1979: The Great LIFE OF BRIAN DEBATE | Friday Night Saturday Morning | BBC Archive

[@bjrneirikstrkersen1021]

The film was banned in Norway due to some archaic blasphemy law. In Sweden, they promoted the movie with the slogan: "Life of Brian - the film that is so funny they banned it in Norway"

[@Whywhatwherehowwhen]

It might be banned in Britain soon if you have a look at the anti “desecration” laws being pushed forward.

[@Sickdisgustingfreak]

@@Whywhatwherehowwhenthose will only ever practically apply to Muslims.

[@HHDbeats]

They can't take my dvd away

[@dmuntz]

@@Whywhatwherehowwhen And the U.S (Project 2025)

[@Whywhatwherehowwhen]

@ nah that was drawn up by a bunch of ultra conservative lunatics. It may as well be written in crayon. It’s not something Trump is remotely interested in. he’s said over and over again but democrats keep bringing it up to try to scare people.

[@Doctor180185]

My favourite story about the film is when it premiered in America, there were apparently so many different religions present that Eric Idle apparently said - ‘well at least we’ve brought them all together for the first time in 2000 years’

[@iandawe948]

👍🤣

[@DeanClarke-bj2nu]

😂

[@everydayperson764]

🤣

[@KP-nf4yl]

Classic. 😂

[@KP-nf4yl]

Yes, it’s amazing that despite being the first democracy to have no official religion, some of my fellow Americans get their knickers in a twist at the slightest hint of anything irreverent regarding religion, especially Christianity. I fear my country’s collective religiosity will be our undoing. Surely a sense of humor about all things is not incompatible with faith. Bravo, Pythons!

[@davidadams3408]

I love how Muggeridge keeps calling it 3rd rate and a film that will be soon forgotten when, in reality, it's now repeatedly voted Britain's favourite film and rightly so.

[@TonyEnglandUK]

And the Bishop and Muggeridge were defending a religion with a talking donkey in it.

[@iandawe948]

​@@TonyEnglandUK Not forgetting a talking snake, a man living in a whale and a 700 year old man building an ark

[@TonyEnglandUK]

@@iandawe948 and a talking bush and the instruction to slaughter entire towns full of innocent people if just one of those people worships a different god.

[@jackflanagle6079]

@@iandawe948Mark Twain wrote that they had to turn the ark around and go back as they hadn't brought the malarial mosquitos on board.

[@RobertJonesWightpaint]

Whereas Muggeridge is remembered, and not at all fondly, only by people of my age. Silly, drivelling, hypocritical old wotsit....

[@edstercw]

My dad's a minister and was probably in his 20s around the time of this interview. He was so disappointed to see two giants of theological writing gaining a very public platform and then embarrassing themselves. They didn't even try to engage with the subject and critically examine the film, they just ignored most of the points and went on a diatribe. They embodied the stereotype of religious figures being humourless, blinkered old men more concerned with authority than empathy. That is why my father tried to be the opposite.

[@davis68nf]

The theological "arguments" are awfully, awfully weak. You realize that they cannot hold a candle to these comedic writers/actors (and, somehow, I was rooting for the theologians at one point).

[@anserbauer309]

They clearly lacked the requisite intellectual capacity to critically examine the film; or the opposing arguments. But then, having to defend one's position with rationality and justify opinions with reason and logic are not skills routinely practiced or even required by elderly religious apologists and churchmen living in a pseudo-theocracy, as they did when the film was made.

[@larsjorgan7964]

Bishop Stockwood was later outed as gay, which he had hidden all his life, although who from is a mystery: He was camp as a row of tents. How times have changed!

[@matinmirnaghibi5846]

I didn't know anything about him and few seconds in I was like yup he's gay

[@TonyEnglandUK]

I don't get the relevance of his sexuality, it just seems to be a trivial matter that the Bishop and Muggeridge themselves would be proud to bring up.

[@larsjorgan7964]

@@TonyEnglandUK It`s called hypocrisy.

[@richyalexander9206]

He dated Graham Chapman

[@martinnewtonholmes]

A workshy gay Bishop ? Surely not !

