Episode List: |
Episode Name | Season | Disc | Disc Order | Directors | Writers | Sketches |
Whither Canada? | 1 | 1 | 1 | John Howard Davies Ian MacNaughton | | 'It's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart', Famous Deaths, Italian Lesson, Whizzo Butter, 'It's the Arts', Arthur "Two-Sheds" Jackson, Cycling Race, and The Funniest Joke in the World. |
Sex and Violence | 1 | 1 | 2 | John Howard Davies Ian MacNaughton | | Flying Sheep, French Lecture on Sheep-Aircraft, A Man With Three Buttocks, A Man With Two Noses, Musical Mice, Marriage Guidance Counselor, The Wacky Queen, Working-Class Playwright, A Scotsman on a Horse, The Wrestling Epilogue, and The Mouse Problem. |
How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away | 1 | 1 | 3 | John Howard Davies Ian MacNaughton | | Court Scene, The Larch, Bicycle Repair Man, Children's Stories, Restaurant Sketch, Seduced Milkmen, Stolen News Reader, Children's Interview, and Nudge Nudge. |
Owl-Stretching Time | 1 | 2 | 1 | John Howard Davies Ian MacNaughton | | A change from street clothes to swim trunks turns into a burlesque act; a karate class exercises defense tactics against fresh fruit; a man tries to buy a book about false teeth. |
Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century | 1 | 2 | 2 | John Howard Davies Ian MacNaughton | | Confuse-a-Cat, The Smuggler, A Duck, a Cat and a Lizard (Discussion), Vox Pops on Smuggling, Police Raid, Letters on Vox Pops, Newsreader Arrested, Erotic Film, Cartoon - Charles Fatless, Silly Job Interview, Careers Advisory Board, Burglar/Encyclopaedia Salesman |
It's the Arts | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | Sketches include: a German composer with an extraordinarily long name; crooks plan an elaborate scheme to buy a watch; a chocolate-company owner markets "Crunchy Frog." |
You're No Fun Anymore | 1 | 3 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | Invaders from another galaxy turn Englishmen into Scotsmen. Also: a comedy about camels; a corporate board meeting. |
Full Frontal Nudity | 1 | 3 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | A pet-shop customer returns his dead parrot; a gang of female senior citizens attacks a town's young men; a young army officer who joined the service to water-ski tries to resign. |
The Ant, an Introduction | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | A man with double vision organizes a mountain-climbing expedition; llamas are celebrated in a rousing Spanish song; a barber is afraid to cut hair; a couple's romantic evening is ruined by uncouth visitors. |
Untitled | 1 | 4 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | Sketches include: Bank Robber in Lingerie Shop, It's a Tree, Ron Obvious, Pet Conversations, Gorilla Librarian, Strangers in the Night |
Episode Name | Season | Disc | Disc Order | Directors | Writers | Sketches |
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Goes to the Bathroom | 1 | 4 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | A half-inch-tall man appears on a talk show; a town's women's guild reenacts Pearl Harbor; the entire Royal Philharmonic Orchestra retires to the restroom. |
The Naked Ant | 1 | 4 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | The 127th annual Twit of the Year Show. Also: Hitler and Himmler are guests for tea in a boarding house; a BBC broadcast is interrupted when a British minister falls into a fissure. |
Intermission | 1 | 4 | 4 | Ian MacNaughton | | Among "historical" impersonations are Cardinal Richelieu as Petula Clark and Julius Caesar as Eddie Waring. Also: a police fairy tale; a vegetarian restaurant's menu, featuring a naked man with an apple in his mouth. |
Dinsdale! (Face the Press) | 2 | 5 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | A sketch about the Ministry of Silly Walks. Also: a British minister---attired in a pink tulle dress---talks about housing; 30 gas-company men investigate the installation of a stove; a giant hedgehog wanders London. |
The Spanish Inquisition | 2 | 5 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | An offbeat look at the Spanish Inquisition; an unconventional version of "Wuthering Heights." Also: a jury plays charades while delivering its verdict; a man attempts to find one nontaxable pleasure. |
Deja Vu | 2 | 5 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | Sketches include: Flying Lessons, Hijacked Plane, Psychiatrist Milkman, Complaints, Déjà vu. |
The Buzz Aldrin Show | 2 | 6 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | A supersleuth bishop investigates a suspicious insurance business; an elderly couple construct a house that has no walls. |
Live from the Grill-o-Mat | 2 | 6 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | Contestants vie for incriminating photos in "The Blackmail Game"; a boxer spars with schoolgirls. |
It's a Living | 2 | 6 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | Sketches include: The time on BBC 1, School Prize Giving, Films by Mr. Dibley, Timmy Williams Interview, Election Night Special |
The Attila the Hun Show | 2 | 7 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | "The Attila the Hun Show"; a burlesque performance by government ministers; a documentary study of village idiots. Also: political groupies pursue MPs. |
Episode Name | Season | Disc | Disc Order | Directors | Writers | Sketches |
Archaeology Today | 2 | 7 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | A dissatisfied bridegroom tries to exchange his spouse; hunters pursue a terrifying mosquito; domestic problems interrupt the work of Beethoven, Shakespeare, Michelangelo and other creative geniuses. |
How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body | 2 | 7 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | A University of Woolamaloo philosophy-department meeting---the members of which are all named Bruce; an exploding penguin; a radio version of "The Death of Mary Queen of Scots." Also: advice on how to pick up a cosmetic surgeon. |
Scott of the Antarctic | 2 | 8 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | Foam-rubber snow and a stuffed lion are featured in a scene from "Scott of the Antarctic"; a football match is waged between gynecologists and Long John Silver impersonators. |
