After the Python had finished with the TV series and before Palin became a 'round the world' traveller he and longtime co-writer Terry Jones made a short-run series for the BBC called 'Ripping Yarns', which over the year has been overlooked by many but is in fact one of the funniest post-Python projects any of the Pythons have done.
It's based on an idea given to them by Terry Jones's brother who pointed out the funny potential of the old Boy's Own Annuals. The premise of the show was to lampoon these 'Boy's Own' type tales of courage and stiff upper lip typical of many schoolboy annual adventure stories of the 20', 30's and 40's. They are a slightly more comedic TV equivalent of the 'Flashman' stories.
One thing that you notice straight away is the high production values of the series. It is shot on film with a lot of outdoor rather than studio sequences. The attention to period detail is also high and much care has been taken to realistically reproduce a sense of the time in which each story is set, worthy of any BBC costume drama. The high cost entailed in doing this is partly why so few were made in the end.
The original pilot show was screened in 1976. The pilot is probably the most Pythonesque of all the stories set in a traditional public school with its clichés sadistic practices boys nailed to the wall and pupils caning the headmaster. A full series followed in 1977 and Palin and Jones
continued where they left off, the humour maybe a little more subtle and satirical but still extremely well written and performed.
For the first time the BBC has produced a complete set of the series on a two DVD set.
Ripping Yarns- The Complete Series DVD features all of the nine half hour episodes.
Tomkinson's Schooldays (original pilot) The Testing of Eric Olthwaite, Escape From Stalag Luft 112 B Murder at Moorstones Manor Across the Andes by Frog The Curse of the Claw Whinfrey's Last Case Golden Gordon Roger of the Raj
Each episode cleverly lampoons one of the typical scenarios of the 'Boy Own' genre. For instance Tomkinson's school days set in a turn of the century Edwardian Boarding School is a satire of Tom Brown School days and many more adventure stories set in Public Schools. In 'Golden Gordon' we get the Football tale of the members of a cup winning team re uniting one final time to beat the current rivals. Murder at Moorstones Manor is Agatha Christie Crime murder mystery, whereas the 'Curse of the Claw' is a supernatural tale of exotic Black magic set in the darkest reaches of the British Empire. 'Roger of the Raj' satirises the overtly racist tones of the Boys adventure annual while 'Whinfrey's Last Case' parodies the spy adventure stories of the John Buchan -39 steps ilk.
All the stories as you would expect from Palin and Jones are played for laughs and there is a lot of the characteristic Python humour on view but this is not Monty Python the scripts are less surreal and more structured and to be fair many are better written. While the programmes are pure comedy there is a slightly more satirical look at British society present as well and this gives the comedy an added depth.
Palin is the star of each show, his charming and amiable persona perfectly adapting to a variety of intentionally stereotypical British roles from public schoolboy, intrepid adventurer, stiff upper lip POW and frustrated northern football fanatic. Surprisingly Jones only makes an appearance in the first pilot episode, however there are plenty of other familiar faces of top British character actors interspersed through the series to add a little acting muscle, including Ian Ogilvy, Roy Kinnear (as a brilliantly dry humoured German guard keeping those plucky British POW at bay), Iain Cuthbertson, Denholm Elliott, Bill Fraser, John Le Mesurier and even John Cleese makes a fleeting appearance (blink and you'll miss him!).
THE DVD
The series alone is reason enough to buy this collection but the makers have also included some worthwhile and interesting additional material and options. The commentaries by Palin and Jones are worth listening to and are more interesting that the average commentaries found on DVD's these days.
Some deleted scenes from one of the shows 'Murder at Moorstones Manor' are fine if short. You also get the option of watching the episodes without audience laughter, which I think is an advantage.
Two of the more interesting extras feature a documentary made in 1982 in which Palin traces back his comic roots in his home town of Sheffield, appropriately titled Comic Roots this does enlighten us a little to the motivations and culture which have helped formed Palin's peculiar comic take on life.
Another interesting offering for fans of Plain and Jones is a Black comedy they wrote and made in (and not screened since) 1973 called Secrets starring Warren Mitchell better known now as Alf Garnett. Although the comedy might not have dated very well over the course of time it is still interesting to see an early example of post-Python collaboration by Palin and Jones.
The special edition version also includes a commemorative booklet with a little more background info on the series and a photo gallery. One final special feature worth mentioning is the inclusion of Plain and Jones original scripts in PDF format a must for real fans.
This DVD is certainly worth getting for any fan of the series and in general for fans of Palin, Jones and Monty Python. It strange that such a well made timeless example of British half hour comedy such as Ripping Yarns doesn't seems to have faired as well as some other lesser examples from the period and certainly repeats don't get aired often enough. It is excellent news that the complete series is now available on DVD and that maybe a new audience will get to discover this brilliant comedy.
My favourite episodes are darkly atmospheric 'Curse of the Claw' and the brilliant 'Golden Gordon'.
Highly recommended and with great extras too.
'Ripping Yarns- The Complete Series can be bought from Play.com for £17.99 delivered.
Production Year: 2004 - Comedy - Director: John Hay - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jimi Mistry, Kate Miles, Dougray Scott
Comedy - Director: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Carol Cleveland, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
![Ripping Yarns - The Box Set [DVD] [1976]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/70667773.jpg "Ripping Yarns - The Box Set [DVD] [1976]")
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