Holy Flying Circus | |
---|---|
Written by | Tony Roche |
Directed by | Owen Harris |
Starring | Darren Boyd Charles Edwards Steve Punt Rufus Jones Tom Fisher Phil Nichol |
Theme music composer | Jack C. Arnold |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
Production | |
Producers | Polly Leys Kate Norrish |
Cinematography | Richard Mott |
Editor | Billy Sneddon |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production companies | Talkback Thames HillBilly Television |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Four |
Release | 19 October 2011 |
Holy Flying Circus is a 90-minute BBC television comedy film first broadcast in 2011, written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris.
The film is a "Pythonesque" dramatisation of events following the completion of Monty Python's Life of Brian , culminating in the televised debate about the film broadcast in 1979.
At a meeting in the offices of their film distributor, the members of Monty Python discuss allowing the film Life of Brian to be released in America first because of America's first amendment. John Cleese voices his support for the idea, and says that he loves Americans. We then see American reporters at a screening of the movie where a near riot is taking place, with the protesters condemning the film as "blasphemous". The Pythons review a disheartening statement made by a religious leader, implying that the film causes violence. Cleese misinterprets this (possibly deliberately) and goes off on a tangent about little kids carrying out copycat crucifixions on their friends. Their distributor, Barry, suggests a low profile approach for the UK release so as not to cause too much upset. "Let's not project an advert onto the side of Westminster Abbey or make Life of Brian Christmas crackers".
Much of the film is taken up with preparations for a debate on the BBC2 chat show Friday Night, Saturday Morning . Initially, the Pythons are reluctant to take part but decide that Cleese and Michael Palin should represent the troupe on the programme. Palin's wife is depicted with a remarkable resemblance to Terry Jones (Rufus Jones plays both parts). [1] The production team of the BBC chat show eventually manage to gain a commitment from Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, then the Bishop of Southwark, to oppose the two Pythons. Portions of this televised discussion are recreated towards the end of the film.
The title sequence for the film was created using a two meter tall Terry Gilliam-inspired Phonotrope created by Jim Le Fevre. It consisted of over 2000 laser-cut frames and was 1.8 meters wide at its base. [2]
The film received mixed reviews from critics, while receiving just over half a million viewers on BBC Four and proving very popular on iPlayer. Chris Harvey of The Telegraph wrote, "Constantly inventive, often very funny, the drama followed a fictional religious group intent on pillorying the Pythons and having Life of Brian banned", although he added that it "abandoned some of its humour and subtlety for preachiness." [3] Phil Dyess-Nugent at The A.V. Club praised the concept and most of the performances, but said: "At the risk of committing blasphemy myself, one problem may be that the filmmakers actually love the Pythons too much. If that is a problem, it was probably an insurmountable one, since no one who only loves Python to a sane and reasonable degree was ever going to conceive the idea for this movie." [4] Most praised the casting of the Pythons, predominantly for Palin and Cleese. HFC gained approval from Palin and Terry Jones, but Cleese says he "absolutely detested" the drama, in particular Boyd's portrayal of him. Gilliam commented on the fact that Cleese did not like it, and reasoned that the Pythons would have no reason to complain about somebody "taking the piss" out of them when they'd been doing it to others for years.[ citation needed ]
Graham Chapman was a British actor, comedian and writer. He was one of the six members of the surrealist comedy group Monty Python. He portrayed authority figures such as The Colonel and the lead role in two Python films, Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979).
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Sir Michael Edward Palin is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group. He received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019.
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Friday Night, Saturday Morning was a UK television chat show with a revolving guest host. It ran on BBC2 from 28 September 1979 to 2 April 1982, broadcast live from the Greenwood Theatre, a part of Guy's Hospital. It was notable for being the only television show to be hosted by a former British Prime Minister, and for an argument about the blasphemy claims surrounding the film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979).
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Monty Python's Flying Circus is a British surreal sketch comedy series created by and starring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, who became known collectively as "Monty Python", or the "Pythons". The first episode was recorded at the BBC on 7 September 1969 and premiered on 5 October on BBC1, with 45 episodes airing over four series from 1969 to 1974, plus two episodes for German TV. A feature film adaptation of several sketches, And Now for Something Completely Different, was released in 1971.
Monty Python: Almost the Truth is a 2009 television documentary series in six parts that covers 40 years of the surreal comedy group Monty Python, from Flying Circus to present day projects such as the musical Spamalot. The series highlights their childhood, schooling and university life, and pre-Python work. The series featured new interviews with surviving members John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin, alongside archive interview footage of Graham Chapman and interviews with several associates of the Pythons, including Carol Cleveland, Neil Innes and Chapman's partner David Sherlock, along with commentary from modern comedians.
Monty Python's Total Rubbish is a 2014 boxed set collecting remastered editions of the nine original albums of British comedy troupe Monty Python on nine CDs or ten LPs. It was released on 30 June 2014.
Monty Python's The Life of Brian/MONTYPYTHONSCRAPBOOK is a large format book by Monty Python, released in 1979 to tie in with their film Monty Python's Life of Brian. As the title suggests, it consists of two separate books joined together. The first contains the film's screenplay, illustrated by black and white stills. On the reverse side is the scrapbook, which contains a variety of material such as scenes cut from the film, newly written material plus unrelated items, including the lyrics to Bruces' Philosophers Song. The book was assembled by Eric Idle, with assistance from Michael Palin.
The Pythons is a BBC documentary film about the Monty Python team which was shot in Tunisia in 1978 during the making of Monty Python's Life of Brian. As well as promoting their upcoming film, the documentary also serves as a tenth anniversary profile of the team, despite the original broadcast date of 20 June 1979 being some months ahead of both the tenth anniversary of their TV debut and the UK release of their new film.
The Fairly Incomplete & Rather Badly Illustrated Monty Python Song Book is a compendium of songs by Monty Python, released in 1994 on the occasion of their 25th anniversary. The book contains the lyrics and musical scores for songs from the group's Flying Circus TV series, albums and films. Also included are "The Ferret Song" and "Rhubarb Tart Song", which originate from I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again before appearing on At Last The 1948 Show. The musical scores were edited by regular Python collaborator, John Du Prez.
The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons is the official autobiography of the Monty Python team, released in 2003. It covers the whole of Python history, from their childhoods all the way through to the 30th anniversary celebrations in 1999.