Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969) - 25 mistakes in entire show

Other: In the Y valley travel agents sketch Smoke Too Much states that he can't say the letter c. But he uses several cs before Bounder suggests he uses the letter K, even saying "I can't say the letter B." He says that he'd never thought of the letter K before.

Factual error: When the allies are testing their joke on the private in the field, just before he starts laughing at it, a bright red car drives past behind him. You can see it in a break in the trees. This sketch is set in WW2, and the car is obviously not from that era.

Continuity: The Italian evening class runs from 7 to 8 PM. The clock at the back of the classroom reads 10 to 2.

Continuity: In the Marriage Counselor sketch, Deidre Pewty is wearing such a tiny miniskirt that when she sits we see she is wearing white knickers. When she undresses behind the screen she throws a pair of black knickers out.

Continuity: At the start of the interview sketch, and at several times throughout, Cleese says he's interviewing people for a management training course. At the end, however, he suddenly claims it was a job interview.

Continuity: During the science fiction sketch, when Eric Idle is reporting his blancmange sighting to John Cleese the clock in the background jumps backwards a few minutes.

Visible crew/equipment: At the beginning of the 'Camel Spotting' sketch the shadow of the boom mike moves back and forth over Eric Idle.

Other: William Knickers' letter, complaining about the sketches, starts "I strongly object ..." but the voiceover says "I object strongly ..."

Revealing: In the Upper Class Twit of the Year Show, there are five contestants. However, after Oliver runs himself over, in the events that follow there are only four props for the remaining twits (four mannequins, rabbits, and guns); since Oliver's death was unforeseen, shouldn't there be five of each? (This mistake, by the way, is rectified in the film version of this sketch).

Visible crew/equipment: Just after Florence Nightingale gets knocked out, a crew member can be seen behind Michael Palin for a short time.

Continuity: At the beginning of the vegetarian restaurant sketch, Eric Idle stands right behind the pointy sculpture. It is quite short and in some shots the points of it are visible right at the bottom of the screen, but in other shots people stand and walk through right where it is meant to be. And in the final shot, when Eric is complaining about the punchline, it is definitely gone.

Continuity: At the beginning of the 'Ministry of Silly Walks' sketch, John Cleese is holding his briefcase in his left hand. when the shot changes to outside, showing him leave the newsagents, it switches to his right.

Continuity: During the Ministry of Silly Walks sketch, in the office, John Cleese pulls out a film-projector from his desk, and you can see the power cord plugged into the back of it. After the spoof black-and-white film footage showing the silly walks, John Cleese throws the projector away. The power cord, which was originally plugged in, has disappeared completely.

Continuity: In the sketch where Eric Idle plays a milkman/psychiatrist, he visits a woman (Graham Chapman) named Mrs. Ratbag. He takes her to the dairy to have a psychiatric examination, and when they get there, her name is now Mrs. Pim.

Revealing: Near the end of the Bishop sketch, when they use the man as a battering ram, you can see the entire wall behind them tip as they smash through the door.

Audio problem: A well-documented bit of censorship involves Series 2, Show 6 (first broadcast 20/10/70). This show featured an animated fairy story where a prince finds a spot on his face. "Foolishly, he ignored it," informed Carol Cleveland as the narrator. "And six months later he died of cancer." Although this was originally transmitted intact, the BBC were worried, and insisted that the word "cancer" be replaced for a repeat showing in August 1971. The word "cancer" was thus replaced by the word "gangrene". Unusually for the series, the word 'gangrene' does not appear to be voiced by any of the Python team themselves. To underline the fact that the word "cancer" had been replaced (and as a protest against the censorship?), a male voice replaces Carol Cleveland's narration for this one word only.

Character mistake: The final 'How to Recognise' announcement is originally written as "Number thirty. The End." When the show was broadcast, it was "Number thirty one. The End", yet all the other numbering tallies with the script. So either Cleese miscounted on the night of recording or they inserted another one which was later cut.

Revealing: In the last shot, the familiar 16 tons weight is broken at the top, showing that it is in fact not a solid weight, but a hollow box.

Other: During the Toad Elevating Moment, John Cleese enters and says "Good evening," even though his character only says the beginnings of words (he should have said, "G- Ev-").

Deliberate "mistake": Eric Idle's 'Stock Exchange Report' (in Series 3, Show 1) has a very obvious edit in the middle. This is a monologue delivered without cutaways, so the jump in the video tape is very easy to spot. Whether this edit indicates material removed or a simple joining together of two takes is unclear. However, since Idle gets drenched with water at the close of the routine (and given that, under BBC constraints, there was no time for drying out), we can assume that he must have made his fluff quite early on in the piece.

Audio problem: In the 'PC Pan-Am Gives Evidence' sequence (part of Series 3, Show 1), there is a loud, off-camera crash at 16'15", followed by hysterical audience laughter and a Palin visibly trying to stifle a laugh. This is because the heavily-bandaged 'Njorl', who had been replaced at that point by a dummy (enabling his head to be removed in the next scene), fell backwards off the podium, and had to be re-positioned by the crew. Filming presumably stopped, as a cutaway of Njorl appears in the middle of Pan-Am's address. The edit is also very audible, as Palin's speech suddenly plummets in volume.

Continuity: When Mr. Norris sets out on his expedition, it is April 24. But when we see his diary, the day is the 24th, but the month (on the top of the page) says "October."

Visible crew/equipment: When the Merchant Banker sends Mr. Ford through the trap door, you can see a crew member waiting to catch him below the stage.

Revealing: When John Cleese (as Long John Silver) falls over after being shot with a tranquilizer dart, you can see his real leg, which was tucked behind him when using the peg leg.

Continuity: In the 'Sam Peckinpah's Salad Days' sketch in Series 3, Show 7, the scene suddenly changes from a bright sunny day to a pitch black night - this was apparently due to technical delays, but the effect makes it look like an extension of the 'pretentious director' parody.