User Reviews

Monty Python was one of Britain's best known and loved comedy series with the six members getting great recognition, but this documentary is explaining what paths each member took after it ended. John Cleese did Fawlty Towers with wife (then) Connie Booth, A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures and many small parts in films. Michael Palin did A Fish Called Wanda, Fierce Creatures and many travel and education documentaries. Graham Chapman after the leads in Holy Grail and Life of Brian had disastrous career moves before his death in 1989. Terry Gilliam did some animation (including all Monty Python's) became a great film director creating classics like Time Bandits, Brazil, The Fisher King, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Terry Jones has directed many films, and had small parts in films. But Eric Idle has stayed closer to Monty Python than the others, after a few film appearances, he wrote the new musical stage version of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Spamalot. With contributions by Phill Jupitus, Barry Cryer, The League of Gentlemen's Steve Pemberton, Spinal Tap's Harry Shearer, Fawlty Towers' Andrew Sachs and Prunella Scales, Barry Norman and narrated by Miriam Margolyes. Very good!

In 1974 Monty python decided to quit after 4 TV series. So each of the pythons went their separate ways. This is the tale of "What the Pythons did next...". Fawlty Towers for John Cleese, Michael Palin went traveling, Terry Gilliam became a director in his own right, Eric Idle revisited Monty Python to make Spamalot, Terry Jones went into history, and Graham Chapman is dead. (Not really a spoiler I dare say.)

This is all nice and informative, but it doesn't go very deep. For example, there is no mention of Cleese's work on the Amnesty fund raisers (known as the Secret Policeman's Balls), or Graham Chapman's "Jake's Journey", which supposedly was actually very promising. Also left out is anything reuniting the pythons after 1974, except for the three movies: no word on their record collection, the live shows, or other occasional reunions as in 1989 and 1999. Come to think about it, I don't think any of the pythons appeared in this documentary except in archive footage? That's not good...

Also missing is some basic information. Michael Palin starred in Brazil, OK that's just a detail. And it is fun to finally see a few glimpses of "Out of the Trees" by Graham Chapman, but for some reason they forgot to mention Douglas Adams here? And wasn't Fawlty Towers based on a hotel where the pythons once stayed back in the days of the Flying Circus? The research department must have been sleeping.

There are a few glimpses of really obscure projects, but the whole thing doesn't really chart any unknown territory.