List of Monty Python's Flying Circus episodes

This is a list of all 45 episodes from the television series Monty Python's Flying Circus:

Series		Episodes	Originally aired
			First in the series	Last in the series
	1	13	5 October 1969	11 January 1970
	2	13	15 September 1970	22 December 1970
	3	13	19 October 1972	18 January 1973
	4	6	31 October 1974	5 December 1974

The original air dates do not all apply to BBC Scotland, which took a different approach to airing the series.

• Series 1 was broadcast at the same time, except for the last two episodes, which were not shown in January 1970 but were held over to series 2.
• Series 2 was broadcast on Sundays from 17 September to 16 January 1971 (including the two episodes from series 1).
• Series 3 was broadcast at the same time.
• Series 4 was NOT broadcast at the same time. It is unclear when it was aired in Scotland.

Series 1

“

It's...

”

1. Whither Canada?

(episode 1; aired 5 October 1969; recorded 7 September 1969)

• It's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
• Famous deaths
• Italian lesson
• Whizzo Butter

The word "Whizzo" would be used throughout the series as the title of various companies and products, such as Whizzo's Finest Chocolates produced by the Whizzo Chocolate Company, for the Crunchy Frog sketch of episode six.

• "It's the Arts"
• Arthur 'Two Sheds' Jackson
• Picasso/Cycling Race
• The Funniest Joke in the World

2. Sex and Violence

(episode 2; aired 12 October 1969; recorded 30 August 1969)

• Flying Sheep
• French Lecture on Sheep-Aircraft
• A Man with Three Buttocks
• A Man with Two Noses
• Musical Mice
• Marriage Guidance Counsellor
• The Wacky Queen
• Working-class playwright
• The Wrestling Epilogue

Real professional wrestlers portrayed a monsignor and a college professor who debate the existence of God by wrestling.

• The Mouse Problem

3. How to Recognise Different Types of Trees From Quite a Long Way Away

(episode 3; aired 19 October 1969; recorded 14 September 1969) This episode had the longest title.

• Court Scene with Cardinal Richelieu
• The Larch
• Bicycle Repair Man
• Tirade Against Communists
• Children's Stories
• Restaurant Sketch
• Seduced Milkmen

The woman is often said to be Carol Cleveland, but it is another woman who is not credited. Cleveland does appear in a version of this sketch in the film And Now For Something Completely Different.

• Stolen newsreader
• The Horse Chestnut
• Children's Interview
• Nudge Nudge

4. Owl Stretching Time

(episode 4; aired 26 October 1969; recorded 21 September 1969)

Owl Stretching Time was a proposed name for the series itself.

BBC-1 began colour broadcasting officially on 15 November 1969. Since September 1969, however, they had been broadcasting colour programmes "unofficially", so while the whole of the first series was broadcast in colour, this episode was the first to be advertised as being in colour (source: Notes taken from BBC videotape operators and transmission managers made at the time).

• Song: "Jerusalem (And did those feet)"
• Art Gallery
• Art Critic
• It's a Dog's Life in the Modern Army
• Undressing in Public
• Self Defence Against Fresh Fruit

First appearance of the 16-Ton Weight.

• Secret Service Dentists

Many sketches in this episode are ended prematurely by Graham Chapman's army character ("The Colonel"), who protests rip offs of the British army's slogan, "It's a Man's Life in the Modern Army"

5. Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century

(episode 5; aired 16 November 1969; recorded 3 October 1969)

• Confuse-a-Cat
• The Smuggler
• A Duck, a Cat and a Lizard (discussion)
• Vox Pops on Smuggling
• Police Raid
• Letters and Vox Pops
• Newsreader Arrested
• Erotic film
• Silly Job Interview – first appeared on How to Irritate People.
• Careers Advisory Board
• Burglar/Encyclopedia Salesman

6. It's the Arts (or: The BBC Entry to the Zinc Stoat of Budapest)

(episode 6; aired 23 November 1969; recorded 5 November 1969)

• It's the Arts
• Johann Gambolputty
• Non-Illegal Robbery
• Vox Pops
• Crunchy Frog (Whizzo Chocolate Company)
• The Dull Life of a City Stockbroker
• Red Indian in Theatre
• Policemen Make Wonderful Friends
• A Scotsman on a Horse
• Twentieth-Century Vole

7. You're No Fun Anymore

(episode 7; aired 30 November 1969; recorded 10 October 1969)

• Camel Spotting
• You're No Fun Any More
• The Audit
• Science Fiction Sketch
  • Man Turns Into Scotsman
  • Police station
  • Blancmanges Playing Tennis

8. Full Frontal Nudity

(episode 8; aired 7 December 1969; recorded 25 November 1969)

• Army Protection Racket
• Vox Pops on Full Frontal Nudity
• Art Critic – The Place of the Nude
• Buying a Bed
• Hermits
• Dead Parrot
• The Flasher
• Hell's Grannies

The theme song from the James Bond film Thunderball is heard.

