26. By the third series, the production team saw the benefits of pre-filming cutaways to disguise edits in continuity. These wild shots were, however, wilder than most, and generally involved shots of Vikings blurting out non-sequiturs (e.g., 'Then...', 'Anyway...', 'Lemon curry?' etc). These sequences were always mistaken as Python anarchy, which presumably suited the team fine. Cutaways of this kind can be found in the 'Merchant Banker' sketch (Series 3, Show 4 - 09/11/72), and 'Biggles Dictates A Letter' (Series 3, Show 7 - 30/11/72).
Show 7 is probably the most cutaway-heavy show and the Pythons acknowledge this with Palin querying one such interruption in the 'Cheese Shop' sketch and newsreader Richard Baker delivering the 'Lemon Curry?' line during his 'Storage Jars' monologue.
[NOTE: Earlier examples of this sort of cutaway occur during 'The Mouse Problem' (Series 1, Show 2 - 12/10/69) and 'Killer Sheep' sketch (Series 2, Show 7 - 27/10/70), although these Viking intrusions were actually scripted. In the latter, a small section of Idle's dialogue is delivered by Gilliam (again, as a Viking), the only difference being that he was scripted to say "...wore..." instead of "'...was wearing...". He is also shot against a blue background, suggesting that they originally planned to overlay Gilliam's horned head over the top of the scene. Series 4, Show 4 (21/11/74) returned briefly to the cutaway gag with a shot of a terrific explosion, out of which strides Palin who calmly delivers the line "And then�" before the show ends suddenly.]
27. In the 'PC Pan-Am Gives Evidence' sequence (Series 3, Show 1), there is a loud, off-camera crash at 16'15 followed by hysterical audience laughter and a visibly corpsing Palin. This is because the heavily-bandaged 'Njorl', who had been replaced at that point by a dummy (enabling his head to be removed in the next scene), fell backwards off the podium, and had to be re-positioned by the crew. Filming presumably stopped, as a cutaway of Njorl appears in the middle of Pan-Am's address. The edit is also very audible, as Palin's speech suddenly plummets in volume.
[NOTE: Johnson, in his overview of the original shooting scripts, makes reference to a final post-credits instalment of 'Njorl's Saga' in which Njorl throws a custard pie in his horse's face. Pixley doesn't mention this, so it can't have made it even to a rough edit, but we're sceptical about the likelihood of it never having got past script stage. It's entirely possible that they were disallowed by some animal protection agency to treat a horse thusly for the purposes of entertainment. Or maybe the horse just panicked and threw custard pie everywhere. Maybe it'll be in Palin's diary...]
28. Idle's
'Stock Exchange Report' (Series 3, Show 1) has a very obvious edit in the middle. This is a monologue delivered without cutaways, so the jump in VT is very easy to spot. Whether this edit indicates material removed or a simple joining together of two takes is unclear. However, since Idle gets drenched with water at the close of the routine (and given that, under BBC constraints, there was no time for drying out), we can assume that he must have made his fluff quite early on in the piece.
29. Chapman, battling with alcoholism at the time of the third series, appears to be reading his lines from below the camera during his monologue about people exploding (Series 3, Show 2 - 26/10/72). This also seems to be the case during the 'How To Do It' Blue Peter parody, although his dazed look seems more in character here. It is unlikely that he was reading from a teleprompter, but it is possible that parts of his script were written on cue-cards. Alternatively, his lack of contact with the camera could simply be indicative of his desperation to remember the lines.
[NOTE: Another episode where Chapman's mind doesn't seem quite on the job is Series 2, Show 8 (17/11/70) where, on two occasions, he almost misses his cue: firstly during 'Snivelling Little Rat-Faced Git' (in the 'clean version' of the sketch he seemingly forgets to leave the scene - his "Ah!" cutting across Jones' lines), and secondly during the 'Beethoven' sketch where, as Mrs Beethoven, he comes in late to interrupt the composer's final success at finding the right notes with an offputting "Do you want peanut butter or sandwich spread for your tea?", spoiling the pace of the joke slightly.]
