Monty Python Sketches (partially lost deleted scenes from TV and movies; 1973-1975)

A rare behind-the-scenes photo of the sketch, "Flute Player".

Status: Partially Lost

Monty Python's Flying Circus was an avant-garde TV comedy programme aired from 1969-1974 on the BBC. It was conceived, written and performed by 5 British scholars and one American animator, all of whom happened to be brilliantly gifted comedians: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam. The show was an immediate hit and the sextet, despite eventually splitting off to pursue solo projects, would forever after become known collectively as Monty Python.

By an extraordinary stroke of luck, the Flying Circus survived entirely intact through the BBC's policy of wiping/reusing master tapes to save money (victims of which famously include Doctor Who and Not Only...But Also). The troupe was tipped off when the wipe was scheduled, so that they were able to smuggle out the master tapes ahead of time to make copies. But the show had been edited fairly heavily before and since, and to this day, various sketches and associated media exist only in fragments if at all.

Flying Circus Sketches (1973-1974)

Surprisingly enough, only a relatively few sketches were cut altogether from the original series. Some, including the original "Half-A-Bee!" and "Big-Nose Sculpture", had to be scrapped during filming thanks to Graham Chapman's alcohol-fueled inability to remember his lines; both of these survive in production stills that have since been collected in book form.

Other sketches were filmed but removed either just before airing or in reruns, after the censor boards got a good look at the final result:

The most famous of these is the Undertaker sketch, which was intended to close out Series 2 at the end of the 26th episode overall. This full-bore assault on ther bounds of good taste revolves around the title character (Chapman) and his assistant Fred (Eric Idle) persuading Cleese's grieving son to eat his mother's body rather than deal with what the undertakers claim is the messy hassle of "burning 'er or burying 'er". They do offer to dig a grave for the son to throw up into (in case he feels "a bit guilty afterwards") whereupon Cleese finally agrees and the sketch... proceeds... from there. At this point, the studio audience had been instructed to protest loudly, and eventually to rush the stage. Cue freeze-frame and the credits rolling to the solemn strains of 'God Save the Queen'.

It was only this assurance of clear condemnation that persuaded BBC executives to allow the sketch to be taped in the first place - conditional, they warned the troupe, on the audience being very convincingly outraged. Unfortunately - or not - in the event the audience comes across as all-too-clearly just part of the fun. Security regs allowed only a few people to actually rush onstage, leaving the rest just sitting there awkwardly. After the initial episode broadcast in 1970, executives went so far as to wipe this sketch off the master tape and dub in a sketch of roughly the same length from earlier in the series.

They seem to have relented eventually, however, as a low-quality but complete recording of the "Undertaker" sketch from an unknown source (thought to be an off-air dub for someone's personal viewing) was found in time for the episode to be restored for the second series' release on BBC Video in 1985, and the intact episode was subsequently seen in American PBS reruns.

Earlier in Series 2, the Crackpot Religions sketch (from the 24th episode overall) currently ends with a not-very-subtle animation of a smug vicar who has to nail his head shut to contain the ugly demon who appears whenever he smiles too widely. Some years later, during the sped-up 'recap' that closes this episode, home media viewers spotted a couple of animation frames that were not seen the first time round. This led to the eventual discovery of a much longer cartoon that extends to the vicar taking a call, a utility worker yelling about a bad connection... and a zoom out to reveal it's because Jesus is crucified on the telephone pole. The Devil pops out of the ground below to inquire "Did somebody call?", then quickly apologizes for 'coming in at a bad time' and flies away.

It's extremely obvious what got this sequence cut, and why it's the only one that has not been reinstated in any official format. Only a very obscure B&W 16mm episode collection (thought to have been intended for American troops overseas) preserves the full animation, which eventually would be colourized and make its way to YouTube.

Revolting Cocktails (series 3) was also filmed but eventually removed from the 36th overall episode. Three uptight 'city gents' request increasingly disgusting drinks at a rural bar, all happily supplied by the salt-of-the-earth bartender - who is heavily implied to be having one over on the cluelessly slumming gents. Each cocktail involves live animal mutilation, and subsequently a considerable amount of vomiting.

Like the "Undertaker" sketch, this one seems to have been solely intended to test the limits of televised bad taste and so was probably cut for the same reasons. It would however later resurface in various Python stage shows.

The Political Broadcast (Choreographed), featuring Cleese as a candidate attempting to announce his policy platform via interpretive dance, was axed from BBC reruns of the 12th episode of Series 3 (the 38th overall) ahead of an upcoming election, on the grounds of political bias (as the de facto state broadcaster, the BBC is bound by very strict impartiality rules). As a side note, this sketch originally closed out the 13th and final episode of the series; moving it back to the 12th resulted in the permanent loss of that episode's original opening gag, a series of captions: "TONIGHT WE START THE SHOW STRAIGHT AWAY WITH THE OPENING TITLES" "NO YOU DIDN'T - YOU STARTED WITH THAT CAPTION" "AH YES".