This episode repeats a running gag from episode 4: a female cast member delivers a terrible joke, and upon protest from fellow cast members wails "But it's my only line!"

Most sketches in this episode are ended prematurely by Graham Chapman's army character ("The Colonel") from the first sketch, who protests that they are "too silly."

9. The Ant, an Introduction

(episode 9; aired 14 December 1969; recorded 7 December 1969)

• Llamas
• A Man with a Tape Recorder Up His Nose
• Kilimanjaro Expedition (Double Vision)
• A Man with a Tape Recorder Up His Brother's Nose
• Homicidal Barber
• The Lumberjack Song
• Gumby Crooner
• The Refreshment Room at Bletchley
• Ken Buddha and His Inflatable Knees
• Brian Islam and Brucie (animation)

The music is "Banjoreno" by the Dixieland Jug Blowers.

• Hunting Film
• The Visitors

10. Untitled

(episode 10; aired 21 December 1969; recorded 30 November 1969)

• Walk-on Part in Sketch
• Bank Robber in a Lingerie Shop
• Trailer
• It's A Tree
• Vocational Guidance Counsellor

The larch from episode 3 reappears.

• Ron Obvious
  • The First Man to Jump the Channel
  • Eating Chichester Cathedral
  • Tunnelling from Godalming to Java
  • Splitting a railway carriage with his nose
  • Running to Mercury
  • Most time being Underground
• Pet Conversions
• Gorilla Librarian
• Letters to Daily Mirror
• Strangers in the night

This is the first episode not to show an episode title at the beginning of the closing credits.

11. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom

(episode 11; aired 28 December 1969; recorded 14 December 1969)

• Lavatorial Humour

The RPO performs the opening of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in the bathroom.

• Interruptions
• Agatha Christie (Inspector Tiger)
• Literary Football Discussion
• Interesting People
• Undertakers Film
• Eighteenth-Century Social Legislation
• The Battle of Trafalgar
• Batley Townswomans Guild Presents the Battle of Pearl Harbour
• Undertakers Film

12. The Naked Ant

(episode 12; aired 4 January 1970; recorded 21 December 1969)

• Falling From Building
• Spectrum – Talking About Things
• Visitors From Coventry
• Mr. Hilter and the Minehead by-election
• Silly Voices at the Police station
• Upper Class Twit of the Year
• Ken Shabby
• How Far Can a Minister Fall?

13. It's the Arts (or: Intermission)

(episode 13; aired 11 January 1970; recorded 4 January 1970)

• Restaurant Abuse/Cannibalism
• Advertisements
• Albatross
• Come Back to My Place
• Me Doctor
• Historical Impersonations
• Quiz Programme: "Wishes"
• Probe-Around on Crime
• Stonehenge and Mr. Attila the Hun
• Psychiatry
• Operating theatre

Series 2

“

And now for something completely different.

”

“

It's...

”

1. Face the Press (or: Dinsdale)

(episode 14; aired 15 September 1970; recorded 9 July 1970)

• Face the Press
• New Cooker Sketch
• Tobacconist's (Prostitute Advert)
• The Ministry of Silly Walks
• La March Futile
• Ethel the Frog/Piranha Brothers: introductory music: from Karelia Suite by Jean Sibelius

2. The Spanish Inquisition

(episode 15; aired 22 September 1970; recorded 2 July 1970)

• Man-Powered Flight
• The Spanish Inquisition
• Jokes and Novelties Salesman
• Tax on Thingy
• Vox Pops
• Photos of Uncle Ted
• The Semaphore Version of Wuthering Heights
• Julius Caesar on an Aldis lamp
• Gunfight at the O.K. Corral in Morse Code
• Smoke signal Version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
• Court Charades

The Spanish Inquisitors (Palin, Jones, and Gilliam) appear 7 times throughout this episode.

