Actor-turned-Mayor tries to lift Life of Brian ban

Here is a light story for the weekend...

An actress who starred in Monty Python's Life of Brian and whom has since been elected Mayor of Aberystwyth, is reported to be looking to remove the town's ban on screening the film.

Sue Jones-Davies, who played Brian's girlfriend Judith Iscariot in the film, hopes to remove the ban which the council imposed when the movie was released. The famous Python comedy, which is about an ordinary Jewish man who is mistaken for the Messiah during the time of Christ, caused much controversy at the time because it was viewed by some as being blasphemous.

When first released in 1979, several religions petitioned the film. In the case of Aberystwyth, a committee made up of the town's church leaders recommended a ban. Michael Davies, the owner of Aberystwyth's Commodore Cinema claims the ban is still in place saying, "As far as I know the Life of Brian is still banned from being shown at the cinema. My father ran the cinema when the ban was imposed and I suppose it would have had a commercial impact at the time because it was a huge film and made a fortune. I don't think lifting the ban now would make much of a difference."

Jones-Davies said, "Given what's on TV now I think it's amazing a ban in Aberystwyth still exists. I think it should be lifted. I would like to think that any religion would have the generosity to see the film for what it is, which is a comedy. I was surprised at the outrage it caused at the time, but I did not expect or appreciate the impact and never thought it would turn out to be so popular."

Jones-Davies got her part in the film after another actress dropped out of the role. She shared the same agent as John Cleese.