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Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Complete and Annotated...All the Bits
Every script, every episode of the innovative, hilarious, and absurd Monty Python's Flying Circus , one of the most influential television series of all time, is include here, plus hundreds of annotations, behind-the-scenes stories, interviews, and more, as well as photographs, drawings, and Terry Gilliam's iconic artwork. Monty Python's Flying Circus is one of the most popular, important and oft-quoted comedy series of all time. Python's influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. This landmark work collects the complete scripts for every one of the 45 episodes of Flying Circus : every silly setup, every clever conceit, every snide insult, and ever saucy aside from these classic skits, including "The Ministry of Silly Walks," "The Dead Parrot," "Banter in the Cheese Shop," "Spam, the Funniest Joke in the World," "The Spanish Inquisition," "The Argument Clinic," "The Fish-Slapping Dance," "The Lumberjack Song," and all the rest. Every script is thoroughly annotated with notes that cover the plethora of cultural, historical, and topical references touched upon in each sketch. Sidebars and commentary throughout include profiles of the principles -- Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, and John Cleese -- and interviews with the cast and crew; fascinating facts about technical concerns, set design, and shooting locations; insider stores from on and off the set, including arguments, accidents, and practical jokes; goofs and gaffes; and much more. Also included are thousands of stills and artwork from the shows.
880 pages, Hardcover
First published November 13, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
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March 15, 20181. The first thing I see is that there is no editor mentioned on the cover or the spine. That is strange. On the title page the editor/annotator is revealed to be Luke Dempsey. Hi Luke!
2. The annotations are very basic and appear to be designed mostly for non-British people who don't know the first thing about British culture or 15-year-old British kids who don't know anything that happened before 2010. Examples :
Petula Clark is a British singer famous for "Downtown", an international hit in 1964, as well as many other songs of that era.
Freeman Hardy willis was a chain of British shoe stores.
Prebendaries help run cathedrals.
"Rabbiting" means to talk at a rapid rate.
Some of the annotations are a little less stiff and straightfaced :
Okehampton, a town on the northern edge of Dartmoor, did not get a bypass road until 1985.
It should of course read "daffodils" not "worker ants". (Note 16 page 790)
3. Dotted around are one-page "sidebars" (I have such a loathing of that word, and I can't explain why) which give summaries of post-Python careers, an account of early reactions to the tv shows, influences on the Pythons, i.e. The Goons – these are all welcome but very few & far between and when you stumble over them you can't find them again because there's no mention of them on the contents page, grrrrr.
4. This vast volume claims to be definitive and as regards the 45 original tv epiodes, it really is – cram full of screenshots on every page, big and glossy and likely to put you in the hospital if you drop in on your foot. Anything else would be surely asking too much, for this particular volume. But there should be another similar book which should include the scripts of the LP records (which always get forgotten, some excellent sketches on them) and the movie scripts, and anything they did live which wasn't in either. THEN you'll be definitive.
5. Mr Dempsey is quite right to point out in his introduction that "some of the sketches are horribly dated and not very funny, and I suspect they never were". Non-members of the Python cult seem to think that cultists believe everything they did was pure comedy amethyst, but we really don't.
6. The Pythons, like the Beatles, had pretty unsatisfactory solo careers. Palin was always the Python McCartney, suave, knowing and intensely friendly, and he turned into Britain's favourite world traveller, making endless Around-the-World-in-80-Days cosiness for an audience whose appetite for watching someone else on holiday knows no bounds. Eric Idle seemed to run out of steam very quickly and do nothing which was sorrowful to see as his fantastic monologues were amongst the best python moments. Terry Jones got himself a nice gig as a popular history writer and professional Chaucer fan. Graham Chapman kicked the bucket, and that seemed to slow his output down to a crawl. Cleese did the brilliant Fawlty Towers, but after A Fish Called Wanda which was great, the silence was deafening. A talent frittered away, I think – which is a noble British comic tradition (see Peter Cook and Eric Idle). Terry Gilliam did the best – from Jabberwocky through to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, he's done ten films in a row that are all worth seeing. Who else can you say that about?
7. It has its little flaws, sure, but I think Python fans will want this.
2. The annotations are very basic and appear to be designed mostly for non-British people who don't know the first thing about British culture or 15-year-old British kids who don't know anything that happened before 2010. Examples :
Petula Clark is a British singer famous for "Downtown", an international hit in 1964, as well as many other songs of that era.
Freeman Hardy willis was a chain of British shoe stores.
Prebendaries help run cathedrals.