3. Déjà Vu (or: Show 5)

(episode 16; aired 29 September 1970; recorded 16 July 1970)

• A Bishop Rehearsing
• Flying Lessons
• Hijacked Plane
• The Poet McTeagle
• Psychiatrist Milkman

Graham Chapman's character changes from Mrs. Ratbag to Mrs. Pim.

• Complaints
• Déjà Vu

4. The Buzz Aldrin Show (or: An Apology)

(episode 17; aired 20 October 1970; recorded 18 September 1970)

• An apology
• Gumby announcement
• Architects Sketch
• How to Recognize a Mason
• An apology/Another Gumby announcement
• Motor Insurance Sketch
• The Bishop

The Peter Gunn Theme by Henry Mancini is prominent.

• Living Room on Pavement
• Poets
• A Choice of Viewing
• An Interview with a Nude Man
• The Bishop...Again?!
• An apology
• Gumby Frog Curse/Another Another Gumby Announcement
• Chemist Sketch
• An Apology/Words Not to be Used Again
• After-shave
• Vox Pops
• Police Constable Pan-Am
• Another Apology
• End Credits
• Last Gumby announcement (The end)

Cardinal Ximénez makes a cameo appearance in this episode. Additionally, one character says "I didn't expect a Spanish Inquisition", but, being played by Michael Palin (as is Cardinal Ximènez), is told to shut up.

5. Live from the Grill-O-Mat

(episode 18; aired 27 October 1970; recorded 10 September 1970)

• Live From the Grill-o-Mat
• The First Item...
• Blackmail

Terry Gilliam replaces Terry Jones as the Nude Organist.

• Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things
• Escape from Film
• The Next Item (or dish)...
• Current Affairs
• Continued from the Escape from Film
• The Next Item (...Prawn Salad...?)...
• Accidents Sketch (Prawn Salad Ltd.)
• Interruption
• Seven Brides for Seven Brothers
• The Butcher Who is Alternately Rude and Polite
• The Last Item (coffee)...
• Ken Clean-Air System
• On the Bus (end credits)

6. It's A Living (or: School Prizes)

(episode 19; aired 3 November 1970; recorded 10 September 1970)

• "It's a Living"
• The Time on BBC 1
• School Prize-Giving
• "if...." – a film by Mr Dibley
• "Rear Window" – a film by Mr Dibley
• "Finian's Rainbow" (starring the man from the off-licence)
• The Foreign Secretary and Other News
• Free Dung from the "Book of the Month" Club
• Dead Indian
• Timmy Williams interview
• Raymond Luxury Yacht (Throat Wobbler Mangrove interview)
• Marriage Registry office
• Election Night Special

7. The Attila the Hun Show

(episode 20; aired 10 November 1970; recorded 2 October 1970)

• "The Attila the Hun Show"

Parody of The Debbie Reynolds Show (1969), recreating the opening credits shot for shot and using a knockoff of the theme "'With A Little Love by Mike LeRoy".

The opening sequence appears after this sketch.

• Attila the Nun
• Secretary of State Striptease
• Vox Pops on Political Groupies
• Ratcatcher
• Wainscotting
• Killer Sheep
• The News for Parrots
• The News for Gibbons
• Today in Parliament
• The News for Wombats
• Attila the Bun
• The Idiot in the Rural Society
• Test Match Against Iceland
• The Epsom Furniture Race
• "Spot The Braincell"

8. Archaeology Today

(episode 21; aired 17 November 1970; recorded 9 October 1970)

• Trailer
• "Archaeology Today"
• Silly Vicar and Leapy Lee
• Registrar (wife swap)
• Silly doctor sketch (immediately abandoned)
• Mr. and Mrs. Git
• Roy and Hank Spim – Mosquito hunters
• Poofy Judges
• Mrs. Thing and Mrs. Entity
• Beethoven's Mynah Bird
• Shakespeare
• Michelangelo
• Colin "Chopper" Mozart (ratcatcher)
• Judges

9. How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body

(episode 22; aired 24 November 1970; recorded 25 September 1970)

• "How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body"
• Bruces sketch
• Naughty Bits
• The Man who Contradicts People
• Cosmetic Surgery
• Camp Square-Bashing
• Killer Cars
• Cut-Price Airline
• Batley Townswomen's Guild Presents the First Heart Transplant
• The First Underwater Production of "Measure for Measure"
• The Death of Mary Queen of Scots
• Exploding Penguin on the TV Set
• There's Been a Murder
• Sgt. Duckie's Song – Police entry for Eurovision Song Contest
• "Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bang" (song) – contest winner from Monaco

10. Scott of the Antarctic

(episode 23; aired 1 December 1970; recorded 2 July 1970)

• French Subtitled Film
• Scott of the Antarctic
• Scott of the Sahara

The opening sequence appears after this sketch, seventeen and a half minutes into the show (out of about thirty).

