... Monty Python's Flying Circus was considered a bit too rude for prime time TV so was hidden away after 1030pm on ABC when I was a kid. That was too late for us youngsters but we came to Monty Python through the LP records. Our first was "Monty Python's Previous Record" which was the source of much hilarity amongst us children even though there were some quite inappropriate bits we didn't understand until we were much older. Later on seeing the show I always felt the records were actually better as they relied more on the imagination, a bit like The Goon Show.
One sketch which only appeared on a record and not on the show was "Novel Writing with Thomas Hardy". This sketch appeared on "The Matching Tie and Handkerchief" album and also on "The Monty Python Instant Record Collection" which we had on cassette. Monty Python used to take everyday familiar things and apply them in other areas with humorous results. One such area is using sports commentary in a non-sport environment. Novel writing, being a fairly slow process, was ideally suited to cricket commentary. In this sketch Thomas Hardy, one of the great authors of the 19th century, begins his new novel, The Return of the Native, in front of a very good crowd in Dorchester. We now cross to our commentators.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogPZ5CY9KoM
DON'T FORGET TO COLLECT THE CODE TO COMPLETE THE FINAL IN THE And now for something completely different geocache series: Monty Python’s 45th Anniversary Omnibus.