As Palin admits in ‘Great Uncle Harry’, he was aware of his great uncle’s personal affects, including his diaries that were returned from the Front to the safekeeping of the family, for some years before Harry’s story pushed itself to the forefront of his mind. There was a series of ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ to write and film, and then many other projects came along in a rich, varied and rewarding career that has also spawned countless travel documentaries and accompanying books.

Now the time has been ripe to delve into the archives and conduct his own investigative research into his family’s history. Palin has clearly relished his genealogical adventure. Although his immediate descendants were not public figures, their lives reveal much about recent British history. In ‘Great Uncle Harry’, Palin vividly captures the late Victorian and Edwardian eras as revealed through his relatives’ encounters with historical events. As just one example, he divulges his great grandmother’s experience of the Irish Potato Famine. He also brings elements of his own life into the narrative, such as comparing his memories of education at Shrewsbury with his great uncle’s time at the forbidding public school.

As Palin documents, his Great Uncle Harry was something of a free spirit, although another less generous interpretation might be a lost soul. Probably, like so many of us, Harry wandered between the two. Despite that, there were opportunities for him in the final decades of the British Empire, and Harry spends much of his young adult life abroad. First, he works in India, failing to make much impression, ultimately leaving just as the Monsoon season dries up. He later moves to the other side of the world and finds work as a farm hand in New Zealand.

However, as with so many young men who happened to be born at the end of the Nineteenth Century, he soon becomes caught up in international events as war breaks out. Serving with the New Zealand Division, Harry sees action in Gallipoli before being transferred to the Western Front. As he records in his diary, the Battle of the Somme saw the first use of tanks in warfare. Shortly after receiving a promotion, and finally having his talents recognised, Harry’s diary entries end.

Through his investigative research, Palin uncovers the truth about the fate of his Great Uncle, or at least the testimony of a friend and soldier who served beside him. The author retraces his relative’s steps and finds the location of his death to aid in the writing process. He records how it is a struggle to imagine the innocuous countryside as the hellhole that claimed Harry’s life just over a century earlier.

Palin’s ‘Great Uncle Harry’ neatly traces the societal changes from the buoyant confidence of the late Victorian era into which Harry was born through to the hell of the Great War. During Harry’s short life, society and the world utterly changed. Palin’s success with the book is to signpost these changes to his reader, never failing to tell the human story, never lapsing into a dry history lesson.

The first part of ‘Great Uncle Harry’ documents the jolly adventures of Harry’s father, Edward, which provides a contrast to the fate of one of his sons. By the chapter in which Palin wraps up his account of Harry’s life, the mood of the book has changed starkly. There is no anger in the author’s tone, just pity for the waste of human life, and immense compassion and sadness for the unimaginable grief that his forebears went through.

Palin creates such a compelling portrait of his great uncle that by the end of it, the reader can’t help but feel immense sorrow, and perhaps even shed tears. In so doing, the trauma of World War I is brought home by detailing the life of one soldier. From Harry’s romances to mundane details about military drills, it’s possible to see that he was just an ordinary man. Like everyone whose life was cut short by the horrifying events of war, often sacrificed as machine-gun fodder through the brutal orders of High Command, Harry had hopes, dreams, loves and disappointments.

Ultimately, readers will remember Harry’s journey through the war that Palin guides his readers through. The powerful closing chapters that pull on the heartstrings will live long in the memory after reading it. The introductory chapters, which are necessary to establish the family life that Harry was born into, arguably hold up the main narrative for too long, though Palin reveals his interest in telling at length the story of Harry’s father, Edward (whom the author later played in a film).

‘Great Uncle Harry’ is also available as an audiobook which is read by the author. A talented actor like Michael Palin brings plenty of nuance to his narration. There’s a warmth and an authenticity to his tones as well. As a masterful storyteller, Palin keeps listeners engaged as he leads them through myriad emotions on this deeply personal journey. Coming to the end of the story, the reader can only imagine that Great Uncle Harry Palin would be beaming with pride at the achievements of his Great Nephew, as well as feeling gratitude for presenting his all-too-short life as such a moving and compelling story.