• Conrad Poohs and His Dancing Teeth
• Fish Licence
• Derby Council v. All Blacks Rugby Match
• Long John Silver Impersonators v. Bournemouth Gynaecologists

11. How Not to Be Seen

(episode 24; aired 8 December 1970; recorded 23 July 1970)

• Conquistador Coffee Campaign
• Repeating Groove
• Ramsay MacDonald Striptease
• Job Hunter
• International Chinese Communist Conspiracy
• Crelm Toothpaste / Shrill Petrol
• Agatha Christie Sketch (railway timetables)
• Mr Neville Shunte-Railroad Playwright
• Gavin Millarrrrrrrrr Writes
• Film Director/Dentist Martin Curry (teeth)
• City Gents Vox Pops
• Crackpot Religions Ltd

A scene at the end, with crosses that are actually telegraph poles, was cut out but can be seen at the end of the episode when the whole show is repeated.

• How Not to Be Seen
• Crossing the Atlantic on a Tricycle
• Interview in Filing Cabinet
• "Yummy Yummy Yummy, I've Got Love In My Tummy"/Music Time
• Monty Python's Flying Circus Again in Thirty Seconds

A recap of the episode.

"And now for something completely different" and the opening sequence has a repeating groove.

This episode featured many famous characters from different episodes including The Nudge Man (Nudge Nudge), Cardinal Ximenez (The Spanish Inquisition), Ken Shabby, etc. Terry Gilliam also reprised his role as the nude organist (Blackmail), a character usually played by Terry Jones.

12. Spam

(Episode 25; aired 15 December 1970; recorded 25 June 1970)

• "The Black Eagle"
• Opening credits
• Dirty Hungarian phrasebook
• Court (phrasebook)

Includes a reference to the UK game show Take Your Pick, where the prosecutor gongs Alexander Yalt (Michael Palin) for answering "yes" during a series of questions.

• World Forum – Communist Quiz
• "Ypres 1914" (abandoned)
• Art Gallery Strikes
• "Ypres 1914"
• Hospital for Over-Actors

Includes a Richard III Ward, due in part to many exaggerations on the character over the years.

• Gumby Flower Arranging
• Spam

13. Royal Episode 13 (or: The Queen Will Be Watching)

(episode 26; aired 22 December 1970; recorded 16 October 1970)

• The Queen Will Be Watching

In honor of Her Majesty the Queen, a shortened opening sequence plays "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 1" in place of "The Liberty Bell".

• Coal Mine in Llandarogh Carmarthen
• The Man Who Says Things in a Very Roundabout Way
• The Man Who Speaks Only the Ends of Words
• The Man Who Speaks Only the Beginnings of Words
• The Man Who Speaks Only the Middles of Words
• Commercials
• How to Feed a Goldfish
• The Man Who Collects Birdwatcher's Eggs
• Insurance Sketch
• Hospital Run by RSM
• Mountaineer
• Exploding Version of "The Blue Danube"
• Girls Boarding School
• Submarine
• A Man with a Stoat Through His Head
• Lifeboat (cannibalism)
• Undertaker's sketch

At one point a scrolling subtitle reports that the Queen is still watching The Virginian.

Series 3

“

And now,

”

“

It's...

”

In this season (only), the opening sequence begins with a nude organist, John Cleese saying "and now," and the "It's" Man.

1. Whicker's World (or: Njorl's Saga)

(episode 27; aired 19 October 1972; recorded 14 January 1972)

• Njorl's Saga/Opening Credits
• Multiple Murderer Court Scene
• Investigating the body
• Njorl's Saga – part II
• A Terrible Mess
• Njorl's Saga – part II: North Malden?
• Starting Over
• Njorl's Saga – part II: Invest in Malden?
• Phone conversation about the word "Malden" in the saga
• Eric Njorl Court Scene (Njorl's Saga – part III)
• Stock Exchange Report
• Mrs. Premise and Mrs. Conclusion at the Launderette
• Mrs. Premise and Mrs. Conclusion at North Malden
• Back to the saga...
• Njorl's Saga – part IV: Mrs. Premise and Mrs. Conclusion visit Sartre in Paris
• Whicker's World

2. Mr. and Mrs. Brian Norris' Ford Popular

(episode 28; aired 26 October 1972; recorded 28 January 1972)

• Emigration from Surbiton to Hounslow

The opening sequence follows this sketch.

