The circus flies home

Introduction

And now for something completely different. It's...

After waiting since the inception of DVD, an attempt at a decent Monty Python TV series release here in region 2, the place that gave birth to the show! The BBC originally released a "best of" series 1 DVD in July 2000, but they were already lagging behind A&E in the USA, who have released just about everything possible that is related to the Monty Python TV series in region 1. That does mean that it's all in NTSC, but they've released a lot of material, 18 discs full in fact!



The series have since been made available in individual sets over here, but now they are all brought together in one set, along with a bonus extras disc full of new and exclusive extras. I will talk a bit about them later since I've written enough about the series over the years!

Recorded and broadcast from 1969-1972, does Monty Python stand the test of time? Well, that's a rhetorical question really, because of course it does! It will even teach you things about history, philosophy and other worldly subjects.

On we go...

Video

It's a 40 year old television programme. What do you think? 40 year old 4:3 footage is not a DVD's best friend, but this comes out quite well. Some colours are a bit washed out, and there is some grain and a few artefacts are lurking around. It has had a bit of remastering here and there...

Overall though a good job, and it probably won't look any better. An improvement on my worn out VHS copies certainly!

And importantly it looks just that bit better than the region 1 version.

Audio

Pardon the repetition, but it's a 40 year old television programme. What do you think? As with other releases, the sound comes out quite well, all things considered. It's basically a 40 year old mono track and there's not much more to say about it. There's nothing to detract from the programmes themselves.

Extra Features

"A horse, a spoon and a basin."

Right, this is where things get interesting.

We have a whole disc dedicated to new extras, filmed especially for this DVD.

First up we have "Before the Flying Circus" - an intentionally black and white widescreen documentary, which covers the history of the Pythons before the TV series started, narrated by Robert Bathurst. This is very interesting and very thorough, and features interviews with all the main protagonists (minus Chapman for obvious reasons) as well as people like David Frost, Ronnie Corbett, Dennis Norden and David Nobbs. Python maniacs like me will be aware of much of this, as will you if you've ever read "The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons" or other books, but it's great to see it all captured here in this hour long documentary, complete with plenty of archive footage (well, the stuff that the BBC didn't stupidly destroy...) And it cleverly fades into colour right at the very end - a nice touch.

This lasts for almost an hour and is very good.

Secondly we have "Monty Python conquers America", narrated by Tom Sreithorst. This is very similar in style to the first documentary, in colour this time. Again, lots of new interview footage mixed with rare archive footage, and very worth watching. Interviewees include all the Pythons again (Carol Cleveland makes an appearance in this one), along with Hank Azaria, David Hyde Pierce (who appeared in Spamalot on Broadway), Trey Parker and Matt Stone.

This also lasts for almost an hour and there's probably a lot more in here that you didn't know.

Animated Gilliam is a 15 minute piece on the title sequences with Terry Gilliam. He talks at length about his ideas, where things came from, how they got put together etc. A great addition.

"Politically Incorrect" is a sketch that was dropped from a repeat broadcast of the show and excised from the archives, and was only available from a PBS broadcast in the US. A rare scene indeed!



So this is all good. But here are the things that you could describe as "missing" from this set as they have been released in region 1 as part of their Python box set:-

All of the material from the 30th anniversary BBC celebrations:-

It's The Monty Python Story - this BBC production celebrates 30 years of Python with new Monty Python sketches, a plethora of guest appearances and the funniest funeral you'll ever attend.
Pythonland - journey with Michael Palin in search of the locations where the best-known Python sketches were shot.
The Lost Python Mayday Special - A fun and fusty relic from the 1971 Pan-European May Day Festival, freshly dug from the BBC rubbish bin.
From Spam to Sperm: Monty Python's Greatest Hits - Join host Meat Loaf for a countdown of the songs we were grounded for singing as kids.
Animated tribute from the creators of Comedy Central's South Park starring Cartman, Kyle and Kenny!

We're also missing:-

Fliegender Zirkus episodes 1 and 2 - the famous episodes made for German TV
Parrot Sketch not Included - the 20th anniversary programme featuring Steve Martin (lots of clips and talking heads) and the last appearance of Chapman
Live at the Hollywood Bowl
Live at Aspen (feature on the 1998 US Comedy Arts festival tribute to Python) - Chapman's ashes appear on stage with the others

Conclusion

"With a melon ?"

Loads and loads of classic sketches on offer including "Attila the Hun/Nun/Bun", "Killer Sheep", "Idiots", "Mr & Mrs Git", "Hank and Roy Spim - Mosquito Hunters", "Bruces", "The Verrifast Plane Co.", "Bing Tiddle Tiddle Bong", "Fish Licence", "Conquistador Instant Leprosy", "How Not To Be Seen", "Spam", "Whicker Island" (recently parodied by Harry Enfield as Clarkson Island), "Emigration from Surbiton to Hounslow", "The Fish-slapping Dance", "The Money Programme", "Merchant Banker", "Hairdresser's expedition to Everest", "The Cheese Shop", "Dennis Moore", "Biggles dictates a letter", "Flats built by hypnosis", "Spot the Loony", "A Doctor whose patients are stabbed by his nurse", "Icelandic Honey week", "Mrs Non-Robinson", "The Golden Age of Ballooning", "Michael Ellis" and many more.

The first three series are equally strong, and the fourth series is weaker but unique in it does not feature John Cleese, who left at the end of the third series to pursue other projects. He was wary of repetition creeping in, and at times you can see his point. He still gets a writing credit along the way though. Something was definitely lost with the departure of Cleese, and it's probably Graham Chapman who suffers most as they were regular writing partners.

The extras on show in this set are very good and might help you to decide to buy it.



So what do you do?

If you only have Python on VHS - buy this.
If you've never bought any TV Python on DVD before - buy this.
If you've only bought bits of TV Python on DVD before - buy this.
Even if you've bought everything from the US (which probably cost you a few quid over the years) - I'd still say buy this. You can get it online for around 30 quid, and that means you get all the episodes in PAL format, i.e. the way they were filmed, and you get over 2 hours of new and interesting extras. You could sell some of your Python episodes region 1 discs if you want...

And if you want all that missing stuff I mentioned earlier, you can by the Life of Python and Monty Python Live sets from the US...

At last a decent Python box set for the neglected people of region 2!