Rutland Weekend Television (TV Series 1975–1976) Poster

(1975–1976)

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8/10
Wonderful Post-Python Eric Idle Humour
blackreign521 June 2006
30 years after it was first broadcast, I was fortunate to pick up 2 quality copy DVD's from eB*y (before they stopped their listings and sale!), that are taken from original BBC source tapes of both series' of this classic cult comedy. After all this time, many of the classic lines come flooding back with Idle at his best. Punctuated by the wonderful Neil Innes and his witty musical ditties, this is a real treasure.

Many of the sketches really hark back to classic Python format, and a lot of the 'tag lines' and memorable quotes that it throws out had me realising that it was Rutland Weekend Television and NOT Monty Python that was responsible for them. A lot of it works very well, some not so. The milestone appearance of the Rutles, the classic episode of THE OLD GAY WHISTLE TEST, with Whispering Bob Harris, all great stuff. Additionally, there are some very laboured sketches and episodes. Particularly in Series 2, it seems that some of the initial idea and spark that was evident in Series 1, is somewhat missing. Whether this led to its demise after the 14 episodes, who knows? But a wonderful nostalgic trip none the less, and as to why the BBC have never officially released it on the back of the Monty Python success, again who knows?
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Very funny, forgotten little show
TygerBug2 November 1999
Fans of Monty Python will have a sense of deja vu watching "Rutland Weekend," since Python Eric Idle carted over the same mindset and writing style to the tiny studio in BBC2 where all 14 episodes of Rutland Weekend were recorded. This is probably Eric's best work. Even though many of the sketches fail, the easy wit of Eric's writing sees the audience through. You kind of have to retrain your ear to deal without the laugh track, more like watching a feature than a sitcom. It's not a show that insults the intelligence. It insults, certainly, and gets away with murder -- much of what's done in series 2 would have to be cut for American TV -- but it still works. Basically the show consists of Eric talking a whole lot, as a sketch comedy budget doesn't allow for much else. But that's what he did on Python too. The supporting cast, especially David Battley, Henry Woolf, Neil Innes, Gwen Taylor and Terence Bayler, are great, and Python fans will regard this as a rare treat. However, they're not likely to ever see it. As of this writing, these shows are almost impossible to find ...
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10/10
"Are you a friendly carrot?"
ShadeGrenade2 May 2007
Warning: Spoilers
The first series of 'Rutland Weekend Television' inherited the time-slot ( Monday, B.B.C.-2, 9 P.M. ) of the brilliant fifth season of 'The Goodies', and was just as funny in its own way. 'Monty Python' had ended the year before, and its members were keen to try out different comedy styles. John Cleese made 'Fawlty Towers', Michael Palin and Terry Jones gave us 'Ripping Yarns', but Eric Idle chose to keep the spirit of 'Python' alive by writing and starring in this sketch show.

'R.W.T.' was the name of Britain's smallest television station, run by incompetent, talentless people, and the budgets were so low its output rarely rose above the fifth-rate. Programme ideas were cribbed from existing shows on other channels, such as 'Rutland Five-O', and if they did a musical of the 'On The Town' variety, chances were it would be set not in New York New York, but Tunbridge Wells.

In one sketch, Eric interviewed 'The Wittiest Man In The World' who turned out to be anything but. 'The Old Gay Whistle Test' had Eric as 'Whispering' Bob Harris, introducing a rock band whose lead singer has died, yet still performed.

My favourite items were the spoof documentaries - in one a farmer breeds beauty Queens, in another a British soldier continues to fight World War Two from The Isle Of Wight, a house is taken over by policemen, and squatters have to be sent along to evict them. Very Pythonesque.

Ex-'Beatle' and 'Python' fan George Harrison made a memorable appearance in the Christmas Show; after playing the opening chords to 'My Sweet Lord, he changes tack and belts out a spirited song about a pirate.

Movies were spoofed too. 'Pommy' told the story of a young man who goes deaf, dumb and blind after watching a Ken Russell film. Any similarity between it and Russell's own 'Tommy' was, of course, intentional.

