The compilation was broadcast on BBC 1 on 16th April 1971. To read some contemporaneous reactions to the show, check out the 1971 press page.

The camera descriptions below are as per the official scriptbooks (which in turn were pretty much as per the original shooting scripts), excepting the exclusive material where we've had a bash ourselves.

	From Series 1, Show 9 (14/12/69) A chicken shed. The announcer speaks from a window. ANNOUNCER (CLEESE) And now for something completely different.

	From Series 2, Show 10 (01/12/70) Cut instantly to sky. CAPTION: 'SCOTT OF THE SAHARA' VOICEOVER (GILLIAM) Booming out of the pages of history comes a story of three men and one woman whose courage shocked a generation. [Originally the voiceover was by Michael Palin. Here it's been re-dubbed by Terry Gilliam (who doesn't perform it nearly as well). It's likely that this was done because the original had Palin a bit too low in the mix, buried amidst the dramatic soundtrack and audience hysteria.] Blinding sun. Pan down to Paignton beach. Scott, Evans, Oates and Bowers wearing furs crossing sand on snow shoes. With sledge pulled by motley selection of mongrel dogs, badly disguised as huskies. VOICEOVER From the same team that brought you ... (the names come out superimposed) 'Lawrence of Glamorgan' ... 'Bridge Over the River Trent' ... 'The Mad Woman of Biggleswade' ... and 'Krakatoa, East of Leamington' ... comes the story of three people and a woman... [The line "united by fate" doesn't feature here.] ...who set out in search of the fabled Pole of the Sahara and found ... themselves. [Voiceover returns to Palin's original for the next section. ] VOICEOVER (PALIN) See ... Lieutenant Scott's death struggle with a crazed desert lion. The four are walking along. Suddenly they stop, stare, and react in horror. Scott steps to the front to defend the others. Intercut, non-matching stock shot of lion running out of jungle and leaping at camera. Scott waits poised and is then struck by completely rigid stuffed lion. Montage of shots of him wrestling, firstly with the stuffed lion, then with an actor in a tatty lion suit. The lion picks up a chair, fends Scott off, smashes it over his head. Finally Scott kicks the lion on the shin. The lion leaps around on one leg and picks up a knife. Scott points, the lion looks, Scott kicks the knife out of the lion's paw. He advances on the lion, and socks him on the jaw. The lion collapses in slow motion. After a pause, phoney blood spurts out. [The entire "death struggle with the spine-chilling giant electric penguin" section of the sketch has been snipped out. The voiceover now goes back to Gilliam again. Again, this was probably due to the original lines being somewhat indecipherable under Carol Cleveland's squeals, the writing desk's growls and the audience's apreciation. It's possible that Palin was otherwise indisposed during the post-production of the Montreux show and Gilliam stepped in.] VOICEOVER (GILLIAM) ... See Miss Evans pursued by the man-eating roll-top writing desk. Miss Evans is running along screaming. Shot of desk chasing her (phoney desk with man inside). The roll top goes up and down, emitting roars, and displaying fearsome white teeth inside. As Evans runs, her clothing gets torn on each of the three cactuses. These are well spaced apart so that there is a lot of trouble to get near them. When she is practically nude, she runs out of shot revealing the announcer. ANNOUNCER And now for something completely different. IT'S MAN It's... Animated titles [Series 2 titles.] Cut to...

	Newly shot section CAPTION: THE END ANNOUNCER (PALIN) Well that's the end of Monty Python's Flying Circus for this week. (Cut to BBC world symbol.) And now on BBC it's five past nine and nearly time for six past nine. Later on this evening it'll be nine-thirty, and don't forget to tune in tomorrow night when it'll be seven o'clock. For those of you who missed eight-forty-five on Friday, you'll be able to see it again this Friday at a quarter to nine. Meanwhile, here is a time-check. It's green and wobbly and time for Face The Press. [A different, and longer, version of this script originally appeared in Series 2, Show 6 (03/11/70)]

	From Series 2, Show 1 (15/09/70) Cut to studio: interviewer in chair. SUPERIMPOSED CAPTION: 'FACE THE PRESS' [This version has a brief snatch of exciting music as an intro] INTERVIEWER (IDLE) Hello. Tonight on 'Face the Press' we're going to examine two different views of contemporary things. On my left is the Minister for Home Affairs (cut to minister completely in drag and a moustache) who is wearing a striking organza dress in pink tulle, with matching pearls and a diamante collar necklace. (soft fashion-parade music starts to play in background) The shoes are in brushed pigskin with gold clasps, by Maxwell of Bond Street. The hair is by Roger, and the whole ensemble is crowned by a spectacular display of Christmas orchids. And on my right - putting the case against the Government - is a small patch of brown liquid ... (cut to patch of liquid on seat of chair) which could be creosote or some extract used in industrial varnishing. (cut back to interviewer) Good evening. Minister, may I put the first question to you? In your plan, 'A Better Britain For Us', you claimed that you would build 88,000 million, billion houses a year in the Greater London area alone. In fact, you've built only three in the last fifteen years. Are you a bit disappointed with this result? MINISTER No, no. I'd like to answer this question if I may in two ways. Firstly in my normal voice and then in a kind of silly high-pitched whine... You see housing is a problem really... Cut back to the interviewer. The minister is heard droning on in the background. The soft fashion-parade music starts again. INTERVIEWER Well, while the minister is answering this question I'd just like to point out the minister's dress has been made entirely by hand from over three hundred pieces of Arabian shot silk (at this point we can hear the minister's high-pitched whine beneath the fashion music) especially created for the minister by Vargar's of Paris. The low slim-line has been cut off-the-shoulder to heighten the effect of the minister's fine bone structure. Well I think the minister is coming to the end of his answer now so let's go back over and join the discussion. Thank you very much minister. Today saw the appointment of a new head of... MINISTER (CHAPMAN) Don't I say any more? INTERVIEWER No fear! Today saw the appointment of a new head of Allied Bomber Command - Air Chief Marshal Sir Vincent 'Kill the Japs' Forster. He's in our Birmingham studio... Cut to close-up on what appears to be a monitor with Sir Vincent on it in outrageous drag, heavy lipstick, big bust etc. - Draped on a chaise-longue. A small black boy is fanning him. SIR VINCENT (CLEESE) Hello Sailors! Listen, guess what. The Minister of Aviation has made me head of the RAF Ola Pola. As he talks we zoom out quickly from the set to reveal it is not a monitor in the studio but a TV set in a G-plan type sitting room. A housewife (Mrs Pinnet) sits watching, wearing an apron and a scarf and with her hair in curlers. The doorbell sounds. She switches the TV off and answers the door which opens straight into the living room. There in the street stands a truly, amazing figure of fun. A man in a bowler hat with an axe sticking out of it, big red joke nose, illuminated bow tie that revolves, joke broad shoulders, clown's check jacket, long johns with sock suspenders, heavy army boots and leading a goat with a hat. Close-up. MAN (GILLIAM) Hello. Mrs Rogers? MRS PINNET (JONES) No. Ooh I must be in the wrong house. She shuts the door on him and we follow her as she crosses the room. She climbs out of the window...