30. Flying Circus was not necessarily the original outlet for some Python material:
(a) Michael Palin revealed, in a specially-recorded intro for one of Paramount Comedy's Python Nights, that the
'Fish Slapping Dance' (Series 3, Show 2, 26/10/72) was originally recorded for a
"Mayday pan-European comedy show", and the full version of the sketch featured other
"traditional British dances". Note how the quality of the film in
Flying Circus looks discoloured (not to mention heavily scratched), suggesting it is a generation or two down the line.
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[NOTE: Since writing the above, the 'Pan-European comedy show' insert has been found and broadcast as part of BBC2's 'Python Night' (09/10/99). It does indeed feature a considerably less manky version of 'Fish Slapping Dance' with a longer intro and no audience titters. Also first showcased in this insert was the sequence in which several footballers indulge in some celebratory slow-motion caressing (Series 3, Show 6 - 23/11/72). Series 1, Show 11's 'Batley Towswomens Guild' (28/12/69) was also re-used.
The showing of the full Python contribution to the show raised a few questions in itself however in that a) it appeared to have been reassembled for the showing (the piece itself seems to use a mixture of clear and manky stock, sometimes shifting quality mid-scene) and b) it was likely that the only copy they could find had to be redubbed - some of the dialogue is strangely ill-matching (the anachronistic reference in the voiceover to 'Sir Norman Fowler' is highly suspect for a piece recorded in 1971) and the sound of John Cleese's 60-year-old jowels flapping around could also be detected. A likely explanation is that the original piece never actually had an English dialogue anyway (or that the BBC wiped the only English-Language copy in existence).
We contacted Elaine Shepherd, producer of 'Python Night who confirmed a few of these theories, claiming that the only extant copy they could find was in Sudvestfunk in Baden Baden, Germany, and that they 'restored the soundtrack with the help of the Pythons'. So now you know.]
[NOTE (2): The mixing together of clear and manky film stock within the same sketch might actually have been a problem encountered during the original production then rather than now. A sketch in the first episode of Rutland Weekend Television about hiding under bishops mixes together two shots of Neil Innes emerging from under a cardinal - one clear; one manky. Quite what went on at the BBC's film-processing unit back then is unclear but - this being the 70s - few people watching would have noticed the difference anyway. ]
(b) Celluloid discoloration and scratchiness is also evident in
'Expedition to Hounslow'(Series 3, Show 2, 26/10/72). In fact, it looks like it was actually originally much better quality film, but has been rendered inferior due to poor storage or conversion; certainly the detail is crisper in comparison with most Flying Circus film material, and it seems more professionally shot. The scratchy quality is also in keeping with the middle section of Series 3's title sequence, which, as mentioned before, was re-used stock from the first
Fliegender Zirkus show. As such, we would suggest that this sketch was recorded for German viewing, were it not for the fact that its premise would be somewhat incomprehensible to anyone outside the UK! On this train of thought, since the bulk of the dialogue is Idle's narration, the sketch would have translated easily into any language. In fact, the only character dialogue spoken is in the
"I've had the excess nipples wobbled to remove tamping" section, and - since this section appears to have been edited in from even
mankier film stock - this may further suggest that there was an alternate foreign version.
31. Since we're discussing Series 3, Show 2, let's have a butchers at the shooting script...
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 | Monty Python's Flying Circus
Series 3, Show 2
Shooting script - typed 10/11/72
Show Recorded: 28/01/72
TX: 26/10/72 |
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a) In the script, Mr and Mrs Norris are said to be following in the footsteps of 'Gerald Durrell'. For broadcast this became 'Sir Edmund Hilary'. Also in this sketch a very slight extra line:
A slight change of locale: "Did they take the Kingston by-pass, turning left at Todworth Corner?". The latter became "Barnes" for tx.
