Monty Python's Flying Circus
- TV sketch show
- BBC Two / BBC One
- 1969 - 1974
- 45 episodes (4 series)
Highly influential off-the-wall 1970s sketch series, starring John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman and Terry Jones. Also features Terry Gilliam and Carol Cleveland.
Streaming rank this week: 690
Press clippings
Fans have ruined Wodehouse and Monty Python
If you've been put off by a work's admirers, I'd recommend giving it another go.
Gareth Roberts, The Spectator, 23rd September 2024The 50 best TV comedies of all time - ranked
From cult classics to sitcom royalty, we've assembled the definitive list of TV comedy greats - but has Mrs. Brown's Boys made the grade?
Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 20th June 2024How Monty Python hooked world with fish sketch
They made classic films and sold out vast arenas, but Michael Palin thinks Monty Python peaked with a 30-second skit on BBC2. He tells This Cultural Life that the summit of Python's achievement was "The Fish Slapping Dance" as that's the sketch that conquered the world.
Jack Blackburn, The Times, 5th April 2024The Office named top landmark comedy of the last 50 years
The Office was the highest-placed comedy in a Broadcasting Press Guild list of the top 50 landmark programmes of the last 50 years.
British Comedy Guide, 13th March 2024John Cleese challenges Eric Idle on Monty Python's finances
John Cleese has responded to Eric Idle in the growing row over Monty Python's earnings, coming out in support of Terry Gilliam's daughter, Holly.
British Comedy Guide, 14th February 2024From Python to The Young Ones, how British comedy and music became forever linked
As he releases a new book looking back at the history of British comedy, writer David Stubbs explains how it's always found an unlikely friend in music.
David Stubbs, Rolling Stone, 2nd August 2023John Cleese mocked for asking why BBC hasn't shown Monty Python 'for over a decade'
"You decided to give the exclusive rights to Netflix, you faded light bulb".
Inga Parkel, The Independent, 28th December 2022The Monty Python workout? It's a silly walk, and it works!
A not-so-serious study discovered that a walking style made famous by the comedy troupe is actually vigorous exercise.
Gretchen Reynolds, The Washington Post, 22nd December 2022100 BBC TV gamechangers
The Sooty Show, Goodness Gracious Me and Hancock's Half Hour have been named amongst 23 comedy titles in a BFI list of the 100 most important television programmes from the BBC, as the broadcaster marks its 100th anniversary.
British Film Institute, 28th April 2022What would the joyless woke brigade make of Monty Python?
The first duty of comedy today is to pay homage to current moral fashions. Jokes don't have to be funny as long as they sneer at Brexit, praise socialist ideals, decry transphobia and wave a rainbow flag for diversity. Any show that can manage all that and raise more than a limp chuckle is a rarity.
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail, 13th March 2022