Monty Python Live (Mostly) review: Flying out on a high

"Who'd have thought 40 years ago that we'd all be sitting here, doing Monty Python?" opines Eric Idle at the start of the 'Four Yorkshiremen' sketch. What's more, who would have thought they would be playing to a packed arena on the shores of the River Thames in the 21st century, with punters shouting 'Albatross!' at unsuspecting ice-cream sellers and audience members dressed as lumberjacks and old crones?

A meticulous level of planning and detail has obviously gone into Monty Python Live (Mostly). You would expect no less after 30 years of near-misses and not-quite-full reunions.

Most of the material has barely been updated - in fact, the Pythons' biggest concessions to the modern age are probably the 'Keep Calm and Buy a Shrubbery' t-shirt line at the merchandise stand, and a brief appearance from a current world leader in one of Terry Gilliam's animations. However, when such sharp observation of eccentricity, personality, consumerism and the double standards of those in authority lies at the core of their sketches, there's no need for pop culture references thrown in left, right and centre in a bid to try and seem more relevant.

The beautifully-designed stage is a big space to fill, and although one or two of the song and dance numbers seem rather stilted - 'The Lumberjack Song' is nowhere near as rambunctious as it should be and the number opening the 'Blackmail' segment comes across as a bit tawdry and self-conscious - a combination of Arlene Philips's choreography and an energetic chorus certainly deliver.

The big screen at the back of the arena not only serves as the perfect canvas for Terry Gilliam's surreal and often brutal animations, it allows you to see the Pythons at work in uncompromising high definition - every facial tic, every bit of one-upmanship and every time they look each other in the eye and burst into giggles. John Cleese and Michael Palin both totally lose it during 'Vocational Guidance Counsellor' and a 'Dead Parrot'/'Cheese Shop' mash-up, grinning at one another. ("We always say we laugh more when we are together than we really do any other time," Cleese once said.)

Graham Chapman may have passed away in 1989 at an unjustly young age, but he still features tonight, and gets a warm cheer every time he appears on the big screen in archive footage. Chapman's posthumous contribution is still all too brief, which is a shame - but in Python tradition, he does pop up at one key moment where things are running the risk of getting a bit too silly.

It's in the second half where the performance really gathers momentum, with a quick-fire succession of two-handers including a number of old classics (some of which run into each other as the pace picks up), a scene-stealing solo moment from Gilliam (whose physicality is used sparingly, but to great effect), and cameo appearances from Brian Cox, Stephen Hawking and live special guest Stephen Fry. Palin and Cleese's dynamic is electric through the 'Argument' sketch and the aforementioned 'Dead Parrot'/'Cheese Shop' mash-up - which has a final surprise that any Python fan will appreciate.

One Down, Five to Go was never conceived as a bid to win new Python fans. It was always meant to be one last nostalgic hurrah, and in that respect they had a head-start knowing that the audience would be full of die-hard devotees. But you're only ever as good as your last performance, and if this really is goodbye this time, then Monty Python are flying out on a high and in style after all these years.

4

Kate Goodacre

Kate (they/she) is a freelance writer, editor, digital editorial trainer and data technician who first joined Digital Spy as an overnight freelance sub-editor in January 2011, after studying a postgraduate diploma in journalism at Salford University while working part-time as a social researcher.
In July 2013, Kate joined the DS staff team as chief sub-editor and following six years as the site's managing editor, their role expanded to incorporate Hearst UK's entertainment portfolio (including Digital Spy and its sibling titles Best and Inside Soap) between late 2024 and early 2026.
  Kate has worked as a writer and editor since 2006, with bylines syndicated across the Hearst network and at organisations including Metro. They started their career as a TV production runner for the BBC and contributed to various music websites, blogs and zines while based in Manchester.
  During her time at DS, Kate has previously been a freelance sub-editor and chief sub-editor.
  Kate's team at Digital Spy were proudly nominated in the Best Subbing/Production Team category at the BSME Talent Awards 2022. Over the years, she has contributed to coverage of many, many Prime Days and Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and was part of the team that launched the DS weekly TV newsletter in November 2019 – followed by the Top of the Shops e-commerce newsletter in May 2024.
   Kate's screen passions include Taskmaster (their biggest career regret remains turning down the opportunity to visit the house), nature documentaries, and live sport (up there with the greatest of all soap operas although if asked to choose, it's Corrie… every time).
   Her highlights while working at DS have included interviewing Stevie Nicks on the red carpet for her documentary In Your Dreams, sitting at a press roundtable with Formula 1 commentary icon Murray Walker, watching a life-sized LEGO car being driven around Silverstone, writing an album-by-album retrospective of Lady Gaga's genre-defying career for Living Legends, and raising awareness of receiving and understanding a late-in-life ADHD diagnosis through the lens of Bianca and Freddie's EastEnders storyline.
 Upon remembering to log off the internet, Kate enjoys live theatre, dance and comedy, appreciating nature, baking (badly), tending a recently-rented allotment (equally badly) and pampering one very spoiled rescue cat named Jolene.
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