A note in reference to Mr Norris' conquering of Hounslow Central: 'MR NORRIS STICKS A BRITISH FLAG ON THE PLATFORM � IT IS WIDE, LIKE THE ASTRONAUTS'
At end of the sketch, a note suggests: 'TERRY G DOING THE BITS WHERE TITLES WHIZZ OUT OF SCREEN (SEE TG)'
b) A rather intriguing note here on the intro sequence:
None of the above made it to tx. Instead we get the conventional opening.
c) For 'Mrs Niggerbaiter', there's the following script note:
Diagram not included unfortunately but we're inclined to take Terry's word for it.
d) In Chapman's 'People Exploding' monologue, the tx line "twelve missing believed cured" must have been a last-minute addition. In the original script it is simply "missing believed lost". The dialogue for the 'skeleton' animation which follows is absent from the script, but that's nothing new.
e) In 'Life Of Tchaikowsky', Maurice's "...me" (at the end of the multiple handovers) is not in the original script. And that's the funniest bit!
f) Now get this. A note alluding to the inclusion of 'Fish Slapping Dance'...
�which perhaps gives another reason for the manky picture quality of the footage. It had been under Gilliam's bed.
At any rate, Gilliam's 'mixing' of the film with the animation didn't really involve much more than submerging a cut-out of Palin in his Fish-Slapping garb. The same cut-out was used in Monty Python's Big Red Book as a header for 'E.D. Silly's Page'. The usual story told is that, for the latter book, editor Eric Idle had to 'break into Gilliam's studio' to rescue animation cut-outs to be used as paste-ups. The inclusion of the Palin cut-out in the book perhaps suggests that the animation sequence in question had been prepared long in advance of Series 3.
g) In the script, after the handwritten credits, we fade out and get the "And Now" / "It's�" intro once again (although in terms of this particular script we apparently didn't get it the first time), and this was meant to cut straight to the It's Man's chat show. There is an instruction for:
...and we fade as the It's Man enters the set � there is no 'trying to stop the titles' amusement.
For tx the 'famous guests' were Ringo Starr and Lulu. The former had previously worked with Cleese and Chapman on the film The Magic Christian.
32. Terry Jones' first few lines in the 'Rat Desserts'/'Salvation Fuzz' sketch (Series 3, Show 3 - 02/11/72) are doused in echo. This mistake is rectified before Idle's first line. The 'Jerusalem' hymn which ends the sketch fades into echo at the end which explains why an echo-chamber was on standby, although it's odd that this effect was cued in live at the recording rather than during post-production.
33. The 'Merchant Banker' sketch (Series 3, Show 4 - 19/11/72) is clearly performed on a raised soundstage to allow for a fully-operational trap door (a crew member is visible as Jones falls through it). For some reason not all the cameras have been raised to the same level, so some of the sketch is shot from a child's-eye view.
[NOTE: Probably not worth its own numbered entry (and certainly not because we can't stomach renumbering the whole lot again before this goes up) but at the start of 'Army Recruitment Office' (Series 3, Show 4) there's a Cleese voiceover which says "Sketch just starting - actor wanted". It appears that this was only inserted because a sign saying the same thing wasn't visible enough onscreen to hammer the joke home. A similar occurrence in fact to the exploding cat scene in Series 2, Show 3 (29/09/70) where, as it was sitting on a wall in long-shot and unrecognisable as anything feline, lots of meeowing was dubbed, and a caption/arrow was superimposed above it saying 'A CAT'.]
34. The
'Argument Clinic' material (Series 3, Show 3 - 02/11/72) follows Idle's announcement
"And now, six more minutes of Monty Python's Flying Circus". It is, remarkably, exactly 6'00 in duration, suggesting that Idle's voice-over must have been added at a last-minute session, after the edit had been finalised.