Publisher: Penguin Random House UK audio Narrator: Michael Palin Publication date: 28th September 2023 Buy ‘Great Uncle Harry’

The post Michael Palin – ‘Great Uncle Harry’ audiobook review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Somehow, The Meaning of Life (aside from one particular song) never quite entered the national psyche with quite the same level of impact. In certain ways, the film stands above the others – it is visually and stylistically very impressive. Special effects, model work and detailed studio sets give it a big-budget feel that the other two cheap and cheerful movies lack. Yet, the ultimate reckoning for a comedy film is how funny it is. Although it certainly has its moments, in the final analysis, The Meaning of Life just isn’t quite the comedy gold of the other films. It remains in their shadow.

There are perhaps several reasons for this. One is that both The Holy Grail and The Life of Brian had a strong concept that was thrashed out into a single story, threaded together by sketches. The Meaning of Life returns to the format that had worked so well for Monty Python’s Flying Circus (albeit over short TV episodes), and runs together sketches united by a common theme – the various stages of life. At feature length, this is hard to sustain. Unhelpfully, there’s a delay before the main action gets going, as the featurette The Crimson Permanent Assurance opens the movie. It details the rebellion of a group of stuffy old English bankers against the oppressive corporate American conglomerate that has taken them over. It’s a microcosm of the problems that dog the film. What is perhaps a funny idea on paper doesn’t quite translate into belly laughs for a viewing audience. The mildly satirical dig at big business is weak, and too serious. By the time of The Meaning of Life, the Pythons were in their 40s and enjoying success in different fields. They say comedy is a young person’s game. By your jaded middle age you’re too worn down with cynicism. Having said that, the model effects are terrific, and the pirate metaphor, though over-cooked, is inventive. I’m just not sure it’s quite the strong attention-grabbing opening sketch the movie needed.

Although it’s a relief to see the familiar faces of the Python team taking the lead, the opening sketch, in which a woman is giving birth in a hospital, is probably the least witty in the whole film, which means it’s a good twenty minutes before there’s much to laugh at, and it’s hard to hook viewers by then if you haven’t already. The sequences satirising the cruelty of school days (especially public school, with its bizarre arcane traditions) are brilliant, and that sort of terrain came effortlessly to the Pythons. Cleese as a brusque master blithely performing a live sex education class to a roomful of embarrassed schoolboys (Patricia Quinn bravely plays his wife) is a masterclass in ratcheting up the stakes.

That level of “are they really going to go there?” shock value is cranked up a notch later in the Mr Creosote sketch, in which Terry Jones plays a morbidly obese and obnoxious diner in a posh restaurant who starts vomiting even before ordering. Cleese’s unflappable French waiter – continuing to act as if everything is perfectly normal – is what makes the sketch so funny, even if it is grotesque. The hit-and-miss nature of the film is ably demonstrated by Eric Idle’s parts in the sketch. Before the loathsome Mr Creosote enters the restaurant, Idle entertains diners with a Noel Coward-style song on the piano called “Isn’t It Awfully Nice to Have a Penis?”, which is a dazzlingly funny ditty. At the end of the sketch, he returns as a waiter who asks the audience to follow him back to his childhood home, before losing his confidence that he has a point to make, and he becomes unnecessarily tetchy. It’s a segment that doesn’t offer much reward, but holds up the flow of the film.

That’s not to single out Eric Idle for criticism – the best moments of the movie are the songs. The Galaxy Song, which he performs for Mrs Brown whilst she deliberates whether or not to give up her liver to organ donors, is undoubtedly a highlight. And the one segment of the film that truly entered the pantheon of comedy greats is “Every Sperm is Sacred”. It is mostly sung by Michael Palin, who goes back to his roots in Yorkshire, or ‘The Third World’, as the caption tells us. The sequence shows off the late Terry Jones’ flair for direction. Perhaps as a hangover from Life of Brian, the standout moment is a satire on organised religion, specifically Catholic dogma prohibiting the use of artificial birth control.