• Schoolboys' Life Assurance Company
• How to Do It
• Mrs. Niggerbaiter Explodes
• Vicar/Salesman
• Farming Club
• "Life of Tschaikowsky"
• Trim-Jeans Theatre
• The Fish-Slapping Dance
• World War II (Animation)
• Titanic Sinking
• The BBC is Short of Money
• SS Mother Goose
• It's Man Show

Shown after the closing credits. Lulu and Ringo Starr appear as themselves. This is one of the few times you can hear the man say something besides "It's".

3. The Money Programme

(episode 29; aired 2 November 1972; recorded 4 December 1971)

• The Money Programme
• Money Song
• Erizabeth L
• Fraud Film Director Squad^[1]
• Hands Up (Animation)
• Dead Bishop, AKA Church Police or Salvation Fuzz
• Jungle Restaurant
• Apology for Violence and Nudity
• Ken Russell's "Gardening Club"
• The Lost World of Roiurama
• Six More Minutes of Monty Python's Flying Circus
• The Argument Skit
• Hitting on the Head Lessons
• Inspector Flying Fox of the Yard
• One More Minute of Monty Python's Flying Circus

4. Blood, Devastation, Death, War, and Horror

(episode 30; aired 9 November 1972; recorded 11 December 1971)

• Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror
• The Man Who Speaks in Anagrams

The opening sequence follows this sketch.

• Anagram Quiz
• Merchant Banker
• Pantomime Horses
• Life and Death Struggles
• Househunters
• Mary Recruitment Office
• Bus Conductor Sketch
• The Man Who Makes People Laugh Uncontrollably
• Army Captain as Clown
• Gestures to Indicate Pauses in a Televised Talk
• Neurotic Announcers
• The News with Richard Baker (vision only)
• The Pantomime Horse is a Secret Agent

Anagrams appear throughout this episode: "Tony M. Nyphot's Flying Risccu" for Monty Python's Flying Circus; "Chamran Knebt" for Merchant Bank, "Mary Recruitment Office" for Army Recruitment Office. The end credits are all in anagrams.

Richard Baker has also done gestures to indicate pauses in the news.

5. The All-England Summarize Proust Competition

(episode 31; aired 16 November 1972; recorded 24 April 1972

• Summarize Proust Competition

The end credits appear here.

• Hairdressers Climb Up Mount Everest
• Fire Brigade
• Our Eamonn
• "Party Hints" with Veronica Smalls
• Language Laboratory
• Travel Agent
• Watney's Red Barrel
• Anne Elk's Theory on Brontosauruses

6. The War Against Pornography

(episode 32; aired 23 November 1972; recorded 21 January 1972)

• Tory Housewives Clean-up Campaign
• Gumby Brain Specialist
• Molluscs – "Live" TV Documentary
• Report on the Minister reports
• Tuesday Documentary
• Children's Story
• Match of the Day
• An Apology
• Expedition to Lake Pahoe
• The Silliest Interview We've Ever Had
• The Silliest Sketch We've Ever Done

7. Salad Days

(episode 33; aired 30 November 1972; recorded 7 January 1972)

• Biggles Dictates a Letter

In some video editions, a technical glitch cut some of the dialogue; but the complete original does exist.

• Climbing the North Face of the Uxbridge Road
• Lifeboat
• Old lady snoopers
• Storage Jars
• The Show so Far
• Cheese Shop sketch
• Philip Jenkinson on Cheese Westerns
• Sam Peckinpah's "Salad Days"
• Apology
• The News with Richard Baker
• Seashore Interlude Film

8. The Cycling Tour

(episode 34; aired 7 December 1972; recorded 4 May 1972)

• Mr. Pither
• Mr. Gulliver and Clodagh Rogers
• Trotsky
• Smolensk
• Bingo-Crazed Chinese
• Not Secret Police
• Trotsky / Eartha Kitt
• Firing Squad
• Eartha Kitt / Edward Heath

This episode is the first episode of Flying Circus to feature a full length story.

