The Golden Age of Ballooning (31 Oct. 1974)

Director:

Ian MacNaughton

Writers:

Graham Chapman, Eric Idle,

Stars:

Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Jones

Cast

Episode cast overview:
Graham Chapman	...	Butler / Voice Over #1 / Sir Charles Dividends / King George III / Ferdinand von Zeppelin / Various
Eric Idle	...	Jacques Montgolfier / Lord Interest / George III's Reader / Norwegian / Mr. Hollweg / Various
Terry Jones	...	Joseph Montgolfier / Lord North / Barry Zeppelin / Mr. Tirpitz / Mrs. Helmut / Various
Michael Palin	...	Plumber / Louis XIV / Voice Over #2 / Presenter / Mr. Von Bulow / Helmut / Voice Over #2 / Various
Terry Gilliam	...	Dr. Hamer / Various
Carol Cleveland	...	Antoinette / Various
Peter Brett
Frank Lester
Bob Raymond	...	First Duke (as Bob E. Raymond)
Stenson Falke

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

doctor | zeppelin | ballooning | german accent | syringe | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Music

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Details

Release Date:

31 October 1974 (UK)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Quotes

Announcer: Next week on "The Golden Age of Ballooning", we examine the work of Girlsher and Coxwell, the English balloonists who ascended to a height of seven miles in 1862 without washing. There is also a book called "The Golden Age of Ballooning" published by the BBC to coincide with the series. It's in an attractive hand-tooled binding, is priced £5 and failure to buy it will make you liable to a £50 fine or three months' imprisonment. There's also a record of someone reading the book of "The Golden ...

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Soundtracks

"George III"
Written by Neil Innes

User Reviews

Python flies again

In 1973, John Cleese was a guest on the B.B.C. children's programme 'Ask Aspel'. 'Monty Python' was a popular programme with kids despite going-out post-watershed; carefully-chosen clips were shown, and he stunned fans by confirming he would not be back for Season 4. His departure also coincided with a format change - sketches were abandoned in favour of linear narratives akin to 'The Cycling Tour' from Season 3 ( at one point, the programme was to have been retitled 'Python Playhouse' ). Season 4 landed a 'Radio Times' cover and an article. Despite no Cleese, all seemed well. But 'The Golden Age Of Ballooning' was definitely not a good start to the new run. At times it strongly resembles an episode of A.T.V.'s 'Carry On Laughing'. Eric Idle played 'Jacques' and Terry Jones was 'Joseph' - the Montgolfier brothers. It has its share of funny moments, such as Joseph admitting he has not washed properly for the past fifteen years, Michael Palin playing 'Louis X1V' as a head-butting Glaswegian, and Graham Chapman's 'Ferdinand Von Zeppelin' throwing out of his airship anyone making the mistake of calling it an airship, but overall it is a disappointment ( as is Season 4 as a whole, with very little Terry Gilliam animation and a reduction in Eric Idle-penned material ). One gets the impression the Pythons knew this was going to be the final series, and did not care too much if most of the gags fell on stony ground ( as they duly did ).

Funniest moment - the spoof ad for the 'Golden Age Of Ballooning' tie-in book ( all B.B.C. shows in those days seemed to have tie-in books ), warning that failure to purchase the said book could result in a steep prison sentence.