Monty Python's Flying Circus: Season 1
1969 · 13 episodes · ★ 7.5
What Season 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Six British comedians, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam, pitch the BBC a comedy show unlike anything else on British television. The result is a series of sketches with no fixed structure, live scenes linked by Gilliam's animations. Each piece starts from absurd situations and a skewed look at British life, with satire aimed at politics and professions. No storyline ties the segments together, so viewers never know what awaits them after the next cut.
Season 1 Episodes
1x01 Whither Canada?
Featuring 'It's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart', an Italian lesson, Whizzo Butter, 'It's the Arts', Arthur 'Two-Sheds' Jackson, a cycling race, and The Funniest Joke in the World.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writers: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle
1x02 Sex and Violence
Featuring some flying sheep, a man with three buttocks, a man with two noses, musical mice, a marriage guidance counsellor, a working-class playwright and The Wrestling Epilogue.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Carol Cleveland, Terry Medlicott
1x03 How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away
Featuring a court scene, the larch, Bicycle Repair Man, children's stories, a restaurant sketch, some seduced milkmen, an interview with some children and a stolen newsreader.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Ian Davidson, Carol Cleveland
1x04 Owl Stretching Time
Featuring fresh fruit as self-defence, some folk-singing, an art gallery sketch and Lemming of the BDA. An Edwardian man struggles to undress on the beach.
Directed by Ian MacNaughton · Written by Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring Carol Cleveland, Dick Vosburgh
1x05 Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century
Featuring Confuse-a-Cat, discussion programme A Duck, a Cat and a Lizard, the arrest of a newsreader, an erotic film, a silly job interview and a burglar/encyclopaedia salesman.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Carol Cleveland
1x06 It's the Arts
Featuring a gang of legal burglars, the Whizzo Quality Assortment, a Scottish wedding and a day in the life of a city stockbroker. Some film moguls try to impress their boss.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writers: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle
1x07 Oh, You're No Fun Anymore
Featuring camel-spotting, an embezzler at a board-meeting and a science fiction tale about a Scotsman and a tennis-playing blancmange.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writers: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle
1x08 Full Frontal Nudity
Featuring an art critic, some hermits, Hell's Grannies and the dead parrot sketch. Some newlyweds attempt to buy a bed and the mafia offer protecting to the army.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Carol Cleveland, Ewa Aulin, Katya Wyeth, Rita Davies
1x09 The Ant, An Introduction
Featuring Ken Buddha, a man with a tape-recorder up his nose and a hairdresser who always wanted to be a lumberjack.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Connie Booth
1x10 Untitled
Featuring a bank robber in a lingerie shop, It's A Tree (with Arthur Tree), a vocational guidance counsellor, Ron Obvious and a gorilla librarian.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Ian Davidson, Barry Cryer, Carolae Donoghue
1x11 The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra goes to the bathroom, a footballer is interviewed and Batley Townswomen's Guild re-enact the invasion of Pearl Harbour.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Maureen Flanagan
1x12 The Naked Ant
Featuring the North Minehead by-election, the Upper Class Twit of the Year competition, Ken Shabby and a Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Wood Party.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writing: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle · Starring: Connie Booth, Maureen Flanagan
1x13 Intermission Season Finale
Featuring some historical impersonations, a cinema usherette with a dead seabird, restaurant abuse and Probe Around On Crime.
Directing: Ian MacNaughton · Writers: Graham Chapman, Michael Palin, Eric Idle
Season 1 Cast
Terry JonesVarious13 episodes
Terry GilliamVarious13 episodes
Carol Cleveland3 episodes
Connie BoothVarious2 episodes
Ian DavidsonEpisode 1
Barry CryerEpisode 1
Ewa AulinEpisode 1
Katya WyethEpisode 1
Rita DaviesDistraught WifeEpisode 1All Seasons
Season 21970 · 13 ep. · 
Season 31972 · 13 ep. · 
Season 41974 · 6 ep. · Where to Watch Season 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus
It is currently not available on the major streaming platforms.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes are in Season 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus?
Season 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus has 13 episodes.
When did Season 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus premiere?
Aired October 5, 1969.
Where to watch Season 1 of Monty Python's Flying Circus?
Currently not available on the major subscription platforms (availability may vary by country).
What is the best episode of Season 1?
According to the TMDB audience score, episode 1x03, «How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away», with a 8.0.