There will be other moments that viewers especially enjoy. For me, the sentimental First World War Tommies showering their sergeant with presents and cake during trench warfare has all the absurdity of Python in their richest vein of form. There’s a lot to be said too for the English embarrassment taken to its logical extreme when death visits a dinner party.

At the final reckoning, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life is a curate’s egg. Terrys Jones and Gilliam direct with flair and style, and all of the songs are memorable, catchy and funny. There are one or two moments of pure genius. But then there are also padded jokes and others that miss the target. It’s a worthy addition to the Python’s body of work, but it falls short of the unrelenting brilliance of the 1970s films. Scrubbed up on Blu-ray, Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life looks immaculate, and can be enjoyed in the highest definition.

Extras on the disc include an hour-long reunion filmed in 2013. Of course, Graham Chapman was long dead by then, and of the assembled living members, Eric Idle could only join remotely on screen. But there is the added poignancy that since it was recorded, Terry Jones fell ill and has subsequently passed away. Fans will feel warm, nostalgic and perhaps a little sad watching this affectionate yet joshing get-together. You can also find deleted scenes, a commentary by the Terrys and much more.

Cast: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Patricia Quinn Directors: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam Writers: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam Certificate: 15 Duration: 107 mins Released by: Fabulous Films Release date: 28th September 2020 Buy Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life

[rwp-reviewer-rating-stars id=”0″]

The post Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life Blu-ray review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Now, celebrating the paperback release of his book, Erebus: the Story of a Ship, Palin will visit 12 venues around the UK, beginning in Bournemouth on 7th June and ending in Bath on 7th July. Tickets go on sale on Friday 25th January (see full dates below).

In the first part of the show, Palin will bring to life the thrilling story of HMS Erebus, the tough little ship that took on the Antarctic and the Arctic in the 1840s, and which was the subject of his latest bestselling book. His richly illustrated talk conveys the triumph and tragedy of the ship’s short and doomed life, and what it was about it that made him so keen to tell its story.

In the second half, Michael will tell his own life story, including how his three favourite subjects at school (Geography, History and Comedy) have shaped his life, from ‘Monty Python’ to ‘Ripping Yarns’ and the many television travel series that have taken him all around the world, from the North Pole to North Korea.

With previously unseen footage and previously untold stories, Michael shows how
comedy and adventure have been natural bedfellows during a rich and diverse career.

The tour is to celebrate the paperback edition of Palin’s book – Erebus: the Story of a Ship – and will be supported by local bookshops with signed copies available to buy.

Erebus: the Story of a Ship published by Arrow in paperback on 30th May, and is priced £8.99.

Tour dates below – tickets are on sale from 25th January – please contact the venues directly or visit www.themichaelpalin.com for more information.

Friday 7 June
Bournemouth: Pavilion

Saturday 8 June
Basingstoke: Anvil

Sunday 9 June
Cambridge: Corn Exchange

Thursday 20 June
Chesterfield: Winding Wheel

Friday 21 June
Milton Keynes: Theatre

Saturday 22 June
London: Cadogan Hall

Thursday 27 June
Bradford: Alhambra

Friday 28 June
Salford: Lowry – Lyric

Thursday 4 July
Salisbury: City Hall

Friday 5 July
Reading: Hexagon

Saturday 6 July
Portsmouth: Southsea Kings

Sunday 7 July
Bath: Theatre Royal

The post Michael Palin announces UK book tour – theatre tickets now on sale appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

After mocking and in some cases significantly underestimating the breathtaking buffoonery and pure naked ambition present in our political leaders both here and Stateside through the brilliant ‘In The Thick Of It’, ‘In The Loop’ and ‘Veep’, Armando Iannucci has now turned his attention to 1950s Soviet Russia.

While it may not seem the most obvious source for comedy gold thanks in part to its tyrannical dictator, labour camps, regular executions, secret service and culture of total fear, Iannucci and his co writers David Schneider, Ian Martin and Peter Fellows have managed to pull the proverbial rabbit from the hat with a wonderful mixture of dry wit, double speak and Whitehall farce.