35. Let's have a look at that Series 3, Show 5 shooting script...
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| Monty Python's Flying Circus
Series 3, Show 5
Shooting script
Show Recorded: 24/04/72
TX: 16/11/72 |
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a) The script begins with
'Disturbing Vicar' - Michael Palin as the Rev. Arthur Belling of St. Looney-Up-The-Cream-Bun-And-Jam (a character previously played by Graham Chapman in Series 2, Show 8) annoying a young couple (John Cleese and Carol Cleveland). This sketch isn't in the tx, having been yanked from its parent show and inserted into Show 10 for reasons we'll cover later...
b) At the start of 'Summarised Proust' we get to see the judging panel, which consists of cardboard cut-outs of Omar Sharif, Yehudi Mehuin and various renowned cricketers. In the script a note follows mention of "the ex-President of the Surrey Cricket Club" insisting: '(RESEARCHER TO FIND REAL EX-PRESIDENT PLEASE)'.
'Proust' of course features one of the most famous pieces of Python censorship. Asked by quizmaster Terry Jones what his hobbies are, Graham Chapman's keen contestant says
"golf, strangling animals and masturbating". This features in the original script and was recorded, but censored for its original broadcast on 16/11/72 - with the words
"and masturbating" mixed off, leaving a second of silence and, for the TV audience a massive audience laugh seemingly directed at nothing. According to Pixley the censored version was also broadcast for the 1974 repeat showing. However, for the 1979 repeat, the line was intact, and it has since appeared uncensored on the 1987 repeat, and on both the 1986 BBC video and its BMG re-release. Did the BBC therefore make a separate
'censored' tape and retain the original? And was the reinstatement intentional?
The dreadful Best Of Monty Python box set features the sketch, but it's obviously been culled from the censored version. The line, no thanks to modern technology, has now been re-edited to "Golf�and�strangling animals". It would appear that either the compilers are unaware that an untampered version exists or are so thrilled with the censorship story (which is also alluded to during the Live In Aspen reunion interview, included in the box set) that they prefer it to the actual comedy. For some people, of course, anecdotes are easier to digest.
Incredibly, the original script doesn't feature the "golf's not very popular round here" tag to Harry Bagot's hobbies, suggesting that they originally assumed the reference to masturbation was enough of a joke in itself!
c) After the 'Very Silly Loonie' waves at us during the film of Mount Everest he was supposed to stay in shot as the film fades out. When it came back again he was nowhere to be seen. In the tx he just leaves the scene.
[NOTE: Unfortunately one of the cast pages is missing from this copy so we can't tell you who the Loonie is played by.]
A nice sensible stage direction reads:
During the voiceover, the first scripted mention of the "International Hairdressers Expedition" is followed by the bracketed words '(Combined English, German, Italian).
The line "you couldn't get near the mirror!" isn't present in the script.
A tiny bit extra during the bit where mountaineer hairdresser Ricky (Palin) explains their predicament:
A note on the 'Ricky Pules Salon' cinema advert asks for:
As we go into animation there's an extra line: 'At the Katmandu Odeon all next week etc etc...'
d) In 'Fire Brigade' / Our Eammon a note referring to the 'gleaming fire engine' reads '(QUITE A CHEAP ONE WILL DO)'.
When Mervyn (Cleese) is on the phone to the operator, there's a smashing stage direction - '(WHILST HE WAITS FOR OPERATORS REPLY HE IDLY TRIES ON DIFFERENT MOUSTACHES AND LOOKS AT HIMSELF IN THE MIRROR ABOVE THE PHONE)'. None of this happened in the tx.
In the script the line is "The Bloody hamster's dead!". This was changed to "sodding" for tx. And Eammon (Chapman) originally initially said "Mother!" rather than "Mummy!" (at least when he first enters - the rest of his oedipal utterances are mummified).
When the fire brigade phone back there's no reference in the script of Mervyn checking Eammon's bare foot and quoting its size. Also, Mrs Little (Jones) says "Oh no... Thursdays the Canastas come round for Smith... Can they make it another day". This rather confusingly-written line eventually became "Thursday's the Industrial Relations Bill Dinner Dance." Mervyn's "Sunday's RIGHT OUT!" was originally "Sunday's no good" (with no note about any emphasis on the delivery).