"Rabbiting" means to talk at a rapid rate.
Some of the annotations are a little less stiff and straightfaced :
Okehampton, a town on the northern edge of Dartmoor, did not get a bypass road until 1985.
It should of course read "daffodils" not "worker ants". (Note 16 page 790)
3. Dotted around are one-page "sidebars" (I have such a loathing of that word, and I can't explain why) which give summaries of post-Python careers, an account of early reactions to the tv shows, influences on the Pythons, i.e. The Goons – these are all welcome but very few & far between and when you stumble over them you can't find them again because there's no mention of them on the contents page, grrrrr.
4. This vast volume claims to be definitive and as regards the 45 original tv epiodes, it really is – cram full of screenshots on every page, big and glossy and likely to put you in the hospital if you drop in on your foot. Anything else would be surely asking too much, for this particular volume. But there should be another similar book which should include the scripts of the LP records (which always get forgotten, some excellent sketches on them) and the movie scripts, and anything they did live which wasn't in either. THEN you'll be definitive.
5. Mr Dempsey is quite right to point out in his introduction that "some of the sketches are horribly dated and not very funny, and I suspect they never were". Non-members of the Python cult seem to think that cultists believe everything they did was pure comedy amethyst, but we really don't.
6. The Pythons, like the Beatles, had pretty unsatisfactory solo careers. Palin was always the Python McCartney, suave, knowing and intensely friendly, and he turned into Britain's favourite world traveller, making endless Around-the-World-in-80-Days cosiness for an audience whose appetite for watching someone else on holiday knows no bounds. Eric Idle seemed to run out of steam very quickly and do nothing which was sorrowful to see as his fantastic monologues were amongst the best python moments. Terry Jones got himself a nice gig as a popular history writer and professional Chaucer fan. Graham Chapman kicked the bucket, and that seemed to slow his output down to a crawl. Cleese did the brilliant Fawlty Towers, but after A Fish Called Wanda which was great, the silence was deafening. A talent frittered away, I think – which is a noble British comic tradition (see Peter Cook and Eric Idle). Terry Gilliam did the best – from Jabberwocky through to The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, he's done ten films in a row that are all worth seeing. Who else can you say that about?
7. It has its little flaws, sure, but I think Python fans will want this.
Read
November 5, 2024It gives much more (and welcome) attention to Gilliam’s contributions. Sadly, it seems to simply repeat the errors in transcripts of Just The Words. Some things pass without annotation (including occasional obscure diction in the notes themselves), while other things are unnecessarily annotated—like a Daniel Radcliffe picture thrown in at the point at which a “Harold Potter” is mentioned peripherally in a show script—and occasionally just plain wrong: such as the translation of "Taisez-vous" (n18 & 19, Show 34 (648)) as "Who's there?" and the note [#7] on Show 37 (701) which comments on the “What do the stars say?” horoscope skit that “The adjectives here are mostly gobbledygook.” The ‘adjectives’ in question are all verbs, and each remains in contemporary usage at some level (though a few are rare). For the credit it gives to Gilliam, and for some (I would estimate probably just over half) useful annotations which present new information or explain genuinely obscure references in the scripts, it’s worth the effort, but at the same time I wanted to like it more than I do.
February 27, 2018
A fantastic book for Python fans who live in the US or other counties who don't understand the Britain-only references in the show, the annotations tell you in a simple to grasp, understanding, matter. Also has the entire script of every episode so you can look up a quote or read the episode without watching the tv, I also loved that the author takes special care at showing Terry's animations and showing action-by-action takes, not a lot of Monty Python books lately do that, so that's a bonus for me (an artist myself) to look at the care and attention he puts in those transitions to sketch-to-sketch.
September 1, 2018
The annotations were odd. Some were genuinely useful for people unfamiliar with name-checked English cricketers and game show hosts from the 1960s. Others were explaining very obvious things, while things that could have used an explanation went unannotated. A few things were factually erroneous, such as stating that a part was played by one actress, while a still from that scene clearly shows a different actress in the part.
Still, it's nice to have the scripts in print. As many times as I've seen the episodes, there are still details I've missed because they went by so fast or were in the background.
Still, it's nice to have the scripts in print. As many times as I've seen the episodes, there are still details I've missed because they went by so fast or were in the background.
October 25, 2024
Monty Python's Flying Circus is more than a TV show; it's a cultural phenomenon that redefined comedy. The Complete and Annotated edition gives fans and newcomers alike a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes look at every skit, character, and absurd moment that made the series legendary. This book captures the essence of Monty Python’s surreal humor, presenting each sketch with detailed annotations that reveal the historical, political, and comedic context, along with insights into the troupe's creative genius. This is a little bit too crazy for me.
