The Monty Python Story
Monty Python From Spam To Sperm
Saturday 16th May at 11.10pm
Monty Python's 40th anniversary celebrations continue on G.O.L.D. this month with Monty Python From Spam To Sperm – a closer look at some of the more unheralded elements of the bonkers universe created by Cleese, Palin, Jones, Idle, Chapman and Gilliam.
Filmmaker and animator Terry Gilliam was responsible for the series' unique animated sequences onscreen as well as defining the group's visual language in other media (he also designed album and book covers), but his work was far from filler – his animations and cartoons are now regarded as hugely influential. In Monty Python From Spam to Sperm, Gilliam talks about the inspiration behind his art and celebrity fans Trey Parker and Matt Stone from South Park offer their own personal tribute.
Aside from Gilliam's visual genius, Monty Python was also interspersed with musical numbers that punctured the surrealism with the team's very own take on traditional variety comedy. Songs such as the lumberjack song and Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life have become national institutions.
It's… The Monty Python Story
Saturday 16th May at 9.45pm
Ask most people (especially Americans) what the most influential, revered and most-quoted British TV comedy series has been and Monty Python's Flying Circus would come top of the list pretty much every time.
There's no question that Monty Python was a once-in-lifetime occurrence – thanks to a coming together of cosmic alignment proportions a group of the hottest Oxbridge-educated writers and performers (some friends from university, some colleagues from the fertile 1960s TV comedy scene) found themselves creating something magical.
Narrated by Eddie Izzard, It's The Monty Python Story traces the group's history from its beginnings from the incestuous world of 1960s British TV and interviews messrs Cleese, Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam to help fill in the gaps.
The documentary also looks at the controversy the Pythons caused throughout their careers (especially when Monty Python's Life Of Brian and The Meaning Of Life hit cinemas), Michael Palin revisits some of the locations used for original Python sketches, lost footage is aired and even a new sketch is performed.