The hand waving from the bowl of flowers on the announcer's desk belongs to assistant floor manager Roger Last.
e) The cinematic intro to 'Party Hints' was originally set against a 'WESTERN LANDSCAPE'. There was also a bit extra after the title sequence:
The plate of ghoulash in 'Party Hints' originally went round "twenty-four" people rather than "twenty six". "Canapes" was originally "kebabs" and a note for Gilliam reads '(INTO AN ANIMATED ITEM FROM WEST HAMPSTEAD)'.
f) The 'Language Laboratory' sketch includes this following curious section:
The plate-breaking is of course a back-reference to 'Disturbing Vicar' which was cut from the start of this show. As for the 'autograph' section, this appears to be part of an abandoned running joke which never made it past script stage. The device also occurs in the shooting script for 'Tudor Book Shop' (Series 3, Show 10). For more on this, see our notes on that script, coming up shortly.
Mr Mann's impression of Clive Jenkins originally included the line "blue in the tits". This was changed to "blue in the breasts" for tx. Maybe there were too many uses of the word in that show anyway?
g) In the 'Travel Agent' sketch the famous sub-punchline "what a silly bunt!" is present in the shooting script (and looks so innocuous on the page it makes you go all tingly). For tx the line is cut out very crudely, leaving the studio audience laughing at nothing and a shot of Palin attempting to surf the hysteria. Later versions of the sketch (on Monty Python's Previous Record and various onstage renditions) reinstate the line which so offended Duncan Wood (again, see our notes on Series 3, Show 10 for furtherings).
The 'party of people from Rhyl' were described by Mr Smoke-Too-Much (Idle) as singing "Pero pero pero pero pero" rather than the tx's "Torremolinos. Torremolinos...". Later live versions had them sing "I love the Costa Brava...". Bounder (Palin) eventually instructs Smoke-Too-Much to cease his prattling by shouting "Will you shut your gob you tit". Another example of tit removed from the performance there). The full 'Spanish Holiday Monologue', i.e. the rest of Idle's speech which drones on in the background, doesn't feature in this script, yet it must have been written down somewhere as it's correctly quoted in Just The Words (perhaps a rehearsal script?).
h) 'Anne Elk' (here described simply as 'DINOSAUR SKETCH') begins with a note reading 'PRESENTER SITTING WITH A GUEST IN USUAL LATE-NIGHT LINE-UP SET OR VARIATION'.
In the script, the presenter (Chapman) does a bit of routine not performed for the tx but present on the later Previous Record version:
The performance of the above looks a little odd and uncomfortable in the tx, almost as if Chapman has either half-forgotten to do the joke, or that it was one of many retakes where, for whatever reason, they opted to remove it and cut straight to the main interview.
A bit of unnecessary reiteration occurs after Anne Elk (Cleese) has revealed her theory about the brontosaurus:
A script note continues the joke for the benefit of cast and crew:
No mention in the script of Bounder alluding to "The British Shoe Corporation". The final section ends like this:
There's no mention of the Loonie sticking his head into shot a second time after the fade-out. And a little note at the end - 'N.B. NO CREDITS AS ALREADY RUN'.
[Many many thanks to Jason Hazeley for
the loan of his copy of the above script.]
36 American masters of Series 3, Show 7 (30/11/72) have a tape fault during 'Biggles Dictates A Letter' which causes a slight jump in picture and the loss of a few seconds of dialogue. Whether this fault was present on the original copy supplied to American stations by the BBC Timer Life or whether it was caused during some more recent transfer process in unknown, but, suffice to say, the presence of this annoying and nasty-looking glitch has not stopped the master being used for repeat showings on Paramount and even being released on their bastard 'Best Of' DVD uncorrected, despite, as with 'Summarise Proust' there being better copies available.
37. In the 'Sam Pekinpah's Salad Days' sketch in Series 3, Show 7 the scene suddenly changes from a bright sunny day to a pitch black night - this was apparently due to technical delays, but the effect makes it look like an extension of the 'pretentious director' parody.