October 26, 2017
Classic Funny stuff.
February 19, 2019
Five stars for the scripts, not for the annotation. No, Wilfrid Brambell did NOT play the son in Steptoe and Son ( p. 798)!
January 29, 2023
The Best Monty Python book Ever! Has everything you are looking for.
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May 6, 2025Biblio.com US$14.45
August 15, 2016
What can I say about the comic genius of Monty Python? I can only offer my homage ….
(A rural road. A convertible sports car pulls up to a local man standing along the road.)
MAN. Excuse me old man –
LOCAL. I’m not old.
MAN. Sorry, from a distance –
LOCAL. I’m 42.
MAN. Yes –
LOCAL. My mother is eighty. By that standard, I’m barely middle aged.
MAN. Sorry, but as I pulled up –
LOCAL. My father died at age 32.
MAN. Yes, I’m sorry to hear that –
LOCAL. But it wasn’t natural. A sixteen-ton weight landed on him. It came out of nowhere.
MAN. I guess nobody expects a sixteen-ton weight –
LOCAL. He thought it’d be a sharp stick that done him in. But it warn’t. That goes to show, don’t it? Now my grandmother –
MAN. Look, nearly-middle-aged-non-old person, I assure you I don’t give a hedgehog’s tit about your grandmother. There’s only one person in your family whose death interests me at this time.
Now I’m late for an appointment at a pet shop in Bolton, but I’ve seem to have lost my way. Can you tell me the fastest way there?
LOCAL. Notlob?
MAN. Uh, Bolton, yes.
LOCAL. It’s very nice there this time of year.
MAN. Yes, yes, what’s the fastest route from here?
LOCAL. Well, there’s two ways – you can take the M61 through Blackrod, the A676, or the – there are three ways to Notlob. The M61 through Blackrod, the A676 or the A666.
MAN. Which is fastest?
LOCAL. Well, if you take the A666, you’ll find a very nice cheese shop there. It’s very clean. It’s uncontaminated, you could say.
MAN. I am not the least bit peckish for fermented curd. I’m in a hurry. What’s the fastest way?
LOCAL. Well, then you want to take the M61. Take this road about 20 kilometers, then take a left at the crossroad. Then you’ll get on the M61 and take that about 30 kilometers until you get to the Nile. Then take a right and follow it to Khartoum.
MAN. Are you – are you suggesting I go to Africa?
LOCAL. No, no, no – well, yes, yes. It’s very nice there this time of year.
MAN. (to camera) To get any information in this country, you have to talk until you’re blue in the face. (to the local) I don’t want to go to Africa, I want to go to Bolton.
LOCAL. Oh, you don’t want to go to Notlob. Oh no, it’s full of fires.
MAN. Bolton – it’s full of fires?
LOCAL. Oh yes, fires, and pitchforks and men with horned heads.
MAN. Horned heads?
LOCAL. Oh yes, and nasty sharp, filed teeth and forked tails running about – naked!
MAN. Are you by chance describing hell?
LOCAL. No, no, no – well, yes. I am describing hell.
MAN. I don’t give a damn about hell. Now I’m going to ask you this one more time: Can you tell me the way to Notlob – I mean Bolton?
LOCAL. I – I don’t know the way. I was just wasting your time.
MAN. Ah, I see. Can you do me one more favor?
LOCAL. Certainly.
MAN. Please lay down in front of my car.
LOCAL. Whatever you say, squire.
(Cut to humorous cartoon.)
(A rural road. A convertible sports car pulls up to a local man standing along the road.)
MAN. Excuse me old man –
LOCAL. I’m not old.
MAN. Sorry, from a distance –
LOCAL. I’m 42.
MAN. Yes –
LOCAL. My mother is eighty. By that standard, I’m barely middle aged.
MAN. Sorry, but as I pulled up –
LOCAL. My father died at age 32.
MAN. Yes, I’m sorry to hear that –
LOCAL. But it wasn’t natural. A sixteen-ton weight landed on him. It came out of nowhere.
MAN. I guess nobody expects a sixteen-ton weight –
LOCAL. He thought it’d be a sharp stick that done him in. But it warn’t. That goes to show, don’t it? Now my grandmother –
MAN. Look, nearly-middle-aged-non-old person, I assure you I don’t give a hedgehog’s tit about your grandmother. There’s only one person in your family whose death interests me at this time.
