About ... Monty Python

Monty Python now relates to a whole industry from television and films, to books, records, stage shows, musicals, and much, much more. But back in 1969, the BBC allowed a thirteen-part comedy series on the air called 'Monty Python's Flying Circus', and the rest was history.

The Pythons themselves had appeared on television before, in series for Rediffusion - 'At Last ... The 1948 Show' had teamed John Cleese and Graham Chapman with Marty Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and 'the lovely' Aimi Macdonald; 'Do Not Adjust Your Set' teamed Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, David Jason, Denise Coffey, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (including Neil Innes, who was almost a seventh Python), and, in the second series, Terry Gilliam.

But 'the Circus', as well as being in colour, was groundbreaking - sketches don't end, material is punctuated with animation, and some great sketches and characters were born (Arthur Putey, the chartered accountant, for one). Carol Cleveland, an American who had appeared as decoration in some ITC series, joined the team and appeared in every episode alongside them, and other regulars included Ian Davidson, Connie Booth, and the Fred Tomlinson Singers.

The series ran for 45 episodes in the UK, plus another two episodes taped for Germany; the final six in 1974 were without Cleese and presented simply as 'Monty Python'. In 1971 the first Python film had been released, largely a collection of re-done sketches from the first two series linked together for the American market, and titled 'And Now For Something Completely Different'. It wasn't, really.

The big films came in 1974, 1979, and 1983. First off the mark was 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail', a low-budget musical fantasy about King Arthur and his knights of Camelot searching for the Grail; this was the first time Neil Innes joined the team almost as an equal. A tie-in book presented earlier versions of the script - many, including the whole sequence about Michael Ellis, ended up in the fourth TV series. Five years later the team came together to make 'The Life of Brian', the story of a man who lived at the time of Jesus but who wasn't really the Messiah ... the furore this caused amongst religious fundamentalists certainly gave the film a lot of publicity.

In 1983 'The Meaning of Life' returned to a sketch format - albeit a much more adult one than would have been allowed on the BBC. The last time the original six really performed on screen together, it was a disappointment after the previous two - although it still has its moments. With Graham Chapman's death in 1989 the possibility of a full Python reunion was laid to rest.

'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' later evolved into a musical written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, called 'Spamalot', which had profitable runs on Broadway and in the West End; while 'The Life of Brian' was turned into a comic oratorio called 'He's Not The Messiah ... He's A Very Naughty Boy'. This was performed across the world and has most recently been seen in London at the Royal Albert Hall, later broadcast on the radio in the UK.