Hella This Navigation

home/movie/1979/the pythons somewhere in tunisia circa ad 1979

The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979

Not Rated
DocumentaryComedyTV Movie
7.1/10(9 ratings)

Ten years ago exactly, more or less, give or take a day or two, six young men sat down, or maybe stood, or perhaps some of them just lounged, and wrote the first episode of a new series called Owl Stretching Time. They were called Graham Chapman , John Cleese, Terry Gilliam , Eric Idle,Terry Jones and Michael Palin and later both they and the series became known as Monty Python 's Flying Circus . Today they are the best known British comedy group in the world, famous from Cathay to Kathmandu, from Sydney to Sidcup (except in Japan where the programme is called The Gay Boys' Dragon Show ... say no more). To commemorate their tenth anniversary a BBC team tracked them down in the deserts of Tunisia where they were filming their Life of Brian and almost persuaded them to examine the genesis, the genius and the gender of Monty Python.

06-20-1979
50 min
The Pythons: Somewhere in Tunisia, Circa A.D. 1979

Main Cast

Graham Chapman

Graham Chapman

Graham Arthur Chapman (January 8, 1941 – October 4, 1989) was an English comedian, physician, writer, and actor and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also the lead actor in their two narrative films, playing King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Brian in Monty Python's Life of Brian. He co-authored and starred in the film Yellowbeard. Chapman was born in Leicester but was raised in nearby Melton Mowbray. After graduating from Emmanuel College, Cambridge and St Bartholomew's Medical College, he turned down a career as a doctor to be a comedian.

Known For

John Cleese

John Cleese

John Marwood Cleese (born 27 October 1939) is an English actor, comedian, writer and film producer. He achieved success at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and as a scriptwriter and performer on The Frost Report. In the late 1960s he became a member of Monty Python, the comedy troupe responsible for the sketch show Monty Python's Flying Circus and the four Monty Python films: And Now for Something Completely Different, Holy Grail, Life of Brian and The Meaning of Life. In the mid 1970s, Cleese and his first wife Connie Booth, co-wrote and starred in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers. Later, he co-starred with Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis and former Python colleague Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures. He also starred in Clockwise, and has appeared in many other films, including two James Bond films, two Harry Potter films, and three Shrek films. With Yes Minister writer Antony Jay he co-founded the production company Video Arts, responsible for making entertaining training films. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Cleese, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Known For

Terry Gilliam

Terry Gilliam

Terrence Vance "Terry" Gilliam (born November 22, 1940) is an American-British screenwriter, film director, animator, actor and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. Subsequent to his early work with the Pythons, Gilliam became known for directing fantasy and sci-fi films, including "Time Bandits" (1981), "Brazil" (1985), "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1988), "The Fisher King" (1991), "12 Monkeys" (1995), "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" (1998) and "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus" (2009). He is the only Python not born in Britain; he took British citizenship in 1968.

Known For

Eric Idle

Eric Idle

Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is an English comedian, actor, author, singer, writer, and comedic composer who wrote and performed as a member of the popular British comedy group Monty Python. Description above from the Wikipedia article Eric Idle, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Terry Jones

Terry Jones

Terence Graham Parry Jones was a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team. At the age of 4, the Jones family moved to Surrey in England. Jones attended primary school at Esher COE school and later attended the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, where he was school captain in the 1960-61 academic year. He later read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, but "strayed into history". While there, he performed comedy with future Monty Python cast-mate Michael Palin in The Oxford Revue. Jones appeared in the comedy TV series "Twice a Fortnight" with Michael Palin; Graeme Garden; Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn, as well as the television series |"The Complete and Utter History of Britain" (1969). He appeared in" Do Not Adjust Your Set" (1967–69) with Michael Palin; Eric Idle and David Jason. He wrote for "The Frost Report" and several other David Frost programmes.

Known For

Michael Palin

Michael Palin

Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS (born 5 May 1943) is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries. Palin wrote most of his comedic material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "Argument Clinic", "Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", and "The Spanish Inquisition". Palin continued to work with Jones after Python, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders. After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer and travel documentarian. His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and, most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin was honoured as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television. Description above from the Wikipedia article Michael Palin, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Spike Milligan

Spike Milligan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Terence Alan Patrick Seán "Spike" Milligan KBE (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was a comedian, writer, musician, poet, playwright, soldier, and actor. Milligan's early life was spent in India, where he was born, but the majority of his working life was spent in the United Kingdom. He became an Irish citizen in 1962 after the British government declared him stateless. He was the co-creator, main writer and a principal cast member of The Goon Show, performing a range of roles including the popular Eccles. Milligan wrote and edited many books, including Puckoon and his seven-volume autobiographical account of his time serving during the Second World War, beginning with Adolf Hitler: My part in his downfall. He is also noted as a popular writer of comical verse, much of his poetry was written for children, including Silly Verse for Kids (1959). After success with the ground-breaking British radio programme, The Goon Show, Milligan translated this success to television with Q5, a surreal sketch show which is credited as a major influence on the members of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Description above from the Wikipedia article Spike Milligan,licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

Movie Details

Production Info

Production:
BBC

Key Crew

Producer:
Iain Johnstone

Locations and Languages

Country:
US; GB
Filming:
TN; GB
Languages:
en