The Rutland Isles

At some point in the early 1980's I got the idea of doing a documentary about a group of islands that don't exist. What a terrific idea, I thought, a story of a place. Not just the story of a few people, but whole peoples, different cultures, different ways of life. They would be called The Rutland Isles and they would be a parody of a travel documentary with weird animals. We would visit strange places and use real documentary footage. I wrote quite a lot of material and then did outlines of a visit to six of these different islands - Poluçion, Paranoia, Amnesia, Contracepçion, Revoluçion, and Liberaçion. Nobody was interested. Not agents, not friends, not people in the media, not even relatives. Not even my dog. It was weird. The reaction was nada. Zero. Zip.

There's a strange melancholy hanging over this documentary, which charts the lead-up to the Pythons' O2 comeback shows. Perhaps it's because the now-fragile fivesome were somewhat forced into it. "You don't get wiser as you get older," sighs John Cleese. "It's a myth." Were they "doing this out of duty" to us, someone asks at a press conference? "What the fuck do we owe you?" Eric Idle snaps, and everybody laughs. Idle doesn't. Only after a pause does he remember to smile.

Eric Idle: We were an odd bunch

It is an odd thing to do comedy and we were an odd bunch. And it was not undergraduate humour, we are all graduates thank you very much.

Monty Python, O2 Arena - comedy review

'John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam delivered material written nearly half a century ago - and it still works'

Imagine… Monty Python - And Now For Something Rather Similar opened with a series of interviews given by the comedy team in 1999. Each, in turn, gave a professional, personal, artistic or logistical reason why they would never perform as a group again.

Fast-forward 14 years, and the Pythons have announced a reunion. It was going to be a one-off performance in London's O2 Arena, but when this sold out in 45 seconds they quickly expanded it into a very lucrative tour.

Imagine… and Alan Yentob tracked the Pythons down to various parts of the globe, where they were all engaged upon individual projects, to discuss the forthcoming tour. Most expressed mild enthusiasm, John Cleese declared curmudgeonly ambivalence, while Terry Gilliam announced that he wouldn't be able to attend any rehearsals as he had a film to launch in Paris.

Only Eric Idle appeared genuinely committed to the undertaking. Moreover, he wasn't content to stage a greatest hits sketch show but took it upon himself to produce an authentic stage spectacular, complete with an all-singing, all-dancing chorus.

The other Pythons seemed happy to let him do all the hard work, put in the hours, shoulder the stress and accept the responsibility. Which, in my experience, is pretty much the template for all creative 'teams'.

Monty Python, O2 Arena, review

It could have been an embarrassment all round; a bunch of blokes in their seventies revisiting material that was anarchic and transformative 40 years ago but which they are now performing for 10 lucrative nights in the home of commercial comedy. Fear not, though, Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down Five to Go - surely the final farewell tour - proves that quality endures. And in the hands of the show's deviser and director, Eric Idle, it can be made into something new and fresh as well.

Scale of Python death insurance quotes revealed

Monty Python comic Eric Idle has revealed that the death insurance quotes for the reunion shows were so high that the OAP comedy group suggested doing a deal - offering the audiences their money back if not one but TWO Pythons die!

Eric Idle: Russell Brand & Eddie Izzard could stand in

In a behind the scenes documentary, Eric Idle has revealed that it has crossed their minds that one of them might not be able to make it on stage, joking that if Michael Palin can't make it they plan to draft in Eddie Izzard or use Russell Brand as a replacement for John Cleese.

Despite being one of the most eagerly awaited dates in 2014's comedy calendar, one big mystery still surrounds this live reunion of the surviving Pythons: will it be any good? Of course, they have the advantage of a back catalogue stuffed with classic sketches. But there's also disturbing talk of dancing girls and big Broadway-style production numbers under the aegis of director Eric Idle. All of which suggests that this may be more along the lines of Spamalot, a wildly successful show that mines the tropes of Python while not quite recreating its original spirit. Regardless of such caveats, it remains tremendously exciting anticipating Cleese, Gilliam, Idle, Jones and Palin all back onstage together again; and, given that the cavernous interior of the O2 may not be the ideal place to explore the nuances of sketch comedy, perhaps a dancing girl or two may be permitted.

Monty Python: The last laugh?

The Monty Python reunion shows which begin next week sold out within a minute. Then the backlash began. So is this the glorious farewell of a comedy institution? Or a cynical, greedy stunt? Both, Eric Idle tells Paul Hoggart.