Scripted series · BBC One
Monty Python's Flying Circus
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Who's in it
Cast
The principal ensemble across the run of the series.
John Cleese
Various / Announcer
39 eps
Graham Chapman
Various
45 eps
Michael Palin
Various / "It's" man
45 eps
Terry Jones
Various
45 eps
Eric Idle
Various
45 eps
Terry Gilliam
Various
45 eps
Ian Davidson
3 eps
Connie Booth
Various
4 eps
Carol Cleveland
Various
7 eps
Maureen Flanagan
2 eps
Dick Vosburgh
1 eps
Barry Cryer
1 eps
Marjorie Wilde
1 eps
Ringo Starr
1 eps
Nosher Powell
1 eps
Neil Innes
1 eps
Douglas Adams
2 eps
Carolae Donoghue
1 eps
Julia Breck
1 eps
Lulu
1 eps
Ewa Aulin
1 eps
Nigel Jones
1 eps
John Hughman
1 eps
Katya Wyeth
1 eps
Lyn Ashley
5 eps
Rita Davies
Third Juror
4 eps
Peter Brett
Patient - Russian
3 eps
Terry Medlicott
Monsignor Edward Gay
1 eps
Frank Williams
1 eps
The Nutevio profile
TV DNA
How Monty Python's Flying Circus actually feels to watch, measured on the traits our editors track across every series.
Signature profile
Monty Python's Flying Circus reads strongest on Humour, Character Depth and Bingeability.
How often the series is genuinely funny, by design.
How fully written and psychologically layered the ensemble is.
How hard it is to stop after one episode.
How much each hour depends on the one before it.
How much the series is designed to affect you.
How often an episode ends on a hook you can't ignore.
The sustained pressure the series keeps you under.
Visual ambition — scale, craft and set-piece filmmaking.
The scale, internal logic and texture of the world.
The story
What it's about
A British sketch comedy series with the shows being composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines.
The run
Seasons
4 seasons · 45 episodes.
Season 0 · Unannounced
Specials
33 episodes
Season 1 · Complete
Season 1
196913 episodes
7.5IMDbBest episode · S01E03 How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away
Season 2 · Complete
Season 2
197013 episodes
7.5IMDbBest episode · S02E04 The Buzz Aldrin Show
Season 3 · Complete
Season 3
197213 episodes
7.3IMDbBest episode · S03E10 E. Henry Thripshaw's Disease
Season 4 · Complete
Season 4
19746 episodes
6.7IMDbBest episode · S04E02 Michael Ellis
Where the series peaks
Best Episodes
The hours that define the show, ranked by audience response and editorial signal.
S01E03 · Signature episode
How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away
Featuring a court scene, the larch, Bicycle Repair Man, children's stories, a restaurant sketch, some seduced milkmen, an interview with some children and a stolen newsreader.
- Directed by Ian MacNaughton, John Howard Davies
- Written by Eric Idle, Michael Palin
S02E04 · Signature episode
The Buzz Aldrin Show
More surreal humour from the Monty Python team. Sketches include The Architects, How to Recognise a Mason, Poets and the Chemist sketch.
- Directed by Ian MacNaughton
- Written by Eric Idle, Michael Palin
S03E10 · Signature episode
E. Henry Thripshaw's Disease
Sketches include The Tudor Jobs Agency, Elizabethan Pornography Smugglers, Thripshaw's Disease and The Man Who Says Words in the Wrong Order.
- Directed by Ian MacNaughton
- Written by Eric Idle, Michael Palin
S02E12 · Signature episode
Spam
The sketches in this episode include Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook, World Forum-Communist Quiz, Hospital for Over-Actors and Spam.
- Directed by Ian MacNaughton
- Written by Eric Idle, Michael Palin
S02E02 · Signature episode
The Spanish Inquisition
Featuring the Spanish Inquisition, courtroom charades and a semaphore interpretation of Wuthering Heights.
- Directed by Ian MacNaughton
- Written by Eric Idle, Michael Palin
S01E05
Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century
Featuring Confuse-a-Cat, discussion programme A Duck, a Cat and a Lizard, the arrest of a newsreader, an erotic film, a silly job interview and a burglar/encyclopaedia salesman.
- Directed by Ian MacNaughton
- Written by Eric Idle, Michael Palin
Recently aired
Latest Episodes
Behind the series
Created by
Showrunners, creators, executive producers and the writers who set the voice of the series.
The craft
Key Crew
Directing, writing, production, camera, music and editing.
Executive production
- Ian MacNaughtonProducer
Writing
- Eric IdleWriter
- Michael PalinWriter
- Terry GilliamWriter
- Terry JonesWriter
- Douglas AdamsWriter
- Graham ChapmanWriter
Direction
- Ian MacNaughtonDirector
- John Howard DaviesDirector
Where to watch
Streaming
Availability verified against regional listings.
- Amazon Prime VideoStreaming
- Amazon VideoBuy
- Apple TV StoreBuy
- fuboTVStreaming
- Peacock PremiumStreaming
- Google Play MoviesBuy
- Amazon Prime Video with AdsStreaming
- Peacock Premium PlusStreaming
- Shout! Factory Amazon ChannelStreaming
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Where to go from here
Watch Next
Our editors' suggestion for the show you should start tonight — and why.
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Take the questions with you: this one rewards the same attention.
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Need something lighter afterwards? Start here.
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A palate cleanser with real writing behind the jokes.
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Need something lighter afterwards? Start here.
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If the world-building is what held you, this is the next map to walk.
Never stop watching
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