Idle was given fine support by David Battley, Henry Woolf, Gwen Taylor, Terence Bayler, Bunny May, Carinthia West and of course, Neil Innes. The former 'Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band' member had appeared in the final season of 'Monty Python', and for 'Rutland' he provided some superbly witty song pastiches. He later landed a show of his own, the criminally underrated 'The Innes Book Of Records'.

One sketch in the second series was 'A Hard Days' Rut', starring 'The Rutles'. When shown in the U.S.A. during an appearance by Idle on 'Saturday Night Live', it caused such a sensation that a full-length television movie was later made - 'All You Need Is Cash' ( 'The Rutles' ).

Flicking through the Sky channel network recently, I came across a few stations that reminded me strongly of 'R.W.T.'. Eric's show was ahead of its time alright. The only thing he got wrong was that his presenters were mainly middle-aged, whereas today's are young and annoyingly trendy.

If by some chance, you're reading this Eric, any chance of a D.V.D. release? I hate the idea of my kids growing up not knowing who 'The Massed Flashers of Reigate' were!
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4/10
More of an Earthworm than a Python
MartynGryphon1 May 2023
I have been a fan of Monty Python for years and am also a fan of (most of), the resulting spin offs. Fawlty Towers and Ripping Yarns in particular. However, after all these years I've come to the following conclusion about Eric Idle's series Rutland Weekend Television. - I don't really like it.

Whilst there is a nostalgic feeling I still get when watching it, most of it just isn't very funny. About 85% of it fails to even raise a smile and of the 15% that does, most of that is courtesy of Neil Innes' songs a nice throwback to the musical interludes he used to do with the Bonzo Dog Band on Do Not Adjust Your Set almost a decade before.

Surely there's some pearlers in there such as cooking Time with Lenin, Marx and Stalin, the first appearance of The Rutles, the prisoner who's waiting to be hanged, only to have his execution 'candled' at the last minute and the parody of The Old Grey Whistle Test with Eric Idle's wonderful take on 'Whispering' Bob Harris.

However, you soon come to realise that Idle's humour tends to be a bit 'samey' and repetitive and his best work was already behind him having been done with the Pythons. Here we see Idle just trying to replicate what he had already done. The faux TV talk show, the non-sensical narrations at the start of sketches, the shop keeper with silly customers. We'd seen it all before only better.

The only thing any viewer can take away from this is to realise that the Monty Python troupe were clearly greater than the sum of its parts and the fact they were ALL writers on that show gave the humour some form of variety. With Eric Idle writing the material for RWT alone, that lack of variety is obvious and it suffers all the more for it.

However, Idle did surround himself with some consummate professionals to help him perform his skits, such as David Battley and Henry Woolf. The greatest thing that LWT gave to it's audience was that it bought the wonderful Gwen Taylor to national attention, who lit up the screen whenever she was on it and is one of the main reasons to watch.

By far the weakest of all the post Python projects and the one that has also aged the worst. Sorry Eric, but this was a bit of a swing and miss.
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Rutland Weekend - the lost gem
andrew-hesford9 March 2005
Having watched both series of RWT in 1975/6, I felt that while Eric Idle had gone back to the sketch format - albeit with a framework based on a fictitious TV station - his approach was closer to Spike Milligan than Monty Python. All the sketches wove in and out of the shows, there were rather surreal moments, and there were Neil Innes' songs - many of them in fact - that made RWT rather like a revue than a sketch show. David Battley, Terence Bayler, Henry Woolf and Gwen Taylor provided a firm cast from which many characters were drawn (notably, in Battley's case, David Frost, which he had also played in Mrs. Wilson's Diary in 1968). Of course, The Rutles provided the most memorable musical moment as well as the template for the future TV special. The only pity is that none of "Rutland Weekend Television" is available on DVD/video for re-evaluation, for whatever reason, and yet despite its budgetary limitations, it has indefinable qualities. Certainly it would stand up well to a repeat viewing.
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