Now I’m late for an appointment at a pet shop in Bolton, but I’ve seem to have lost my way. Can you tell me the fastest way there?
LOCAL. Notlob?
MAN. Uh, Bolton, yes.
LOCAL. It’s very nice there this time of year.
MAN. Yes, yes, what’s the fastest route from here?
LOCAL. Well, there’s two ways – you can take the M61 through Blackrod, the A676, or the – there are three ways to Notlob. The M61 through Blackrod, the A676 or the A666.
MAN. Which is fastest?
LOCAL. Well, if you take the A666, you’ll find a very nice cheese shop there. It’s very clean. It’s uncontaminated, you could say.
MAN. I am not the least bit peckish for fermented curd. I’m in a hurry. What’s the fastest way?
LOCAL. Well, then you want to take the M61. Take this road about 20 kilometers, then take a left at the crossroad. Then you’ll get on the M61 and take that about 30 kilometers until you get to the Nile. Then take a right and follow it to Khartoum.
MAN. Are you – are you suggesting I go to Africa?
LOCAL. No, no, no – well, yes, yes. It’s very nice there this time of year.
MAN. (to camera) To get any information in this country, you have to talk until you’re blue in the face. (to the local) I don’t want to go to Africa, I want to go to Bolton.
LOCAL. Oh, you don’t want to go to Notlob. Oh no, it’s full of fires.
MAN. Bolton – it’s full of fires?
LOCAL. Oh yes, fires, and pitchforks and men with horned heads.
MAN. Horned heads?
LOCAL. Oh yes, and nasty sharp, filed teeth and forked tails running about – naked!
MAN. Are you by chance describing hell?
LOCAL. No, no, no – well, yes. I am describing hell.
MAN. I don’t give a damn about hell. Now I’m going to ask you this one more time: Can you tell me the way to Notlob – I mean Bolton?
LOCAL. I – I don’t know the way. I was just wasting your time.
MAN. Ah, I see. Can you do me one more favor?
LOCAL. Certainly.
MAN. Please lay down in front of my car.
LOCAL. Whatever you say, squire.
(Cut to humorous cartoon.)
June 19, 2014
This is a huge book. But that's to be expected from a collection of the complete and annotated scripts from all four seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus. To be honest, the annotations are rather underwhelming. Some are fascinating, but many of them serve to explain bits of British slang, or identify public figures of the time period referenced in the show, most of which, I'd say, the average Python fan knows already. It's nice to have the scripts, yes, but there are less unwieldy printings of them out there. This makes a handsome gift for the Python fan, but it's more for die-hard fans than casual readers.
April 26, 2013
I confess that I did not read every word in this book - it really IS "all the bits" from the entire Monty Python's Flying Circus, along with notes. I found the notes pretty interesting: the author explained most of the British-isms used that we Americans might not understand. Several still shots were included on each page, and there were also full-page profiles of the various members of Monty Python. A must-read for the dedicated Python fan. (More than enough for the not-so-dedicated fan.)
February 25, 2013
Not sure if a reference book, coffee table book, or something to carry around and memorize. Lots of fun to read the long rants that go by so fast when you read them. I did just skim through a lot though. Some of the sketches just aren't very funny anymore, if they ever were. Though the good ones will always be good.
January 18, 2013
Brilliantly funny, and the annotations are quite informative, although there are a couple of instances where the content of the annotation indicates that Dempsey clearly didn't get the joke. Still, a worthy tome for Python fans.
February 27, 2013
I had this book checked out for over 6 weeks and only got about halfway through it. I'd finish it, if I could, but I'd prefer to have it while I watch the show. It's a little slow to read, and also I found lots of odd little errors.
October 8, 2015
Notes in the margins help one understand obscure 1970's topical references. Scripts help one decipher lines hardly accessible to the 21st century American viewer. Great to reference while watching the episodes.
April 3, 2013
Interesting info about every Python sketch-although there were a lot of moments where I expected an annotation, and saw none. Fun to read though.
January 10, 2013
PYTHON!!!! Need I say more?
March 26, 2013
I love Monty Python!
February 28, 2013
Way more information than I wanted. I could hardly lift this, let alone read it lying on my back. This is a dangerous batch of paper.
I think I got to page 84...it kept hitting me on the nose.
I think I got to page 84...it kept hitting me on the nose.
August 5, 2013
Scripts of classic British comedy. The episodes without John Cleese at the end are a bit sad & spooky & lacking in chemistry.
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