Holy Flying Circus

Last night's viewing: Holy Flying Circus, BBC4

On paper, Holy Flying Circus looked as if it might be a perfect storm of embarrassment. It wasn't perfect - the final resolution, with protesters and Pythons reconciling in a BBC green room after Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood's chat-show performance was a little too pat - but by then I liked it too much to really care.

Holy Flying Circus, Wednesday 9pm, BBC Four

I've seen some headlines suggesting the Pythons are unhappy with the film, but for me Holy Flying Circus was a fitting and funny tribute to the group that also managed to make a few serious points about censorship, faith and how close to the edge comedy can - and should - go.

Holy Flying Circus - The animation

Last night on BBC Four Holy Flying Circus re-imagined the 1979 release of Monty Python's Life of Brian. Alongside the fine performances and virtuoso storytelling, there was some beautiful animation sequences peppered throughout.

We caught up with Animation Director Jim Le Fevre to find out about the complex production that was involved in creating the title sequence.

Monty Python drama grabs 530k on BBC Four

BBC Four's Monty Python drama was seen by just over 530k on Wednesday evening, while The Only Way Is Essex pushed past 900k on ITV2, the latest audience data has revealed.

TV review: Holy Flying Circus

Monty Python's Life of Brian is still easily one of the funniest films ever made, but at the time of its release it attracted nothing but controversy.

Review: Holy Flying Circus (BBC Four)

It was quite something to behold, if sometimes too scattershot to land every punch, yet provided enough good humour and self-awareness to make the whole thing slip by very nicely.

Holy Flying Circus: Blasphemous Moments

Whether you thought Holy Flying Circus was blasphemy against the Pythons' name or simply a rather limp attempt at a biopic snapshot, it only really hit the mark sporadically.

Radio Times review

You can guess where writer Tony Roche (The Thick of It, Fresh Meat) throws the TV Biographical Drama Rule Book, can't you? Yes, right through an open window, because Holy Flying Circus, about the furore of moral panic and hypocrisy that greeted the 1979 cinema release of Monty Python's Life of Brian, usurps every bio-pic trope and convention.

Thus Holy Flying Circus is littered with dream sequences and wanders off down some fantastical little byways (a bit too often, if truth be told) as we build up to the infamous ambush, on the live TV chat show Friday Night... Saturday Morning, of John Cleese and Michael Palin by an epically supercilious Bishop of Southwark and religious commentator Malcolm Muggeridge.

Roy Marsden is majestically effete and patronising as the bishop, Mervyn Stockwood, but the film belongs to Charles Edwards, who just IS Michael Palin, and Darren Boyd as John Cleese.

Oh, and Stephen Fry plays God. Of course. The whole thing is a mad mash-up of self-reference, cross-dressing, ribaldry and nonsense. I loved it!

They may not have expected the Spanish Inquisition, but the Monty Python team must have foreseen the backlash over The Life of Brian. Now, it's considered one of the most intelligent, satirical and downright funny films of all time, but it was a different story back in 1979 when it was laid into by the church and groups of do-gooders, none of whom felt the need to actually see the film they were complaining about. It could make for grim viewing, but this comedy drama is light, funny and ultimately quite sweet, riffing off plenty of famous Python sketches with some note-perfect performances from the actors playing Palin, Cleese, Muggeridge and others.

These days it would be blasphemy to suggest that Monty Python's Life of Brian isn't one of the funniest films ever made. But it was a very different story back in 1979 when the Pythons found themselves practically crucified and accused of making fun of Jesus Christ.

Here, Tony Roche's ridiculously funny film pulls off an ingenious balancing trick with its accurate and affectionate pastiche of Pythonesque humour, while looking back at the furore Life of Brian created.

But as well as getting in lots of jokes at the expense of the BBC (the scene starring Alex MacQueen as the BBC's Head Of Rude Words is priceless), it also sends up the comedians themselves.

For instance, Michael Palin (played by Charles Edwards) is described as the nicest man in the world, but what's even more pleasing for Python fans is that his wife really is just Terry Jones in a dress.

Rufus Jones who plays Terry is brilliant, but all the casting is a delight. Steve Punt finally gets to capitalise on his resemblance to Eric Idle, while Darren Boyd, despite cheap-looking hair, is absolutely bang on as John Cleese. Or is it Basil Fawlty?

It all leads up to the now infamous live TV debate on the BBC talk show Friday Night, Saturday Morning, on which Cleese and Palin defended Life of Brian against the Bishop of Southwark and satirist Malcolm Muggeridge. This part of the film needed no script - it's an edited version of the actual debate, which has been partially seen before in other documentaries.

It's being shown again in full for the first time in more than 30 years straight after this at 10.30pm.