	Newly shot section ...Back yard of terraced house. She scrambles over a quite high dividing wall into next door and starts to scramble into next-door window. [The pre-filmed section of the original sketch is here replaced by a completely re-shot version. The backyard location looks similar yet noticeably different. The section is also filmed at double-speed.] Interior of a more cluttered working-dass sitting-room. There is a TV in there with Sir Vincent still camping it up. [The rest of the sketch is a re-recorded version, and a very slim script-edit of the original from Series 2, Show 1 (15/09/70). Rather amusingly this means that John Cleese had to get into drag again for the tiny reprise of Sir Vincent!] SIR VINCENT ...and David Hockney has agreed finally to design the bombs. He's going to come up with something really exciting for us. And, best news of all... The doorbell rings. MRS PINNET Ooh, that must be the man about the gas cooker. She switches the TV off. Immediate thunderous epic music. SUPERIMPOSED CAPTION: (in stone lettering, as for Ben Hur) 'THE GAS COOKER SKETCH' Both caption and music switch off suddenly as she opens the door. Two gas men step inside. FIRST GAS MAN (PALIN) Morning, Madam. We're from the gas board. MRS PINNET Ooh, at last. My cooker's not working. FIRST GAS MAN (cautiously) Oh yeah? MRS PINNET Well, can you come and mend it? The gas men exchange looks SECOND GAS MAN (CHAPMAN) What is it, a gas cooker? MRS PINNET Ooh, yes. FIRST GAS MAN Oh, no. Can't touch that. SECOND GAS MAN No, no - we're from the gas board. THIRD GAS MAN (IDLE) (suddenly revealed behind the two of them) You want maintenance MRS PINNET Oh, will they come and fix it? FIRST GAS MAN No no, they don't come out. MRS PINNET Ooh, can you fix it? THIRD GAS MAN No, we can't go around doing maintenance FIRST GAS MAN We haven't got the staff. FOURTH GAS MAN (walking in) Not unless it's a special. MRS PINNET What's a 'special'? SECOND GAS MAN It's a 2-7-6 or a 3-9-B. MRS PINNET Well, can't you phone somebody? SECOND GAS MAN Not on a Friday. A fifth gas man walks in MRS PINNET Well what can you do? FIRST GAS MAN We could try head office. FIFTH GAS MAN (??????) No, that's emergency only. FIRST GAS MAN Yeah, yeah... MRS PINNET (getting agitated) Look, look - I waited three months for you to come round! I haven't been able to cook a meal since Christmas! This is an emergency!! FIRST GAS MAN No it's not. SECOND GAS MAN Nope, nope, an emergency is continued upon there being immediate danger to life. MRS PINNET Oh dear. FIRST GAS MAN Mind you, we can, er, endanger your life for you. MRS PINNET Can you? FIRST GAS MAN Yeah. THIRD GAS MAN Just lie down on the floor. SECOND GAS MAN Yeah. MRS PINNET Ooh, that's marvellous. SECOND GAS MAN Right. Harry, get the pipes! SIXTH GAS MAN (ACTOR UNKNOWN) (entering) Right-o, mate. FIRST GAS MAN We'll soon have you asphyxiated, love. MRS PINNET Ooh, really? She lies down. The gas men crowd around her. The sixth gas man leads a rubber pipe to her mouth) SECOND GAS MAN (Calling outside) Send out for form P-3BE! MRS PINNET Ooh, that's lovely, thank you. FIRST GAS MAN Oh, don't mention it, love - all part of the service. Get us a P-B-E, Charlie? SEVENTH GAS MAN Oh, righto. Get a PBE, Frank? Cut to exterior. The camera pans along line of gas men all turning to each other and muttering incomprehensible technicalities, the line stretches across the road. [The film used here is as per the original show but is rather abrupt, cutting straight to the long line of gas men rather than the pull-back-and-reveal. The film is slightly discoloured suggesting a second generation print. The scene still cuts to animation but not the one we're familiar with...]

Edit News: Montreux Special

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