Monty Python's Flying Circus: Season 4

Sony Pictures (1974)

Comedy
 /   / Color / 269 mins
5035822532014 
/     / 
In Collection
#1478
8.9

Plot

And now for something completely different: Monty Python's Flying Circus was simply the most influential comedy program television has ever seen. Five Englishmen, all working under the constraints of conventional TV shows such as The Frost Report (for which the five Englishmen wrote), gathered together with an expatriate American in the spring of 1969 to break the rules. The result, first airing on BBC-1 on October 5, 1969, has influenced countless future men and women in the media and comedy since.

Cast

Graham Chapman Various
Eric Idle Various
Terry Jones Various
John Cleese Various
Michael Palin It's Man/Various
Terry Gilliam Various
Carol Cleveland Various
Ian Davidson Algy Braithwaite
The Fred Tomlinson Singers Amantillado Chorus

Crew

Director
Ian MacNaughton
John Howard Davies
Producer Ian MacNaughton
Writer Terry Gilliam , Terry Jones
Musician Neil Innes

Episodes

Disc 01

1
The Golden Age of Ballooning
30 mins  31-Oct-74
The Golden Age of Ballooning: Ep. 1 The Beginnings, The Montgolfier brothers pioneer hot air flight, try to wash, Mr. Bartlett comes to visit; animation- brothers washing; Ep. 2 The Montgolfier Brothers in Love, Louis the ??teenth comes to visit and steal the balloon plans; Ep. 3 The Great Day for France, court of George the Third; end credits; Norwegian party political broadcast; Ep. 6 Count Ferdinand Von Zeppelin shows his balloon to dignitaries `It's not a balloon! It's a Zeppelin!'; the drawing and sitting rooms of a small German house; Golden Age of Colonic Irrigation; The Mill on the Floss: Part 1 Ballooning.

Director:  Ian MacNaughton 

Writer:  Terry Gilliam  / Terry Jones 

Guest starring: Stenson Flake, Bob E. Raymond, Frank Lester, Peter Brett,  Carol Cleveland

2
Michael Ellis
30 mins  07-Nov-74
Credits with rolling coin; end credits; a doorman is abused in front of very odd department store (much like Harrod's); a lady buys a flamethrower; some salesclerks make faces at man who wishes to buy an ant (the staff thinks this man is Michael Ellis); man takes ant home to mother; watches BBC lecture on ants; returns defective ant to store; finds Victorian poetry reading about ants; toupee fitting room; manager's office; end of the show department featuring a summing up from the panel, happy ending, long slow fade, two lone figures walking into the sunset, a chase and...

Director:  Ian MacNaughton 

Writer:  Terry Gilliam  / Terry Jones 

Guest starring: John Hughman,  Carol Cleveland

3
The Light Entertainment War
30 mins  14-Nov-74
TV preview of Up Your Pavement and others shows featuring Alex Diamond and other famous people; RAF banter sketch; report of invasion by angels, enemy is not taking war seriously, court martial of soldier for using a wet towel as a weapon, features the skating vicar; invasion of tutu laden soldiers; coming soon- wartime romances; credits; Indian used as a TV remote control, Mrs. Elizabeth III proves she's an idiot; meeting of program heads discussing showing the M4 and other roads in England when a security guard reports the court martial sketch isn't serious anymore; animation- man complaining about everything; squire tries out `woody' sounding words; Hindu remote control, show jumping featuring The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, The Black & White Minstrel Show, and Ben-Hur; late breaking bulletin: World War II has entered romantic phase song- When Does a Dream Begin; credits.

Director:  Ian MacNaughton 

Writer:  Terry Gilliam  / Terry Jones 

Guest starring: Marion Mould, Bob E. Raymond,  Carol Cleveland

4
Hamlet
30 mins  21-Nov-74
Hamlet by William Shakespeare, Act One; Hamlet pulls up in car; Hamlet on couch being interviewed by several different psychiatrists `You've got this great looking bird, her legs are up on the mantle piece...'; Dr. Bruce Genuine comments; computer psychiatrist interviews Hamlet; computer is launched and blown up; Nationwide looks at comfortable chairs, policemen accosts Nationwide reporter & others and talks about helmets, couple making love on the street; couple in bed with her father; credits; group of people in bed watching Hamlet; animation- paratroopers; a decapitated boxer's locker room; hospital workers listen to fight on radio; Mrs. Gorilla & Mrs. Non-Gorilla talk about piston engines; Mrs. Non-Smoker feeds the birds large quantities of food and talks to Mrs. Smoker about piston engines; Act Two- A Room in Polonius's House; live from Epsom, The Queen Victoria's Handicap; Several Queen Victoria's talk about soccer; animation- boy flying with balloons; Act Five- A Ham in the Cast

Director:  Ian MacNaughton 

Writer:  Terry Gilliam  / Terry Jones 

Guest starring: Jimmy Hill, K. Joseph,  Connie Booth, Bob E. Raymond,  Carol Cleveland

5
Mr. Neutron
30 mins  28-Nov-74
Credits; man collecting small arms; a new postal box dedicated in several languages; Mr. Neutron arrives; animation- Neutron credits; Mr. Neutron has tea; headquarters of F.E.A.R. set out to locate Neutron; Mr. Neutron works in garden; F.E.A.R. sets out to locate Teddy Salad the only man who can locate Neutron in the Yukon; Mr. Neutron puts up wall paper; Agent Carpenter tries to locate Salad at an outpost, finds him later in disguise pulling a dog sled; at No. 10 the Prime Minister and his aide confer about Neutron; F.E.A.R. bombs the world; Mr. Neutron falls in love with Mrs. S.C.U.M.; Salad tells where Neutron is after `Walkies'; F.E.A.R. blows up; the new Gobi desert box blows up; Mr. Neutron turns Mrs. S.C.U.M. into a beautiful woman they leave as bomb explodes; animation- has Mr. Neutron survived; announcer tells of lavish and expensive ending to show that will occur after credits; Conjuring Today; man struck on head by hammer.

Director:  Ian MacNaughton 

Writer:  Terry Gilliam  / Terry Jones 

Guest starring: Sloopy, Bob E. Raymond, Douglas Adams,  Carol Cleveland

6
Party Political Broadcast
30 mins  05-Dec-74
A Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Liberal Party; A woman ironing appliances, a laxative cereals, `I run out of beans!', Yes it's the Most Awful Family in Britain Contest for 1974; Icelandic Honey week; a man stabbed by a nurse has to fill out a form for the Doctor to treat him as he bleeds to death; brigadier dictates a letter of protest; animation- opera singer and cannon; an appeal on behalf of rich people who have nothing wrong with them; a woman who can't finish sentences; the quest for the walking tree of Dahomie; the legendary batsmen of the Kalahari; credits; the news.

Director:  Ian MacNaughton 

Writer:  Terry Gilliam  / Terry Jones 

Guest starring: Peter Brett, Bob E. Raymond,  Carol Cleveland

Edition Details

Series Monty Python's Flying Circus
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio Fullscreen (4:3)
Layers Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 1

Images

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