This is the first episode that doesn't have a formal opening sequence; instead, a simple caption "The Cycling Tour" appears at the beginning of the episode.

John Tomiczek, Graham Chapman's adopted son, makes a brief non-speaking appearance as an autograph seeker.

The entire episode was written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones; they each play exactly one character throughout the whole show.

The music to which Mr. Pither cycles is the Waltz from Act II of Faust by Charles Gounod.

9. The Nude Organist (or: The Nude Man)

(episode 35; aired 14 December 1972; recorded 11 May 1972)

• Bomb on Plane
• A Naked Man
• Ten Seconds of Sex
• Housing Project Built by Characters from Nineteenth-century English Literature
• M1 Interchange Built by Characters from 'Paradise Lost'
• Mystico and Janet – Flats Built by Hypnosis
• Mortuary Hour
• The Olympic Hide-and-seek Final
• The Cheap-Laughs
• Bull-fighting
• The British Well-Basically Club
• Prices on the Planet Algon
• Mr. Badger Reads the Credits

10. E. Henry Thripshaw's Disease

(episode 36; aired 21 December 1972; recorded 25 May 1972)

• Tudor Jobs Agency
• Pornographic Bookshop
• Elizabethan Pornography Smugglers
• Silly Disturbances
• The Free Repetition of Doubtful Words Sketch
• 'Is There?'... Life after Death?
• The Man Who Says Words in the Wrong Order
• Thripshaw's Disease

The footage representing the movie version of Thripshaw's Disease was taken from a 1960 Polish movie Knights of the Teutonic Order.

• Silly Noises
• Sherry-drinking Vicar

The BBC censored this episode probably more than any other, cutting three sketches (Big Nosed Sculptor, Revolting Cocktails, Wee-Wee Wine Cellar) as well as much of Gilliam's animation.

11. Dennis Moore

(episode 37; aired 4 January 1973; recorded 17 April 1972)

• "Boxing Tonight" – Jack Bodell v. Sir Kenneth Clark
• Dennis Moore
• What the Stars Foretell
• Doctor
• TV4 or Not TV4 Discussion
• Lupins
• Ideal Loon Exhibition
• Off-Licence
• Dennis Moore Rides Again
• Prejudice
• Redistribution of Wealth

12. A Book at Bedtime

(episode 38; aired 11 January 1973; recorded 18 December 1971)

• Party Political Broadcast (Choreographed) †
• A Book at Bedtime – "Redgauntlet"
• Kamikaze Scotsmen
• No Time to Lose
• Frontiers of Medicine – Penguins
• BBC programme planners
• Unexploded Scotsmen
• Spot the Looney
• Rival Documentaries
• Dad's Doctors, Dad's Pooves and Other Interesting Stories

"Party Political Broadcast (Choreographed)" and "Dad's Doctors, Dad's Pooves and Other Interesting Stories" have been cut out in many versions of this episode.^{[citation needed]} A clip of "Party Political Broadcast (Choreographed)" has surfaced on YouTube, stated to have been found in Canada by David Morgan. It originates from WNED in Buffalo, New York; an identification card is seen at the beginning of the clip, and a "Support Channel 17" phone number shows up at the bottom of the screen.^[2] There is also a clip of the last sketch originating from German network WDR with German subtitles.^[3] "Dad's Doctors" has been restored to the iTunes version of the show as well as added to the Netflix streaming video version of the series.

13. Grandstand (or: The British Showbiz Awards)

(episode 39; aired 18 January 1973; recorded 18 May 1972)

This is the second episode without a formal opening sequence.

• Thames TV Introduction
• "Light Entertainment Awards" with Dickie Attenborough
• Dickie Attenborough
• The Oscar Wilde Sketch
• Charwoman
• David Niven's Fridge
• Pasolini's Film "The Third Test Match"
• New Brain from Curry's
• Blood Donor
• International Wife-Swapping
• Credits of the Year

The moment when the two men are discovered in bed together is John Cleese's last appearance in the series.

• The Dirty Vicar Sketch

Series 4

On screen the final series was titled simply Monty Python although the full title, Monty Python's Flying Circus, is displayed at the beginning of the opening sequence. John Cleese is not in this series, except in the first episode uncredited. He also helped write all the episodes.