With Stalin ruling the Soviet Union with an iron fist, the people, in particular his underlings, are terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing for fear of being carted off to the Gulag or Siberia. But when Stalin suddenly pops his clogs in 1953, the remaining members of the government’s central committee embark on a race for power, with delightful runners and riders including a weasely ambitious Nikita Krushchev, a preening egotist in Georgy Malenkov, or the malevolent bully Lavrentiy Beria to name but a few.

Based on a popular graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, director Armando Iannucci has done an incredible job with a fast paced and hilarious script which covers the political manoeuvrings of the Soviet hierarchy immediately post Stalin.

Iannucci is aided and abetted by a quite brilliant cast including Jeffrey Tambor, Paul Whitehouse, Steve Buscemi, Paddy Considine, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Palin and the oh so impressive Simon Russell Beale as the odious Beria, who each try to out-manoeuvre the other.

While historians may tut a little at one or two slight inaccuracies, Iannucci has once again delivered a funny, well-observed and poignant film which is equally hilarious to those who have a good knowledge of Stalin, and those who know virtually nothing about him. It would seem, at least in Iannucci’s eyes, politicians haven’t lost their capacity for incompetence, greed, ego or underhand behavious in the intervening years.

[brid video=”171238″ player=”531″ title=”THE DEATH OF STALIN OFFICIAL TRAILER HD”]

Cast: Jeffrey Tambor, Paul Whitehouse, Steve Buscemi, Paddy Considine, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale Director: Armando Iannucci Writer: Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin, Peter Fellows (based on the comic book The Death of Stalin by) Fabien Nury, Thierry Robin Released By: eOne Certificate: 15 Duration: 106 mins Release Date: 26th February 2018

The post The Death of Stalin DVD review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

While it may not seem the most obvious source for comedy gold thanks in part to its tyrannical dictator, labour camps, regular executions, secret service and culture of total fear, Iannucci and his co writers David Schneider, Ian Martin and Peter Fellows have managed to pull the proverbial rabbit from the hat with a wonderful mixture of dry wit, double speak and Whitehall farce.

With Stalin ruling the Soviet Union with an iron fist, the people, in particular his underlings, are terrified of saying or doing the wrong thing for fear of being carted off to the Gulag or Siberia. But when Stalin suddenly pops his clogs in 1953, the remaining members of the government’s central committee embark on a race for power, with delightful runners and riders including a weasely ambitious Nikita Krushchev, a preening egotist in Georgy Malenkov, or the malevolent bully Lavrentiy Beria to name but a few.

Based on a popular graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, director Armando Iannucci has done an incredible job with a fast paced and hilarious script which covers the political manoeuvrings of the Soviet hierarchy immediately post Stalin.

Iannucci is aided and abetted by a quite brilliant cast including Jeffrey Tambor, Paul Whitehouse, Steve Buscemi, Paddy Considine, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Palin and the oh so impressive Simon Russell Beale as the odious Beria, who each try to out-manoeuvre the other.

While historians may tut a little at one or two slight inaccuracies, Iannucci has once again delivered a funny, well-observed and poignant film which is equally hilarious to those who have a good knowledge of Stalin, and those who know virtually nothing about him. It would seem, at least in Iannucci’s eyes, politicians haven’t lost their capacity for incompetence, greed, ego or underhand behavious in the intervening years.

[brid video=”171238″ player=”531″ title=”THE DEATH OF STALIN OFFICIAL TRAILER HD”]

Cast: Jeffrey Tambor, Paul Whitehouse, Steve Buscemi, Paddy Considine, Jason Isaacs, Rupert Friend, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Michael Palin, Simon Russell Beale Director: Armando Iannucci Writer: Armando Iannucci, David Schneider, Ian Martin, Peter Fellows (based on the comic book The Death of Stalin by) Fabien Nury, Thierry Robin Released By: eOne Certificate: 15 Duration: 106 mins Release Date: 20th October 2017

The post The Death of Stalin review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Travelling to Work is the third in his series of published diaries, and it’s another hefty tome. It turns out Palin is a more avid diarist than the likes of Kenneth Williams – and what’s presented here is just the edited highlights. You may wonder how on earth such a professionally busy man finds the time to record his thoughts, but that nagging mystery aside, Palin’s diaries are full of personal reminiscences, great stories, and wonderful anecdotes from the likes of Alan Bennett, Spike Milligan and John Cleese that Palin has recorded for posterity.