How Not to Be Seen | 2 | 8 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | Conquistador coffee campaign; Repeating groove; Ramsey MacDonald striptease; Job hunter; International Chinese Communist Conspiracy; Crelm Toothpaste/Shrill petrol; Agatha Christie sketch (railway timetables); Mr Neville Shunte - railroad playwright; Gavin Millarrrrr writes; Film director/dentist Martin Curry (teeth); City gents vox pops; 'Crackpot Religions Ltd'; 'How not to be seen'; Crossing the Atlantic on a tricycle; Interview in filing cabinet; 'Yummy yummy'; Monty Python's Flying Circus again in thirty seconds. |
Spam | 2 | 8 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | World revolutionaries are quizzed about football scores; figures from works of art go on strike throughout galleries in England; the search continues for a cure for over-acting; Viking marauders kidnap Englishmen who ask for canned ham. |
Royal Episode 13 | 2 | 8 | 4 | Ian MacNaughton | | Miners brawl over historical facts; hospital patients serve the doctors; five shipwrecked mariners decide whom they will have for dinner. |
Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror | 3 | 10 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | A program called "Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror," featuring a man who speaks exclusively in anagrams; a timorous TV announcer, before and after he undergoes psychiatric treatment; the employment of "pantomime horses." |
The All-England Summarise Proust Competition | 3 | 10 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | Contestants in "The All-England Summarize Proust Competition" are judged in swimsuit and evening-gown categories; an irate customer confronts his travel agent. Also: an expedition to Mount Everest, made by an international group of hairstylists. |
The War Against Pornography | 3 | 10 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | Surgical tools applied to a mildly anesthetized patient include a power drill and a mallet; a TV program features a lecture on gastropods, highlighted by the visit of a whelk. |
Salad Days | 3 | 11 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | A climbing expedition negotiates a hazardous London road; an attempt is made to determine whether an urban dwelling is a house or a lifeboat. Also: a mouse's quest for cheese, which leads to the production of a Western called "Rogue Cheddar." |
Episode Name | Season | Disc | Disc Order | Directors | Writers | Sketches |
The Cycling Tour | 3 | 11 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | Mr Pither; Clodagh Rogers; Trotsky; Smolensk; Bingo-crazed Chinese (British Ambassador); 'Jack in a Box'. |
The Nude Man | 3 | 11 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | A housing project induced by hypnosis stands---as long as the tenants believe in it. Also: highlights of the Olympic Hide-and-Seek finals; suggestions for improving bullfighting, such as the use of radar. |
E. Henry Thripshaw's Disease | 3 | 12 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | A police investigator is mistaken for Sir Philip Sidney in a Tudor-period job agency, which actually deals in pornography; King Solomon judges the case of a stray bee; a panel of dead people debates the question "Is There a Life After Death?" |
Dennis Moore | 3 | 12 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | A highwayman steals "lupins" from the rich and tries to give them to the poor. Also: the first episode in a tatty, tedious 18th-century serial is brought to a screeching halt; peasants clamor for Titian paintings and Venetian glass. |
A Book at Bedtime | 3 | 12 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | 'A Book at Bedtime'; 'Red Gauntlet'; Kamikaze Highlanders; No time to lose; Penguins; BBC pro-gramme planners; Unexploded Scotsmen; 'Spot the Looney'; Rival documentaries; 'Dad's Doctors'; Dad's Pooves'. |
The British Showbiz Awards (Grandstand) | 3 | 12 | 4 | Ian MacNaughton | | Oscar Wilde, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, George Bernard Shaw and the future Edward VII exchange epigrams at an evening party; mechanical brain surgery fails to dramatically affect a woman's mentality. |
Njorl's Saga (Whicker's World) | 3 | 9 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | A courteous murderer wins a suspended sentence by virtue of his charm; a search for Paris by way of Iceland is interrupted by a plane crash and a shipwreck. Also: how to dispose of pets before going on vacation. |
Mr. and Mrs. Brian Norris' Ford Popular | 3 | 9 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | A couple investigate the cultural similarities between two London districts, seven miles apart; schoolboys' extracurricular activities are examined; a TV farming club comments on Tchaikovsky. |
The Money Programme | 3 | 9 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | "The Money Program" features a Swiss banker, a city accountant and a song of praise. |
The Golden Age of Ballooning | 4 | 13 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | The Montgolfier brothers prepare for the first balloon flight. |
Episode Name | Season | Disc | Disc Order | Directors | Writers | Sketches |
Michael Ellis | 4 | 13 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | In this episode, Chris Quinn enters a department store and demands to buy an ant named Marcus. |
The Light Entertainment War | 4 | 13 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | A parody of war includes the invasion of Norway by tutu-clad commandos and a plea to the public to treat the war seriously. |
Hamlet | 4 | 14 | 1 | Ian MacNaughton | | Hamlet undergoes psychoanalysis; eight Queen Victorias compete in the Queen Victoria handicap race; a boxing contender gets his head knocked off. |
Mr. Neutron | 4 | 14 | 2 | Ian MacNaughton | | The search for Mr. Neutron, who plans to dominate the world, stretches from a London suburb to the Yukon, and results in the destruction of earthly civilization. |
Party Political Broadcast | 4 | 14 | 3 | Ian MacNaughton | | A spoof of British political-party broadcasts includes the finals of "the worst family in Britain" contest, a violent cricket match and a housewife who revolutionized beekeeping. |