The "Political Broadcast" sketch, meanwhile, later resurfaced on home recordings of the show's American PBS run, was subsequently uploaded to YouTube, and eventually ended up among the extras on later official Python DVD sets.

Ursula Hitler was slated to be the last-ever original Python sketch to be broadcast, having been designed as the finale of episode 45, but was removed shortly prior to airing. It revolves around respectable British spinster Ursula Hitler, nee Lloyd-George, who had already changed her surname numerous times trying to avoid sharing it with Prime Ministers before finally settling on Hitler in 1934.

This naturally caused some confusion in the mails, and Ms. Hitler (Chapman) explains to an interviewer (Terry Jones) how she accordingly threw out a peculiar letter ordering her to withdraw her troops from Poland or she would be in a state of war with Britain. She goes on to complain of the disruption that the subsequent war had caused, and reveals her 'revolutionary method' was to 'mark each of them with a red mark and drop them into the pool'... apparently she's talking about salmon farming. The interview concludes with the presenter accidentally shooting himself.

Again, it is unknown exactly why this sketch was cut, but according to various Pythons in interviews it seems official objections were raised to the handling of the sensitive subject matter, and as it was already overlong none of the troupe much minded it being removed altogether. The sketch was deemed "impossible to find" until it was recovered on the 50th anniversary reissue in 2019.

Notable Edits

Many more of the Flying Circus episodes, understandably, fell afoul of the censors in less dramatic ways. These sketches were not deleted entirely, but fixed to the best of the troupe's ability. In some cases, re-airings dealt with the issue; famed interviewer David Frost had his actual phone number published in one episode, which was hastily replaced by a fake one in rebroadcast due to his line being spammed. Some elements have simply required removal due to changing mores - various incidences of blackface have been cut for modern streaming - and expired song rights (Girl From Ipanema, Tonight).

Other material was muted. The "Summarize Proust" sketch removed the word 'masturbating' and another sketch had to redub over "what a silly bunt" as the star of the sketch was a man who pronounces 'B's as, erm, 'C's. 'Cancer' was removed twice on the grounds of bad taste, most memorably from Carol Cleveland's narration of a cartoon in the sixth episode, wherein a male voice is dubbed over saying "gangrene". The second and much less dramatic muting happened during the "Conquistador Coffee Campaign" in the eleventh episode of Series 2... which, as the troupe is never tired of pointing out, still left a reference to leprosy intact. As it happens the 'Conquistador Coffee' sketch is in the same episode as "Crackpot Religions", so the 16mm reel preserves that unedited 'cancer' reference as well.

The complete Ursula Hitler sketch

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus

The series proved so wildly popular in West Germany that as early as 1972 the Pythons were invited to tape 2 45-minute specials exclusively for Bavarian television. The troupe members all worked phonetically from translated scripts, making this dub of the Flying Circus an especially interesting curiosity as the earliest alt-versions of the classic sketches involved. Unfortunately the specials have themselves become obscure, and currently exist only in variously edited versions.

Two scenes are known to have been cut before the original broadcast: "Swimming Lessons with Arthur Lustgarten" and "Menthol Cigarettes Ad". Both would later resurface on YouTube.

Thatks to the various re-edits, a further four segments are now completely missing:

• A version of the "Marriage Guidance Counsellor" sketch.
• A sketch involving a flute player (Chapman) in front of a German sign (this one survives in production stills, as seen on this page).
• A version of the "Sir Edward Ross" sketch
• An alternate ending to the first special, in which two stage hands are carrying a giant sign that says ENDE off a huge field. Behind the sign is Terry Jones' singer character from the "Albrecht Dürer" sketch.

The Films

Among Michael Palin's personal archives are long-lost tapes containing alternate and deleted sequences from the troupe's first and arguably most famous feature film, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. These included a much more "conventional" ending to the film (which was eventually scrapped in favour of the familiar abrupt cut to nowhere), Shakespeare's Hamlet as a "foul-mouthed private detective", a "Pink Knight" scene involving a bridge-guarding knight striking a "camp pose" and informing King Arthur that "None shall cross this bridge unless they give a kiss", and a "Wild West" scene wherein a news reporter enters a saloon (actually the "last bookshop befoe you go to Mexico") and asks for a beer, getting the response, "Not since they started specializing in European authors".

All of these are included in the materials Palin donated to the British Library, where they are readily available. As yet they have not surfaced elsewhere.

Video

The restored extension of the "Crackpot Religions" sketch.

The two cut sketches from the 1972 German specials: Swimming Lessons with Arthur Lustgarten and Menthol Cigarettes.

External Sites

• Fliegender Zirkus Sketch (Rare)
• from Holy Grail episode cut scenes