There is plenty of light and shade, self-doubt and regret to be found in these pages too. The book opens with a difficult year for Palin. 1989 saw his friend and former Python Graham Chapman die young from cancer, and as it happened Palin was the one sitting with him at the moment of death. He’s alarmed that The Guardian ask him to write an obituary for Chapman whilst his friend is on his deathbed; but ends up writing “instantly written pieces” for them immediately after his death, and in the midst of grief makes “three glaring mistakes due to hasty dictation”. Not long afterwards, his mother, whom he’d previously described as having “the look of someone who’s stuck in the audience at a long, bad play” during her decline in health, also dies. Palin has been recording the first of his epic travelogues, Around the World in 80 Days, but perhaps understandably leaves the 1980s and enters the 1990s with uncertainty and sadness.

Most of the memories of recording Around the World in 80 Days and Pole to Pole are found in the books that accompanied each series, but Palin here offers personal testimony about his concern that he would be jettisoning his hard-earned acting and writing career to follow a new path as a documentary maker. Being offered a plum role in GBH (and not the one you might imagine…) remarkably doesn’t pacify those concerns, and he enters Bleasdale’s landmark television series with major reservations. Nevertheless, Palin’s performance as Jim Norton rightly won plaudits, and it’s an insight for those intrigued by the acting process to learn how gruelling he found the experience, and how helpful the director and his co-stars were in coaxing the best performance out of him. Bleasdale pops up again later, wanting Palin for his (not great) adaptation of Oliver Twist – a further collaboration that wasn’t to be.

The later parts of the diary is taken up with Fierce Creatures, the problematic follow on from A Fish Called Wanda. Palin is reluctant to see it as a critical failure, but the experience offers a parallel between him and his fellow Python John Cleese. Palin had carved out a niche with travel documentaries: Cleese remained a comedy writer and performer of diminishing returns after A Fish Called Wanda.

Landmark historical events are recorded. The release of Nelson Mandela, the Iraq War, the Hillsborough Disaster, the conflict in the Balkans and the death of Princess Diana are all mentioned, with Palin’s unique take on each. Diana’s death would postpone the debut of Palin’s Full Circle, but he seems not to have minded.

On the other end of the scale to the events of global magnitude, Palin also records the significant moments within his family life, and those of his friends, and there are entries recorded in countries from all corners of the globe. There’s a great deal of humanity and warmth in his writing, and despite the length of the tome, it’s easy to breeze through and has been neatly edited to avoid repetition and to keep the prose fresh, engaging and lucid.

Travelling to Work will definitely appeal to anyone who has enjoyed the first two volumes of diaries, and especially those interested in the life and work of Michael Palin. Whilst there’s a lot of humour in the book, the personal recollections about life for a sensitive man in a tough industry which take up the bulk of the prose are introspective. The secondary appeal will be as an illumination on the entertainment world from, whether he sees it this way or not, one of Britain’s biggest names.

Releasing the volumes of diaries at a digestible decade at a time, we suspect there will be at least two further volumes. Hopefully, if Palin lives to a ripe old age and continues luncheoning with interesting people, there might even be three more to look forward to.

The post Michael Palin – Travelling to Work review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Brought to you by The Comedy Trust, this year’s festival sees a whole host of the biggest names in comedy from Monty Python legend Michael Palin at the Echo Arena to British Comedy Award winners and BAFTA nominees Cardinal Burns at the Epstein Theatre. The Unity Theatre showcase the legendary Sean Hughes, Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Bridget Christie plus many more.

Check out the full line up of stand-up acts at Liverpool’s yearlong comedy clubs Laughterhouse Comedy, Hot Water Comedy Club, Comedy Central and Liverpool Comedy Cellar.

