Does anyone know who played the knight that hit people over the head with a dead chicken? [That would be Terry Gilliam, who played a lot of non-speaking roles in the series, and some speaking ones like Cardinal Fang in 'The Spanish Inquisition.' He did all the animation as well, but I'm sure you knew that.]Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) - 9 questions
starring Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
The "questions" section is for any random questions that occurred to you while watching this film, or anything you didn't entirely understand, and which Google or the IMDb can't help with. Submit them as a question, and hopefully someone will answer (the bold comments in brackets) - check back regularly. If the answer is wrong, or missing information, please use the "clarify answer" option. Don't feel limited - want to know what music played in a certain scene? Whether this was the first film to use a certain effect? Here's the place to ask!
Across whole show
Does anyone know who played the knight that hit people over the head with a dead chicken? [That would be Terry Gilliam, who played a lot of non-speaking roles in the series, and some speaking ones like Cardinal Fang in 'The Spanish Inquisition.' He did all the animation as well, but I'm sure you knew that.] Is there any significance behind the song "England's Mountains Green" (or whatever it's called)? It seems to be the only song anyone ever sings, outside of sketch-specific songs (like the Lumberjack Song). [The song you talk of was originally a poem by William Blake called 'Jerusalem'. It speaks of the possibility of Jesus having visited England. The poem has four verses but you only ever hear the Monty Python boys sing the first one which goes, "And did those feet in ancient time/Walk upon England's mountains green/And was the holy Lamb of God/On England's pleasant pastures seen?" If there's any sort of in-joke connected to it's use, I'm not aware of it. It seemed to just be the standard song/hymn they used when a song was needed that wasn't sketch specific. Some of the sketches it appeared in were 'Salvation Fuzz/Church Police', 'Buying a Bed' and 'The Art Gallery Sketch'. Something that may be relevant, though, is that the only one who was present every time it was sung was Eric Idle. Perhaps he just liked it?] I know that Monty Python usually played female roles themselves, but they had actors such as Carol Cleveland to fill roles when necessary. My question is, aside from Ms. Cleveland, who else, if anyone, played a recurring role as "extra"? I hope that makes sense. [Ian Davidson, Connie Booth and Lyn "Mrs. Idle" Ashley appeared quite often, as did the Fred Tomlinson Singers (whenever a male chorus was required).] Answered by Xofer I was told that all songs in the Monty Python series/movies were written and composed by either Eric Idle or Neil MacInnes. Is this true? If not, who else wrote or co-wrote songs? ["The Lumberjack Song" and "Spam" were written by Terry Jones and Michael Palin. "If I Were Not in the C.I.D." was written primarily by John Cleese. Other than those, and "Jerusalem," all songs for visual media were written by Eric Idle and Neil Innes (not MacInnes). Mind you, they all wrote more songs that appear on the albums.]Oh, You're No Fun Anymore (series 1)
In this episode, the first man to be changed into a Scotsman is named Harold Potter. Is this an inspiration for the name of Harry Potter? [No, it's just coincidence. J K Rowling took the surname from Ian Potter, a childhood friend, and she simply picked a first name that she liked.] Answered by TailkinkerWither Canada? (series 1)
Does anyone know what the killer joke (German version anyway) translates to in English? I tried running it through BabelFish, but it still made no sense. [Fortunately for the entire English speaking world, there is no translation. It is not real German.]Spam (series 2)
In the courtroom scene, the first question Eric Idle asks Michael Palin is "You live at 46 Horton Terrace?", to which Palin replies in the affirmative. A few questions later, Idle says "You did say 46 Horton Terrace?", Palin says he did, and Idle says "Got him.", he bangs a small gong, and the courtroom (and the studio audience) laughs uproariously and applaudes. I do not get the joke here. The address is the same in both questions. I have watched this scene many many times and am still at a loss. Can someone help me? [Eric Idle bangs the gong because Michael Palin said 'Yes' - They're playing the 'yes-no' game, where the idea is to answer questions without using the words yes or no. At the time there was a quiz show called Take Your Pick, the first round of which was the 'yes-no' game - contestants had to answer questions for 60 seconds to pass through to the next round.] Answered by umathegreatstationarybearDinsdale (series 2)
In the late part of the show, the reporter is interviewing the Piranha brothers' former schoolmaster, but their conversation is deliberately inaudible. Can any lip readers out there tell what they're saying, presumably improvised dialogue? [Other than the teacher asking "I'm sorry?" at one point, it's complete gibberish.]The Nude Man (series 3)
In the sketch Olympic Hide-and-Seek Final lively Latin jazz music is played in the background on three occasions. What is the name of this piece and who performs it?You may also like: Fawlty Towers | Little Britain | Monty Python and the Holy Grail | Scrubs | Seinfeld