The following scene showing Idle's sniffing film critic bleeding in slow-motion is on film, despite the item's introductory monologue having been on studio VT. Again, this looks vaguely 'artistic', but is actually due to technical limitations - this scene would have been considered too complex and messy to be performed in front of a live audience, and technology of the time did not allow videotape to be played in slow-motion.
38. Here we go then - a closer look at the shooting script for Series 3, Show 7 (30/11/72)
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| Monty Python's Flying Circus
Series 3, Show 7
Shooting script - typed 10/11/71
Show Recorded: 07/01/72
TX: 30/11/72 |
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a)
'Biggles Dictates A Letter features an extra line:
There is no mention of the "Lemon curry?" interruption in the original script.
b) In 'Climbing Uxbridge Road', an alternate sub-punchline:
This was changed to the much funnier "Well there you are then" in performance.
The 'white' rope has been changed to a 'yellow' one. More of that wonderful film discolouration, probably. Also, when Bert shouts some instructions to another character called John (who answers "Right-oh") the script states that he's 'DRIVING A PITTON IN WITH A SMALL HAMMER'.
There is no mention of "Lemon Curry?" in the script for this sketch.
c) In the Lifeboat sketch it was originally the 'Ramsgate Lifeboat', rather than Newhaven.
d) A script note in reference to the 'Television is bad for your eyes' animation:
e) The 'Show So Far' linkman (Terry Jones) mentions that the woman's sitting room "was being spied on by some neighbours". He is also described as being hit by 'BOB BERT'S BIG HAMMER'. Bert being the show's designer, hence...
f) ...another script instruction for the 'Cheese Shop' sketch: 'THERE IS ACTUALLY NO CHEESE TO BE SEEN EITHER ON OR BEHIND THE COUNTER BUT THIS IS NOT OBVIOUS (CAN WE DISCUSS WITH BOB BERT PLEASE?)'.
Oh, no mention of a "Lemon curry?" interruption before this sketch.
The photographs of Cleese approaching the cheese shop were originally to be accompanied by 'BOND-STYLE MUSIC'. This was to cut to Bazouki music when he entered the shop. In the tx it's Bazoukis all the way.
The "Anyway" cutaway is in the script. Although Palin says "What was that?", so we knew that anyway.
The script reads: 'I don't care how bleep runny it is', suggesting perhaps that they were originally going to include "fucking" and bleep it out. This was changed to the slightly rubbish "excrementally" for tx anyway.
g) First instruction for 'Salad Days' sketch reads 'FILM OF SALAD DAYS AS PER HALFWAY DOWN PAGE 2'. We've no idea what this means. There is also however an interesting script direction regarding the way the bloodshed is to be shot:
A nice internal reference there, alluding to the multiple cameras which covered the exploding Webbs Wonder lettuce in 'French Subtitled Film' (Series 2, Show 10 - 01/12/70). It's worth noting that Wilmut's edit of the above stage direction in Just The Words amends the description to 'as per "Zabriskie Point"'- the latter being the famous underground film by Michelangelo Antonioni, (1970), the impenetrable nuances of which the 'Subtitled Film' sketch was, at least in part, parodying. Zabriskie Point's most memorable scene captures, from various angles, a bunch of television sets exploding in slow motion (to a backing score by Pink Floyd).
h) Although Richard Baker is credited on the front cover, the script of the sketch itself has obviously been taken from an earlier draft:
January being the recording date, of course�
This is the only mention of the 'Lemon curry?' joke in the script � none of the other cutaways are included.
39. Pushing straight on here with a look at the shooting script for Series 3, Show 8 (07/12/72):
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| Monty Python's Flying Circus
Series 3, Show 8
Shooting script - no typing date
Show Recorded: 04/05/72
TX: 07/12/72 |
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a) In the Transport Cafe scene, after Mr Pither says he only has a fifty pence piece, Idle's cafe proprietor originally had the slightly snappier retort:
"I'll have a look but I may have to ring the bank". This was changed to
"go to the bank" for tx. Also, as Pither leaves, thanking him for the sandwich:
b)The Gilliam animated monsters are not mentioned anywhere at all in the original script.