Throughout the run of the festival is one of the funniest farces ever written. Noises Off plays at the Royal Court from 5th September – 4th October and takes a look at the antics that happen backstage during a show. An all-star cast includes Allo Allo’s Kim Hartman and Coronation Street’s Tupele Dorgu.

Visit www.Liverpoolcomedyfestival.com for full line-up, information and direct links to book tickets.

Follow on Twitter @LpoolComedyFest.

The post Liverpool’s annual Comedy Festival returns appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Nevertheless, ahead of their sell-out shows at the O2, Monty Python Live (Mostly), Python aficionados can reacquaint themselves with their seminal (well, it does include Every Sperm Is Sacred) 1989 album Monty Python Sings; especially since the boys will likely be singing a selection of their greatest hits on stage. You may even still be able to bag yourself a ticket. Check on Monty Python Live for details.

Monty Python Sings (Again), which is available in both bog standard and deluxe editions, includes all the songs from the earlier release plus half a dozen others, totalling thirty-one tracks. The Deluxe edition contains their debut album Monty Python’s Flying Circus (recorded live at Camden Town Hall in 1970) on a bonus second disc.

Eric Idle was always the musical one out of the bunch, and he wrote many of the songs on this release, some in collaboration with John Du Prez. The two would later team up to co-author the Broadway and West End rip-off sensation Spamalot.

Even the tone deaf John Cleese is afforded moments to shine. Without a musical bone in his body, and with a singing voice as pleasant as the screams from an abattoir, he gives a history lesson with the track ‘Oliver Cromwell’ that memorably starts, “The most interesting thing about King Charles I is that he was five foot six inches tall at the start of his reign, but only four foot eight inches tall at the end of it. Because of….”

Everyone will have their favourite track, and this is the essential release for all the Python songs everybody knows and loves. Always Look on The Bright Side of Life has become a classic, and a firm favourite at funerals. It even reached number three in the hit parade in 1991. Galaxy Song is wonderful therapy for anyone facing an existential crisis brought on by the realisation of their cosmic insignificance. Every Sperm is Sacred is one of the most gloriously divine satires on the absurdity of Catholic teaching ever written. All Things Dull and Ugly is another classic Python pop at religion. Absolutely everybody should know Bruces’ Philosophers’ Song by heart: no excuses.

Monty Python Sings (Again) collates songs from the original television series Monty Python’s Flying Circus including Spam Song and Lumberjack Song, as well as others that originally appeared on specially released albums (I Like Chinese, Finland, I’m So Worried). The rest formed part of the Python’s three major big screen outings, featuring in the Holy Grail, the Life of Brian and the Meaning of Life.

Those already familiar with Monty Python Sings may be interested in the re-release thanks to the six songs that weren’t included on the original album. Naval Medley is a sea shanty-style rehash of the Penis Song, but this time including female genitalia and bottoms so that nobody feels left out. Rudyard Kipling is a skit on a traditional blues song. Nudge Rap sets lines from the ‘Nudge, nudge, wink, wink’ sketch to a rap, to variable success; whilst Lousy Song sees a lovely ballad written by Eric Idle interrupted by Graham Chapman, who tells him how terrible his song is.

Monty Python Sings (Again) is a collection of some of the funniest, wittiest and (to some) offensive songs ever written. It is the must-have artefact of the musical side of the Pythons. Their songs are in many ways as crucial to their success as their sketches, and this compilation is a reminder of the genius comedy output when the Pythons were firing on all cylinders.

If this collection isn’t enough for you and you have more money than sense, you may also be interested to learn that Monty Python’s Total Rubbish: The Complete Collection is being released on 30^th June. The set contains all nine Monty Python albums, with a book, vinyl record and a Terry Gilliam-designed slipcase thrown in as an attempt to justify the price.

The post Monty Python – Monty Python Sings (Again) review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

For the first time in any format, the two existing episodes can be seen as recorded and as transmitted, plus a new 50-minute feature with brand new linking material by Palin and Jones, and previously unseen series footage from Terry Jones’ personal archives.

