two important pre-Monty Python shows due for release... (1 Viewer)

[AndyMcKinney]

TVSonDVD hasn't mentioned this yet, so thought I would.

According to British website Action TV , there will be a Region 1 DVD release of two important pre-Monty Python TV Shows:

At Last the 1948 Show, starring John Cleese, Graham Champan, Tim Brooke-Taylor (of The Goodies), Marty Feldman and Aimi MacDonald. Eric Idle and Bill Oddie (another Goodie), also appeared in bit parts.

Do Not Adjust Your Set, starring Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, David Jason (of Only Fools and Horses) and Denise Coffey, along with some of Terry Gilliam's animation.

Both of these sketch shows (and the radio series "Im Sorry, I'll Read That Again") were important in the formation of both Monty Python and The Goodies. Several sketches (including "Four Yorkshiremen") will be familiary to Python fans.

The release date (give in "Region 1 Releases" about 3/4 down the page) is given as 26 July.

One thing that is strange, though, is that 1948 Show is listed as a 2-dics set (only six of the 13 episodes still exist in complete form. Only a few film extracts remain from the missing episodes, so it seems odd that this would be a two-disc set).

Also, the release says Do Not Adjust… is, apparently, the "complete" Series 2, but from what I've been able to ascertain, only the first episode of series 2 still exists, along with most (9 out of 13) episodes of series 1, and both Christmas specials (so, 12 out of 28 editions of DNAYS show survive).

I imagine both of these releases are simply a "what's left of". I'm certain if any missing episodes had been discovered, we fans of missing TV would've heard something before now (that "sixth" episode of 1948 show, incidentally, was only recently reconstructed to its complete form, in 2003).

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Wow, that's great (and unexpected) news!

I never thought I'd get the chance to see DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET, in particular. I'll definitely be buying those collections.

Thanks much for posting the info & link.

 

[Jon Martin]

Thanks for the link and the info!

I've never seen the show so these look like great sets.

Also on the page, in the rumor control section, there is mention of a R2 release of DEMPSEY AND MAKEPEACE. That is pretty good news as well. Haven't seen the show since it aired.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

*Sigh* Now if only someone would discover a forgotten copy of The Complete and Utter History of Britain is an attic somewhere we'd be in great shape.

Regards,

Joe

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Wasn't part of this found in recent years?

Now, I wish someone would bring Rutland Weekend Television our way...

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I think they found a single episode that had been misfiled by the BBC and which therefore didn't end up in the pile of stuff they deliberately destroyed because they were "out of storage space".

Regards,

Joe

 

[Matt Stieg]

Freakin' fantastic news!!!!!!! It'll be so great to finally see these shows. It would be nice, as Andy pointed out, to some day get Rutland Weekend Television.

And maybe...just MAYBE...we could possibly get the complete surviving episodes of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore's Not Only...But Also... some day?

 

[David Lambert]

We'll get it posted, Andy, there's just been a lot of other stuff to report that we're behind on!

 

[Jeffrey Nelson]

Another must-see pre-Python item featuring Cleese, Chapman, Palin, and Connie Booth, is How To Irritate People.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Exciting news.
It's very easy to become depressed about all the great and important material, essential elements of television history, that have been lost to time (as a Doctor Who fan in particular, with 108 episodes missing, I'm keenly aware of this issue).
And as a Python fan, it is exciting to see at least some of these shows. The Pythons were some of the most influential comedians in the past 30 or 40 years, and to get a chance to see them in their formative years is an exciting prospect.