Monty Python’s ‘cruel’ and ‘disgusting’ humor: How top BBC bosses viewed early sketches from Britain’s most influential comedy group
- New documents show BBC bosses shock about Monty Python’s dark humor
- Archive photos were unearthed to celebrate the show’s 50 th anniversary
- It came under fire for pranks about comic Sir David Frostand ‘appalling taste’
- BBC1 said show was ‘continually going over the edge of what was acceptable’
TV executive Stephen Hearst criticized the show’s ‘nihilistic and cruel’ values
(ByDavid Wilkes for the Daily Mail
Published:21: 16 EDT, 4 October 2019Updated:21: 23 EDT, 4 October 2019
These days, they are universally acclaimed as the most influential comedy group of their generation.
But as Monty Python celebrate their 50 th anniversary today, a new archive of documents shows thatBBCbosses were shocked by some of their early shows and ‘cruel ‘humor.
Two sketches from the last episode in the second series from 1970 called The Queen Will Be Watching, which lampooned the National Anthem, and The Undertaker’s Sketch, starring John Cleese as a man unsure of how to dispose of his mother’s body, came under fire.
A new archive of BBC documents reveal how broadcast bosses were shocked by scenes in Monty Python (pictured). The head of arts features Stephen Hearst was critical of the program’s ‘nihilistic and cruel’ values
The crew gets in costume for the sketch ‘The Attila the Hun Show’ from Monty Pythons Flying Circus Series 2 Episode 7
Minutes of a program review board state : ‘Aubrey Singer [the head of features group] said that he had found parts of this edition disgusting.
‘Controller BBC1 said the program was continually going over the edge of what was acceptable: this edition had contained two really awful sketches – the death sequence had been in appalling bad taste, while the treatment of the National Anthem had simply not been amusing. ‘
It added:’ Stephen Hearst [the head of arts features] was critical of the fact that the values of the program were so nihilistic and cruel … Bob Reid [the head of science features] felt the team s eemed to wallow in the sadism of their humor. ‘
Photos of rarely-seen-before moments of the comedy have been released in time for its 50 th anniversary
John Cleese as the Inspector, Graham Chapman as Superintendent Parrot, and Terry Jones as Mr Milton star in the ‘Crunchy Frog’ sketch. It centers around Mr Milton who is approached is approached by two members of the Hygiene Squad who start questioning the flavors in his assortment of chocolate. Mr Milton then describes it as an entire frog coated in chocolate
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, starring Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman alongside Cleese, first aired on October 5, 1969 on BBC1 and ran for four series .
Photos of rarely-seen moments from the making of the show have also been released, including shots from the sketch ‘Sam Peckinpah’s’ Salad Days’. It is a parody of the film director’s blood-soaked Westerns featuring members of the upper-class who suffer violent injuries from a tennis racquet and a piano.
BBC bosses also took umbrage with the pranks the quintet played on fellow comic Sir David Frost. In the Mouse Problem sketch, Cleese gave out his home phone number, while his home address was used in the Marriage Guidance Counsellor skit.
Graham Chapman (pictured from left) as the working- class playwright, Eric Idle as his son Ken, and Terry Jones as the playwright’s wife in the sketch ‘Working-Class Playwright’
The cast don Victorian style costumes and enjoy some time off-camera at the beach between filming
The Pythons had worked with Sir David on his hit satire program The Frost Report so their jokes were friendly, but they caused concern for BBC executives, reported The Times.
Yesterday, Shane Allen, BBC Controller of Comedy Commissioning, said: ‘The Pythons tore up the rule book of comedy grammar, conventions and traditions, bu t thankfully the support for creative freedom won the day and has certainly paid off in the long run as audiences continue to celebrate and revere their enormous impact on comedy. ‘
BBC History’s’ Monty Python at 50 ‘is at www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniver saries / october / python 50
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