c) In the tx when we see Pither talking to the gardening woman, Palin plays it as if Pither is blissfully unaware that she is ignoring him. The script suggests slight pathos was intended, as Pither is said to 'LOOK AGAIN FOR A GLIMMER OF INTEREST'. The woman was originally going to go back into her house slightly earlier � after Pither's "That shouldn't really happen to a self-sealing container, should it?"
d) As Pither gets thrown out of the pub, a few extra lines are present:
e) The hospital was to feature 'A NEGRO NURSE' for some reason. Also, the crates which the doctor knocks over were originally going to contain whisky. Perhaps it was too expensive for Bob Bert to mock-up the bottles. Or maybe Chapman drank them all. Also a few alternate lines before the final montage of accidents:
For tx the above was simplified somewhat. Finally, Gulliver (Terry Jones) has a line as they leave the hospital: "No time to lose � we must make for Moscow tonight!"
f) After the Chinese scream "Bingo! Bingo! Bingo!", we cut to a 'WORRIED DIRECTOR':
No idea what that's about, but it was probably filmed as the edit between this scene and the next is a little awkward.
g) The secret policeman nicknamed 'Bag' originally said "You're an ice-cream salesman? I thought you were a window dresser.". For tx the latter was changed to "vetenarian".
h) There is a note in the script for animation to go between the "old Lenin number" and Pither in his cell. This is alluded to in Johnson's notes on the show which suggest that the animation featured an ad for 'Lenin's Chartbusters Volume III'.
h) Our favourite script direction today (from the firing squad scene):
i) After Pither has his "quick intermeal snack", there was originally to have been a fade out. In the show, the guards come back in immediately.
The dream sequence has an extra, somewhat unnecessary, line:
j) The song Eartha Kitt sings is apparently called 'Let's Do It'.
A different Edward Heath speech is heard, over which we hear the following from the disgruntled Russians:
Parts of the above are detectable in the tx but aren't very clear. Nice to have them confirmed.
When Gulliver becomes himself again, he says "I'm very fond of Tchaikovsky".
k) When Gulliver thanks Mr Pither at the end, he calls him by his first name - George. He is however referred to as 'Reg Pither' when introduced to the Russians earlier in the show.
40. The intro sequence to Series 3, Show 9 (14/12/72) features Terry Jones' Nude Man and John Cleese' Announcer purportedly caught off-guard, chatting with journalists, before realising we're watching and going for a take. Although Michael Palin's 'It's Man' simply says his piece as usual, his scene does appear to have been specially-shot, suggesting that he was originally scheduled to get caught short in a similarly candid moment. Later on in the same show we also see Terry Gilliam 'out of character' demonstrating how he assembles his animations before noticing he's on camera and popping his head into shot to utter a brief "Sorry...".
41. Hold on a sec, we can now confirm the above, with a look at the shooting script for Series 3, Show 9 (14/12/72):
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| Monty Python's Flying Circus
Series 3, Show 9
Shooting script - typed 20/02/72
Show Recorded: 11/05/72
TX: 14/12/72 |
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a) In
'Bomb On The Plane' the two pilots were originally going to be wearing kilts.
b) A note for the intro sequence:
For the above, 'Noel Coward' crossed out � 'Nude Organist' written over top.
A different line from Cleese as announcer: 'I think comedy is basically the collision of two opposing views of life. As A.J. Ayers said�'. In the tx this became "Personally I rather adhere to the Bergsonian idea of laughter as a social sanction against inflexible behaviour but..."
As speculated above, the It's Man originally had a more elaborate scene:
Nice one. An out-of-character version of a Series 1-esque intro sequence. Shame no-one got to see it.
[NOTE (2): Series 3, Show 10 (21/12/72) was also scheduled to mess about with the intro sequence - by portraying it entirely as animation. Due to the course of events this never came to be (Our notes - Show 10. Comin' atcha. Soon.).]
c) In 'Mortuary Hour' a script note requests 'RADIO 1 NEWS STING - THE REAL ONE IF POSS'. The sting used in the tx is indeed the genuine article as used by the station in the early 70s.