1. The Golden Age of Ballooning

(episode 40; aired 31 October 1974; recorded 12 October 1974)

This episode has no opening sequence.

• The Montgolfier Brothers
• Montgolfier Brothers in Love
• Louis XVI
• The Court of George III

The end credits appear here.

• Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Norwegian Party (subtitled)
• Zeppelin
• The Golden Age of Colonic Irrigation

2. Michael Ellis

(episode 41; aired 7 November 1974; recorded 19 October 1974)

This is the second episode to feature a full length story.

The end credits appear immediately after the opening sequence.

• Department Store
• Buying an Ant
• At Home with the Ant and Other Pets
• Documentary on Ants
• Ant Complaints
• Ant Poetry Reading
• Toupee Department
• Different Endings

3. The Light Entertainment War

(episode 42; aired 14 November 1974; recorded 26 October 1974)

The Nude Organist and the It's Man appear for the last time, in footage taken from the Dennis Moore episode. Most of the sketches of the episode have a shared theme (World War II) yet no apparent narrative.

• Up Your Pavement

Theme music is a variant of "When Does A Dream Begin?" and based very much on the theme tune to Steptoe and Son, a popular BBC sitcom of the time. A little later in this sequence, the Blue Peter theme tune can be heard very briefly.

• RAF Banter

Sketch opens with Terry Jones climbing out of Hawker Hurricane Mk. I, L1592, now on display at the Science Museum, London.

• Trivializing the War
• Courtmartial
• Basingstoke in Westphalia
• "Anything Goes" (song)
• Film Trailer

Opening titles appear here.

• The Public Are Idiots
• Programme Titles Conference
• The Last Five Miles (8 km) of the M4
• Woody and Tinny Words
• Show-Jumping

Features Olympic silver medal-winning showjumper Marion Mould (see also Stroller (horse)).

• Newsflash
• "When Does a Dream Begin?" (song)

Written and performed by Neil Innes, singing to Maggie Weston, the Python make-up girl, and future wife of Terry Gilliam.

Douglas Adams made a brief appearance as a doctor treating a man suffering from lumbago.

4. Hamlet

(episode 43; aired 21 November 1974; recorded 2 November 1974)

• Bogus Psychiatrists
• Nationwide
• Police helmets
• Father-in-Law

Opening titles appear here.

• Hamlet and Ophelia
• Boxing Match Aftermath
• Boxing Commentary
• Piston Engine (a Bargain)
• A Room in Polonius's House
• Dentists
• Live from Epsom – Jockey Interviews
• Queen Victoria Handicap

5. Mr. Neutron

(episode 44; aired 28 November 1974; recorded 9 November 1974)

This is the third episode to feature a full length story ("Cycling Tour" and "Michael Ellis" being the earlier two).

• Post-box Ceremony
• Mr. Neutron
• F.E.A.R. / Mr. Neutron is Missing!
• Teddy Salad
• Secretary of State and Prime Minister
• Bombing
• Mrs. Scum
• Teddy Salad Explodes
• Mr. Neutron Escapes
• Conjuring Today

With the exception of "Post-box Ceremony," nearly the entire episode was co-written by Michael Palin and Terry Jones.

6. Party Political Broadcast

(episode 45; aired 5 December 1974; recorded 16 November 1974)

• Most Awful Family in Britain (co-written by Neil Innes)
• Icelandic Honey Week

Opening sequence appears here.

• Patient Abuse (co-written by Douglas Adams)
• Brigadier and Bishop
• Appeal on Behalf of Extremely Rich People
• The Man Who Finishes Other People's Sentences
• David Attenborough
• The Walking Trees of Dahomey
• Batsmen of the Kalahari
• Cricket Match (assegais)

End credits appear here.

• BBC News (handovers)

Announcements related to the party political broadcast on behalf of the Liberal Party.

References

1. ^ Chapman, Graham; Cleese, John; Gilliam, Terry; Idle, Eric; Jones, Terry; Palin, Michael (1990) [1989]. "Twenty-nine". Monty Python's Flying Circus: Just the Words. Volume Two. London: Mandarin. p. 78. ISBN 0-7493-0226-7. "I am Inspector Leopard of Scotland Yard, Special Fraud Film Director Squad." 
2. ^ "Political Choreography" on Youtube
3. ^ "Dad's Pooves" on Youtube

External links

• "The complete unexpurgated scripts of the original TV series" at www.ibras.dk