Holy Flying Circus
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| Holy Flying Circus | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover art | |
| Written by | Tony Roche |
| Directed by | Owen Harris |
| Starring | Darren Boyd Charles Edwards Steve Punt Rufus Jones Tom Fisher Phil Nichol |
| Theme music composer | Jack C. Arnold |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producers | Polly Leys Kate Norrish |
| Cinematography | Richard Mott |
| Editor | Billy Sneddon |
| Running time | 90 minutes |
| Production companies | Talkback Thames HillBilly Television |
| Original release | |
| Network | BBC Four |
| Release | 19 October 2011 |
Holy Flying Circus is a 90-minute BBC television comedy film first broadcast in 2011, written by Tony Roche and directed by Owen Harris.
The film is a "Pythonesque" dramatisation of events following the completion of Monty Python's Life of Brian, culminating in the televised debate about the film broadcast in 1979.
At a meeting in the offices of their film distributor, the members of Monty Python discuss allowing the film Life of Brian to be released in America first because of America's first amendment. John Cleese voices his support for the idea, and says that he loves Americans. We then see American reporters at a screening of the movie where a near riot is taking place, with the protesters condemning the film as "blasphemous". The Pythons review a disheartening statement made by a religious leader, implying that the film causes violence. Cleese misinterprets this (possibly deliberately) and goes off on a tangent about little kids carrying out copycat crucifixions on their friends. Their distributor, Barry, suggests a low profile approach for the UK release so as not to cause too much upset. "Let's not project an advert onto the side of Westminster Abbey or make Life of Brian Christmas crackers".
Much of the film is taken up with preparations for a debate on the BBC2 chat show Friday Night, Saturday Morning. Initially, the Pythons are reluctant to take part but decide that Cleese and Michael Palin should represent the troupe on the programme. Palin's wife is depicted with a remarkable resemblance to Terry Jones (Rufus Jones plays both parts).[1] The production team of the BBC chat show eventually manage to gain a commitment from Malcolm Muggeridge and Mervyn Stockwood, then the Bishop of Southwark, to oppose the two Pythons. Portions of this televised discussion are recreated towards the end of the film.
Cast
- Darren Boyd as John Cleese
- Charles Edwards as Michael Palin
- Steve Punt as Eric Idle
- Rufus Jones as Terry Jones and Palin's Wife
- Tom Fisher as Graham Chapman
- Phil Nichol as Terry Gilliam
- Michael Cochrane as Malcolm Muggeridge
- Roy Marsden as Bishop of Southwark
- Tom Price as Tim Rice
- Stephen Fry as God
- Ben Crispin as Jesus
- Simon Greenall as Barry Atkins
- Paul Chahidi as Harry Balls
- Jason Thorpe as Alan Dick / Desmond Lovely
- Mark Heap as Andrew Thorogood
Title sequence
The title sequence for the film was created using a two metre tall Terry Gilliam-inspired Phonotrope created by Jim Le Fevre. It consisted of over 2000 laser-cut frames and was 1.2 metres wide at its base.[2]