Shown in 1969, the same year that Python became part of the national consciousness, this series takes a typically skewed look at British history – and reports it as if television had been around to cover it at the time. A notable influence on television comedy, this series fed directly into the work they did for Monty Python’s Flying Circus.

The set includes;
• 50-minute feature containing new linking material by Palin and Jones
• interview with producer Humphrey Barclay
• the first two episodes as transmitted (the only ones still to exist)
• the first two episodes as recorded (includes some different sketches to that which was transmitted)
• all existing film insert material used throughout the series, kept safe by Terry Jones for over 40 years
• brand new booklet by archive television historian Andrew Pixley
• extensive image gallery
• script and production paperwork PDFs

Only existing incompletely in the archive, Palin and Jones revisited this series in 2013 and recorded new material to link the best of the existing material into a completely new feature: The New (In)Complete Complete and Utter History of Britain 2013!

To be in with a chance of winning one of three copies of this collection SIGNED by Michael Palin, just answer the question below.

The competition closes at 23.59 on May 2nd 2014.

[vfb id=366]

The post Win The New Incomplete Complete & Utter History of Britain appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

You may not have heard of this series, nor ever seen it, because it is sadly no longer either compete or utter. Back in the days when television was as ephemeral a medium as theatre, recorded broadcasts were often junked, and The Complete and Utter History of Britain fell victim to the cull. Now, only two out of the seven episodes remain. More confusingly yet, there was some concern about the first two episodes back in 1969, which were half an hour in length, and they were rerecorded in truncated 25-minute instalments. Both versions are included on this release.

As well as the two surviving episodes, The New Incomplete Complete and Utter History of Britain includes a fifty-two minute special which features newly-recorded linking narration by Michael Palin and Terry Jones, with the same sketches you can see in the individual episodes inserted. And don’t they look well for men of their age?

The Complete and Utter History of Britain is Monty Python’s Flying Circus in embryo form. The joyous absurdity, silliness and cleverness of the Palin/Jones partnership is there in abundance, and many of the sketches wouldn’t feel out of place in a Python series. Thus we have William the Conqueror interviewed in a bathtub after his victory at the Battle of Hastings, talking as if he’s a football manager who’s just won an important cup tie. There’s a nod to the overlooked year 1065, in which not much of interest happened. You’ll see an estate agent showing a young couple around Stonehenge, persuading them that it’s really not draughty but cleverly utilises doorways. You’ll learn how King John was duped into signing the Magna Carta.

Whilst many of the characters are performed by Palin and Jones, there are a few other recognisable faces. Colin Gordon, possibly best-remembered as Patrick McGoohan’s nemesis in a few episodes of The Prisoner, is the straight man playing the narrator; and Roddy Maude-Roxby is an eccentric historian who is very good at the familiar Palin/Jones wordplay. Diana Quick, later a stage actress of considerable renown (and Julia in Brideshead Revisited) plays a damsel in distress in a sketch in which the Knights of the Round Table, in response to union demands, run an overly-bureaucratic rescue operation (shades of Holy Grail…).

The archive nature of the material, recorded onto videotape, means that high-definition does it no favours, and watching the originally broadcast episodes is like revisiting an old black and white television set (for those old enough to remember). The newly recorded material is also in black and white, with dating effects added in post-production, which lends the production a welcome uniformity, even if it’s probably not a release that pushes Blu-ray technology to the limit.

For new material in the extras, there’s an interview with producer Humphrey Barclay in which he is very honest about the difficulties surrounding the production and the mixed critical reception it received, as well as how head of comedy Frank Muir came to commission it in the first place.

If you like Monty Python’s Flying Circus, you’ll enjoy The New Incomplete and Utter History of Britain. Like Python, some of it is very funny and stands up well today. Some of it goes on for far too long and stretches a joke long past its sell by date. Aficionados of Palin and Jones will see this as an essential addition to their collection.

