Holy Flying Circus (2011)

I have just seen this television play, which I recorded some time ago. I haven't laughed so much in ages. The subject is the events in 1979 when the Monty Python team launched "The Life of Brian", and came under attack from Christians on both sides of the Atlantic. The whole thing is done in the spirit of MP, with fantasy sequences and lots of silliness. The actors, particularly those portraying John Cleese and Michael Palin, are so realistic, that I had trouble remembering that I was not watching the originals. Steve Punt also makes a very convincing Eric Idle. The highlight of the play is the well-known confrontation on the chat show, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning between Cleese and Palin on the one side, and Malcolm Muggeridge, former Communist and then born-again Christian journalist, and Mervyn Stockwood, the closetly homosexual Church of England bishop, on the other. A straightforward representation of the facts would not have been worthwhile, but the hilarious way in which events and characters are represented is like watching MP in their prime. Utterly recommended!

They really did get the Flying Circus feel. Even to the point of occasionally overdoing it and getting monotonous. How they managed to find actors who so well resembled the Pythons in their youth, and even managed to generally sound like them, is beyond me. About the only one I didn't think they quite got right was Gilliam; he seemed a tad over the top with the dopey thing. But a small gripe. Darryn Boyd does a great Basil Fawlty Cleese. And Stephen Fry is a hoot as The Lord Almighty. This is a total must see for us Python fans starved for new material (Eric Idle exploiting Python is only good for so long, y'know?).

I really enjoyed this film, more than I thought I would. I expected something worthy and literal, instead I got an episode of latter day Monty Python, one which I found funnier than many of the originals. I think my one disappointment was the opening scene where Jesus is seen behaving in an unexpected way with "Eric Idle". This will without doubt have caused many adventurous Christians, who might have decided to give it a go, to turn off, which is a shame as I think they would have benefited from and even enjoyed the remainder of the film. Any opportunity to make those of faith actually think about what they have faith in should not be missed. A little patchy in places, and a little flat at the end, but overall I really enjoyed it. Especially the performances of Michael Palin and John "Basil Fawlty" Cleese.

Absolutely superb piece of television, the very well judged performances are spot on and the Pythons are portrayed extremely well. The period of time is beautifully rendered and the entire madness of unwavering beliefs and the ramifications therein are dealt with magnificently and with a great deal of integrity. The way they worked many of the Monty Python staples such as very obvious drag and so on into the piece were masterfully done, all in all and with everything considered to be honest I couldn't stand it ;)(why waffle on aimlessly and without rational thought like Malcolm Muggeridge and THE BISHOP! when you can express your view succinctly)