Salad Days

When filming the Pepperpot Lifeboat sketch, John Cleese needed to shoot his line several times because he kept vomiting due to sea sickness. After filming, he and writing partner Graham Chapman were driving back to town. Chapman, who had trained as a doctor, told Cleese that he should have something in his stomach after being sick. Cleese replied that he fancied some cheese, but they couldn't find any suitable shops. Cleese asked Chapman if he thought the chemist's (pharmacist's) might have some cheese. Chapman joked that they probably only have medicinal cheese. Cleese joked back that Chapman could write him a prescription. The Cheese Shop sketch that appears later in this episode was thus born. During the writing of the sketch, Cleese kept asking Chapman if he really thought what they were writing was funny. Chapman kept motioning for Cleese to continue, assuring him that it would be funny. Cleese remained uncertain until the weekly writing meeting when they read the sketch out to the entire Monty Python troupe. Michael Palin, according to Cleese, fell out of his chair laughing.

Referenced in Somebody's Gotta Do It: Goat Cheese Queen (2014)