The post The New Incomplete Complete & Utter History of Britain Blu-ray review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

For the first time in any format, the two existing episodes can be seen as recorded and as transmitted, plus a new 50-minute feature with brand new linking material by inveterate globetrotter Michael Palin and his writing buddy, Welsh history-enthusiast Terry Jones, as well as previously unseen series footage excavated from Terry Jones’ personal archives.

Shown in 1969, the same year that Monty Python’s Flying Circus became part of the national consciousness, this series takes a typically skewed look at British history – and reports it as if television had been around to cover it at the time. A notable influence on television comedy, this series fed directly into the work they did with their fellow Pythons.

The  (In)Complete Complete and Utter History of Britain is an absolute must for fans of British comedy, cult TV and all admirers of those very naughty boys Palin and Jones.

The post Michael Palin & Terry Jones archive classic! appeared first on Entertainment Focus.

Brazil is the book that accompanies the series. It’s a diarised account written by Palin and neatly set out in chronological rather than geographical order (watch out for occasions when he leaves his established base for a day trip only to return to his last destination). Michael Palin is an extremely likeable and charming presenter, and he captures his general affability and quick wit on the page too. We recently reviewed Palin’s latest novel, The Truth, and found it very well written. The prose of his travel writing is even better: it’s economical, descriptive and rarely repetitive, making for a fluid, compulsive and engrossing read. It’s where Palin has really found his forte.

The tome is visually arresting too. From vibrant cover art to full-colour photographs on most pages, it’s a sumptuous guide, and the more serious connoisseur of the travel writing genre will enjoy the route maps. Double page pictures of Copacabana Beach help to put into context Palin’s descriptions, but there’s never a sense that he’s allowing the images to do the donkey work for him.

Palin starts his journey with the Yanomami tribe of Demini, who have lived in the New World remote from the advances and encroachments of other civilisations for thousands of years. The Amazonian tribes are not altogether remote any longer it would seem, as in return for filming with the Wauja, gifts must be offered and accepted. These days the tokens of hospitality are up-to-the-minute laptops and multifarious technical wizardry!

Leading with the Amazonian tribes allows Palin to gently air some politics about the threats their way of life faces from the damming of rivers to various laws that have been passed with seemingly only the city-dwellers in mind. The mere existence of the tribes showcases the huge variety of cultures and peoples that exist over such an enormous landmass.

Where the tribes live in small forest clearings, the massive Brazilian cities are home to millions of people, and quite early on Palin abandons any hope of tying the country into a coherent whole, instead opting to offer his take on the different localities, and quickly understanding that the Brazilians don’t generally have much curiosity about their neighbours in other towns, cities and villages.

It’s hard to believe you’re reading about the same country when Palin describes witnessing the religious festivals of Sao Luis and Salvador that mix Christianity with shamanistic African superstitions; and later takes part in the Gay Pride march in Rio De Janeiro. It could be argued that the Brazilian character is generally outgoing with a penchant for carnival atmospheres, but when he’s quizzed about his position on gay marriage and disappoints his host with a liberal line, it’s apparent that there are deep divisions existing in all areas of a country that eludes easy description.

Like any good historian and travel writer, Palin remains objective when he encounters values he doesn’t share, and he generally finds something positive to say even about the most inhospitable of areas. It’s not until he reaches the congested roads of Sao Paulo towards the end of his journey that there’s a feeling his characteristic optimism is starting to waver.

As you would expect from Michael Palin, there’s plenty of delicious comedy on the pages. He beautifully captures an encounter with a Candomblé priest in Salvador, who predicts his fortune, and often includes humorous (sometimes unintentionally so) remarks made by his guides.

With Brazil, Palin tackles the impossible task of describing a huge country with a booming economy but with massive divisions between rich and poor that’s home to diverse cultures that aren’t always peaceful neighbours. He succeeds by taking each destination in turn and looking at it with the fresh eyes of a foreigner and with the objectivity of a seasoned traveller. Needless to say it’s a far from comprehensive account of the country, but the intention is for the host to put across his ideas based on what he’s seen. On this journey, as on all his others, Michael Palin is a witty, informative and gently persuasive guide.

The post Michael Palin – Brazil review appeared first on Entertainment Focus.