Ripping Yarns

Ripping Yarns was a British television comedy series loosely in the style of Monty Python's Flying Circus, written by former Pythons Michael Palin and Terry Jones. Each episode neatly parodied some pre-war schoolboy genre or other.

Origin

The series grew out of a one-off BBC programme called "Tomkinson's Schooldays" (1975), loosely inspired by Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. Palin and Jones both wrote and starred in multiple roles.

Related Topics:
BBC - 1975 - Thomas Hughes

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Palin and Jones then developed the idea into a series. Following a repeat of "Tomkinson's Schooldays" as the de facto pilot episode, a further five episodes were screened in 1977. A second series of three episodes followed in 1979. Jones did not appear in any of the later 8 episodes, and Palin usually confined himself to one or two roles per episode.

Related Topics:
1977 - 1979

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