brothers where he goes, 824 00:47:08,447 --> 00:47:12,486 ''They called a week later, said l bought one of their fruit machines, 825 00:47:12,527 --> 00:47:14,757 ''and will l pay for it?'' 826 00:47:14,807 --> 00:47:16,035 How much did they want? 827 00:47:16,087 --> 00:47:17,805 ''Three-quarters of a million pounds.'' 828 00:47:17,847 --> 00:47:19,963 Why didn't you call for the police? 829 00:47:20,007 --> 00:47:23,841 ''The bloke with the thermonuclear device was the chief constable for the area.'' 830 00:47:23,887 --> 00:47:27,926 Anyway, a week later they come back, 831 00:47:27,967 --> 00:47:32,438 said the cheque had bounced and that l had to see Doug. 832 00:47:32,487 --> 00:47:34,557 ''Doug.'' He pours a glass of water. 833 00:47:41,167 --> 00:47:42,316 ''l was terrified.'' 834 00:47:43,407 --> 00:47:45,318 Everyone was terrified of Doug. 835 00:47:45,367 --> 00:47:47,722 ''l've seen men pull their heads off rather than see Doug.'' 836 00:47:47,767 --> 00:47:50,076 Even Dinsdale was frightened of Doug. 837 00:47:50,127 --> 00:47:51,276 What did he do? 838 00:47:51,327 --> 00:47:54,125 ''He used sarcasm. 839 00:47:54,167 --> 00:47:55,395 ''He knew all the tricks.'' 840 00:47:55,447 --> 00:47:57,278 - Dramatic irony. - ''Metaphor, bathos.'' 841 00:47:57,327 --> 00:47:59,602 Puns, parody, litotes. 842 00:47:59,647 --> 00:48:02,764 - ''Hyperbole.'' - And satire. 843 00:48:02,807 --> 00:48:04,399 ''He was vicious.'' 844 00:48:05,327 --> 00:48:06,885 That sums up what they did. 845 00:48:06,927 --> 00:48:10,556 Good afternoon, and welcome to Hurlingham Park. 846 00:48:10,607 --> 00:48:14,998 You join us just as the competitors are running out onto the field, 847 00:48:15,047 --> 00:48:17,481 on this lovely winter's afternoon here, 848 00:48:17,527 --> 00:48:20,803 with the going firm underfoot and very little sign of rain. 849 00:48:20,847 --> 00:48:23,805 l would probably have to go for Upper-Class Twit of the Year, 850 00:48:23,847 --> 00:48:27,157 because it was so...accurate. 851 00:48:27,207 --> 00:48:31,086 Vivian Smith-Smythe-Smith has O level in kennel hygiene. 852 00:48:31,127 --> 00:48:35,325 Simon Zinc-Trumpet-Harris, married to a very attractive table lamp. 853 00:48:35,367 --> 00:48:38,598 lt was good that they poked fun at, 854 00:48:38,647 --> 00:48:42,003 you know, the sort of the upper classes, the Establishment. 855 00:48:42,047 --> 00:48:44,003 Gervais Brook-Hamster. He's in the Guards 856 00:48:44,047 --> 00:48:46,607 and his father uses him as a wastepaper basket. 857 00:48:46,647 --> 00:48:49,605 And finally Oliver St John Mollusc, Harrow and the Guards, 858 00:48:49,647 --> 00:48:52,844 thought by many to be this year's outstanding Twit. 859 00:48:53,887 --> 00:48:57,357 That was less sketch, more documentary. 860 00:48:57,407 --> 00:48:58,635 l've met people like that. 861 00:48:58,687 --> 00:49:02,566 And now they're coming into their first test, the straight line. 862 00:49:02,607 --> 00:49:05,565 They've got to walk along this straight line without falling over. 863 00:49:05,607 --> 00:49:07,518 And Oliver's over at the back there. 864 00:49:07,567 --> 00:49:10,240 Simon's coming through quite fast on the outside. 865 00:49:10,287 --> 00:49:12,596 Simon and Nigel, both coming very fast. 866 00:49:12,647 --> 00:49:15,081 No, there's Nigel, l'm sorry, and on the outside 867 00:49:15,127 --> 00:49:17,402 there's Gervais, just out of shot... 868 00:49:17,447 --> 00:49:18,436 lf you had to pick one, 869 00:49:18,487 --> 00:49:22,639 and go, ''This explains the ethos of what they're about,'' 870 00:49:22,687 --> 00:49:25,565 l would go with that, Upper-Class Twit of the Year. 871 00:49:25,607 --> 00:49:29,520 Three layers of matchboxes to clear, and Simon's over! 872 00:49:29,567 --> 00:49:31,125 Vivian's over beautifully. 873 00:49:31,167 --> 00:49:34,000 A jump of a lifetime. lf only his father could understand. 874 00:49:34,047 --> 00:49:37,323 Here's Nigel... No, and Gervais is over. 875 00:49:37,367 --> 00:49:39,835 Nigel's... Nigel... 876 00:49:39,887 --> 00:49:43,516 The Lumberjack Song is a wonderful theme... 877 00:49:43,567 --> 00:49:46,400 lt's great, some of the live performances. 