Idle's DJ was originally going to laugh imbecilically over his lines - in the script it's written as 'N-ha-ha-ha-haine', 'Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha-one', etc.
The visiting VIP is said to be 'ONE OF THE QUEEN'S UNCLES', although his name in the script keeps changing and getting longer. By the end, he is THE EXTREMELY CLOSE BLOOD RELATION OF THE QUEEN WE KNOW SO WELL AND LOVE
42. A Gilliam animation which used music from 'a German commercial made by Halas And Batchelor' in Series 3, Show 9 (14/12/72) caused a few problems which led to all repeats of the show being re-edited. On the 22 January 1973 BBC Head of Comedy Duncan Wood wrote a memo to Ian MacNaughton, asking him to remove the music because 'H.Cop' had complained. No more info than that, although the tone of the missive suggests that the matter had been discussed between them previously. The first repeat-showing (17/03/74, according to PasB logs) substituted new music in the form of
'Yangtse Song' (originally issued on
Monty Python's Previous Record - composed by Neil Innes and published by EMI Songs/United Partnership, although the PasB for the repeat broadcast notes 'Record dubbed (background): 'The Yangtse Song' (artist unknown), Charisma CB 200' - the catalogue number in question referring to the 7" release of the song which included a nice instrumental sing-a-long version).
This animation in question is the one which leads into the 'Live From Planet Algon' sequence. The beginning of the animation features a button being pressed (by a character with a ridiculously long arm) which powers a pair of talking lips marked 'ZDP'. These proceed to speak some German. This links to a sequence where two trees grow upwards until they reach outer space and crash into an invisible barrier.
We then cut to a brick wall, upon which is scrawled 'Remember 1937' (a Nazi symbol is also present, although not quite in frame, bottom right-hand corner) and a cartoon Adolf Hitler (voiced by Gilliam) appears, claiming not to know why he's appearing in the cartoon. Another figure (voiced by Palin) emerges from his mouth and insists that it's "loaded with political significance!" before being beheaded, by Hitler's tache, and adding "I was right!"
Now then. Let's speculate. Firstly, it's possible, but by no means definite, that at least part of this animation was prepared for, but cut from, the first Fliegender Zirkus show. References to German broadcasts, German commercials, etc, which wouldn't necessarily have been intended for a British audience. The animation studio Halas & Batchelor was London-based but had a department in Germany which specifically made TV ads and childrens cartoons. The German-speaking lips don't sound like any of the team and were perhaps voiced by whoever performed the more complicated voiceovers in Fliegender Zirkus. To our knowledge no one has ever attempted a translation of what the lips are actually saying (any German-speakers out there fancy helping us out?). Also, the brick wall with the cryptic message is the same one as used in the Zirkus / Series 3 titles (which gets replaced with the Hawaiian scene).
Finally on this subject, in David Morgan's Monty Python Speaks (page 48), Gilliam bemoaned the fact that Ian MacNaughton 'completely fucked up' the animation in question by cutting it short. Gilliam: 'It was a strange abstract thing - it's really hard to describe! I mean, it was like trees growing and reaching barriers in space you can't see, and then they went around and did all sorts of really strange and interesting things. And I don't know what he was thinking when he did it, he just didn't get what it was and he cut it. That was a big mistake'.
Nobody's ever asked Gilliam whether he kept personal copies of his original animations. If he did then just think of the potential for extras for DVD release. Go on, think of it. We do. Every day.
[NOTE (1): The 'ZDP' lips appear as a paste-up strip in Terry Gilliam's Animations Of Mortality.]
[NOTE (2): An unrelated bit of information - Halas And Batchelor's first animated feature was Animal Farm. That one was certainly "loaded with political significance"! Also unrelated but quite amusing is the fact that the studio was involved in '8mm Concept Films' (1961-69) about 'Biology' - two of the programmes were called 'Primary Growth In Trees' (info courtesy of the ARC Archive). ]
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