He's Not The Messiah, He's A Very Naughty Boy

It's 30 years since Monty Python's Life of Brian first hit the nation's cinemas, heralded by much controversy about whether it was blasphemous and consequent anxiety about who would back it. But it was both a box office success and a critical one and ever since has been voted one of the funniest films of all time. Sanjeev Bhaskar recounts how it was made and who eventually underwrote it (Beatle George Harrison). Lively interviews with Terry Jones, who directed, producer John Goldstone and all the Python team.

Thirty years after the release of the heretical masterpiece Monty Python's Life of Brian - and a few weeks since RT readers voted it the best comedy film ever - Sanjeev Bhaskar investigates how and why the Pythons did it. The movie was conceived when Eric Idle announced, for a laugh, that the follow-up to Monty Python and the Holy Grail would be called Jesus Christ - Lust for Glory. That throwaway gag ended up as a heartfelt, intelligent, rationalist satire where every scene is a quotable moment. As Terry Jones, Carol Cleveland, producer John Goldstone and others reminisce, it's a chance for fans to celebrate - and for those who dismiss the film as blasphemy to discover what it's really about.