878 00:49:46,447 --> 00:49:49,484 - How would you like it? - Short back and sides, please. 879 00:49:49,527 --> 00:49:53,042 - How do you do that? - Ordinary short back and sides. 880 00:49:53,087 --> 00:49:55,726 lt's not a razor cut. 881 00:49:55,767 --> 00:49:58,565 Razor, razor, razor... cut, blood, spurt, artery, murder! 882 00:49:58,607 --> 00:50:02,566 The Lumberjack Song totally came out of a sketch 883 00:50:02,607 --> 00:50:04,996 that we were writing about a barbershop, 884 00:50:05,047 --> 00:50:07,607 and we just couldn't think how to end it. 885 00:50:07,647 --> 00:50:09,638 l'm going to cut your hair, sir. 886 00:50:11,087 --> 00:50:13,726 l'm going to start cutting your hair, sir. 887 00:50:13,767 --> 00:50:15,166 Start cutting. Now. 888 00:50:18,567 --> 00:50:19,716 Nice day, sir? 889 00:50:19,767 --> 00:50:22,406 Yes, the flowers could do with a drop of rain though. 890 00:50:22,447 --> 00:50:24,403 You see the match last night, sir? 891 00:50:24,447 --> 00:50:25,926 Yeah, good game l thought. 892 00:50:25,967 --> 00:50:28,083 l thought Hurst played well, sir. 893 00:50:28,127 --> 00:50:31,005 - l beg your pardon? - l thought Hurst played well, sir. 894 00:50:31,047 --> 00:50:32,924 Oh, yes, only one who did though. 895 00:50:32,967 --> 00:50:35,800 - Put your head down a little. - Oh, sorry. 896 00:50:35,847 --> 00:50:38,486 l prefer to watch Palace nowadays. 897 00:50:38,527 --> 00:50:40,279 Oh, sorry, was that your ear? 898 00:50:40,327 --> 00:50:44,206 No, no, didn't feel a thing. What's going on? 899 00:50:44,247 --> 00:50:48,559 And l think l said, after you know, we were absolutely stuck, 900 00:50:48,607 --> 00:50:52,600 it was the end of the day and we really wanted to go and have a beer, 901 00:50:52,647 --> 00:50:55,161 and l said ''Why don't we just end with a song?'' 902 00:50:55,207 --> 00:50:58,483 You know, that's how they used to end Music Hall routines, 903 00:50:58,527 --> 00:51:00,757 if they couldn't get an ending, they'd end with a song. 904 00:51:00,807 --> 00:51:02,923 l didn't want to be a barber anyway. 905 00:51:04,327 --> 00:51:06,966 l wanted to be a lumberjack. 906 00:51:07,007 --> 00:51:08,440 Leaping from tree to tree 907 00:51:08,487 --> 00:51:11,797 as they float down the mighty rivers of British Columbia. 908 00:51:11,847 --> 00:51:14,441 The giant redwood, the larch, 909 00:51:14,487 --> 00:51:17,843 the fir, the mighty Scots pine. 910 00:51:17,887 --> 00:51:20,276 The smell of fresh-cut timber. 911 00:51:20,327 --> 00:51:25,606 The crash of mighty trees. With my best girlie by my side. 912 00:51:26,647 --> 00:51:29,844 We'd sing, sing, sing. 913 00:51:31,567 --> 00:51:33,876 l'm a lumberjack and l'm OK 914 00:51:33,927 --> 00:51:36,361 l sleep all night, l work all day 915 00:51:36,407 --> 00:51:38,967 He's a lumberjack and he's OK 916 00:51:39,007 --> 00:51:41,396 He sleeps all night and he works all day 917 00:51:41,447 --> 00:51:45,918 And then l have blank, l cannot remember, 918 00:51:45,967 --> 00:51:49,562 l don't know whether Mike can, how we came up with a lumberjack, 919 00:51:49,607 --> 00:51:51,757 but it was written in about 20 minutes. 920 00:51:51,807 --> 00:51:56,517 He cuts down trees, he eats his lunch, he goes to the lavatory 921 00:51:56,567 --> 00:52:01,243 On Wednesdays he goes shopping and has buttered scones for tea 922 00:52:01,287 --> 00:52:03,562 l think we then rang up the group 923 00:52:03,607 --> 00:52:06,883 who organised the music on the Python shows, 924 00:52:06,927 --> 00:52:12,763 and hummed the tune to him and he set it to music. 925 00:52:12,807 --> 00:52:14,001 Then we had a beer. 926 00:52:14,047 --> 00:52:18,802 l cut down trees, l skip and jump, l like to press wild flowers 927 00:52:18,847 --> 00:52:24,046 l put on women's clothing and hang around in bars 928 00:52:24,087 --> 00:52:29,002 He cuts down trees, he skips and jumps, he likes to press wild flowers 929 00:52:29,047 --> 00:52:34,041 He puts on women's clothing and hangs around in bars 930 00:52:34,087 --> 00:52:39,764 l like how they, the chorus, gradually become disgruntled and reject it. 931 00:52:39,807 --> 00:52:43,163 They're going along with it, like that, that's what l like, 932 00:52:43,207 --> 00:52:47,917 ''What? No! We've been cajoled into agreeing with a lifestyle 933 00:52:47,967 --> 00:52:49,161 ''that we would condemn. 934 00:52:49,207 --> 00:52:51,277 ''This isn't what a lumberjack's about.'' 935 00:52:51,327 --> 00:52:56,242 l cut down trees, l wear high heels, suspenders and a bra 936 00:52:56,287 --> 00:53:01,486 l wish l'd been a girlie, just like my dear mama 937 00:53:01,527 --> 00:53:03,518 Oh, Bevis! 938 00:53:03,567 --> 00:53:06,081 And l thought you were so rugged! 939 00:53:08,927 --> 00:53:12,158 ''Dear Sir, l wish to complain in the strongest possible terms 940 00:53:12,207 --> 00:53:14,243 ''about the song which you have just broadcast, 941 00:53:14,287 --> 00:53:16,960 ''about the lumberjack who wears women's clothes. 942 00:53:17,007 --> 00:53:20,522 ''Many of my best friends are lumberjacks and only a few of them are transvestites. 943 00:53:22,207 --> 00:53:25,483 ''Yours faithfully, Brigadier Sir Charles Arthur Strong (Mrs). 944 00:53:27,007 --> 00:53:30,761 ''PS, l have never kissed the editor of the Radio Times.'' 945 00:53:30,807 --> 00:53:35,164 lf you're an anarchic but intelligent bunch of people, 946 00:53:35,207 --> 00:53:37,926 you're going to run into trouble with the authorities, 947 00:53:37,967 --> 00:53:41,482 particularly since sending up the authorities 948 00:53:41,527 --> 00:53:44,644 is one of the routes of your humour. 949 00:53:44,687 --> 00:53:49,238 One of the authorities they ran into difficulties with immediately 950 00:53:49,287 --> 00:53:52,677 was the BBC, the very people who were putting them on. 951 00:53:52,727 --> 00:53:56,003 We were quite grumpy, l suppose, with the BBC. 952 00:53:56,047 --> 00:53:58,402 We appreciated being able to do the show, 953 00:53:58,447 --> 00:54:01,484 but everything else had been closed in fairly tightly. 954 00:54:01,527 --> 00:54:04,405 l remember Terry Gilliam, they paid him so little 955 00:54:04,447 --> 00:54:06,244 that he couldn't afford an assistant, 956 00:54:06,287 --> 00:54:08,801 so he had to do absolutely everything himself. 957 00:54:08,847 --> 00:54:11,759 This was one of the early points of contention, 958 00:54:11,807 --> 00:54:15,436 because he was doing great stuff but no one was acknowledging it. 959 00:54:15,487 --> 00:54:19,685 Panorama will be returning introduced as usual by Tony Jacklin 960 00:54:19,727 --> 00:54:22,287 and Lulu will be tackling the Old Man of Hoy. 961 00:54:23,327 --> 00:54:26,683 For those of you who prefer drama, there's sport. 962 00:54:26,727 --> 00:54:30,322 Early battles were to do with scheduling... 963 00:54:30,367 --> 00:54:32,483 The show went out late anyway. 964 00:54:32,527 --> 00:54:34,245 There was a feeling in the BBC 965 00:54:34,287 --> 00:54:37,962 that young people should not see this show. 966 00:54:38,007 --> 00:54:40,362 We didn't mind so much, we accepted that, 967 00:54:40,407 --> 00:54:43,046 but then it would be taken off for three weeks. 968 00:54:43,087 --> 00:54:45,885 You don't mind being bumped on for something important 969 00:54:45,927 --> 00:54:50,398 or an outbreak of World War Three, but Crufts Dog Show, give me a break. 970 00:54:50,447 --> 00:54:53,883 They would change the time, pull us off, all of those things. 971 00:54:53,927 --> 00:54:57,476 You can be mucked about by schedules but you've got to get used to that, 972 00:54:57,527 --> 00:55:00,644 you've got to produce a programme that people want on. 973 00:55:00,687 --> 00:55:03,884 Python was establishing itself as a sort of cult show, 974 00:55:03,927 --> 00:55:05,804 and only later did we kind of realise 975 00:55:05,847 --> 00:55:08,680 how many people at university were sort of cramming in... 976 00:55:08,727 --> 00:55:12,606 Whatever, you know, time it was on, they would sit and watch this show, 977 00:55:12,647 --> 00:55:13,636 you had to watch it. 978 00:55:13,687 --> 00:55:17,521 The fact that some weeks it wasn't there, other weeks a different time, 979 00:55:17,567 --> 00:55:20,206 that was testing your loyalty to the programme. 980 00:55:20,247 --> 00:55:22,363 So, l think we built up a lot of people 981 00:55:22,407 --> 00:55:25,479 who were jolly well going to see Python whatever the BBC did with it.