[@rufoscar3]

The Bishop guy actually seemed more offended that John Cleese criticized his old Private School religious education than anything else. Blessed are the "chaps like us" and all that.

[@safertobeanonymous2224]

I was happy to see that part. He was open and understanding of what comedy and satire is Would be hard to find clergy who’d support it if it came out now.

[@lrmunro]

Stockwood was actually a well-known socialist, but it was observed that he was the sort of socialist who loved the trappings of wealth.

[@Battouga]

The idea that George Harrison bought a £1 000,000 ticket to Life of Brian is something incredibly funny to me.

[@jonathansmith6762]

My favorite point is when the Bishop indicates the difference between the work of Mother Theresa and a Social Worker was that if Jesus didn't matter, her work would be over. That implies that the Social Worker would continue their work based on the ideology of helping others for the sake of it, not for some religious figure. If that's not a death knell for only doing works in the name of religion, I don't know what is. "Oh, well, Jesus was portrayed unkindly in a film. I guess all my charitable work is garbage now. See ya!". I'm shocked that Cleese and Palin didn't jump all over that point.

[@KP-nf4yl]

I immediately thought the same thing. What are one’s personal ethics concerning others if they are only based on belief? Helping others should be done DESPITE what you or they believe, as long as they are in need.

[@fredyvaldez7295]

The same bishop had an homosexual affair

[@Snotlingfondler]

Using mother Theresa as a moral example aged horrifically.

[@brianfergus839]

Most people still believe the myth, though.

[@cristiangarcia1260]

Not in their minds. She is St. Theresa now

[@Jiujitsuspecialist]

No it didn't, every myth said about her being a supposed "monster" is unfounded and throughly false.

[@Dbdbe1]

@@JiujitsuspecialistLiar

[@jedaaa]

​@Jiujitsuspecialist complete BS , it's well known her little hospitals were nothing more than places to go and die in squalor while being refused even basic medicines because her saintlyness believed people's suffering made them closer to Jesus , while she herself had treatment in a very expensive private clinic for her health complaints , 100% fact. And another provable fact is the millions, and a private jet she accepted from someone she knew to be a murderous dictator .

[@erksworld9661]

Fun fact: Life of Brian was unofficially banned in the Welsh seaside town of Aberystwyth, due to the nude scene in the film featuring the actress who played Judith Iscariot. Some thirty years later, she became mayor of the town and promptly staged a showing of the film with Michael Palin and Terry Jones attending. (She was also married to Chris Langham who featured in the first series of Not the Nine O' Clock News.)

[@Miwna]

Apparently that's an urban myth. The film was never banned.

[@ShopFloorMonkey]

It's kinda fascinating that you name drop Chris Langham for his appearance in Not The Nine O'Clock News, yet not for the fact he was the featured centurion in the Biggus Dickus scene in the film that brought us to this video in the first place!

[@RirirYehe]

It's a myth

[@johnpitchlynn9341]

The two Bishops are gaslighting the pythons, lying and generally acting as unchristian as I've seen. Childish Insults and falsehoods. The only buffoons are these two despicable vile poorexcuse for Bishops.

[@Tomalak]

The incredible sanctimony of the Bishop and Muggeridge is something to behold.

[@ishmael2586]

I think the bigger observation is how middle class, privately educated boomers did everything they could to attack English heritage. Python are now old and wealthy, and we're forced to live in the free, multicultural ruins they helped to create.

[@pauls7803]

Yes, Muggeridge tries to give Christianity the credit for works of art etc made during a period where you could be executed for not believing in Christ. Who else was there to make these works of art? Incredible.

[@TonyEnglandUK]

Imagine if you had an allergy to pomposity, you'd be on your back before Muggeridge reached the end of a sentence.

[@dancingdan1994]

It was just hilarious

[@DeanClarke-bj2nu]

​@@TonyEnglandUK😂

[@paulfuller493]

Python boys have the last laugh. It will forever be a classic.

[@petesmitt]

This was a classic generation gap; the old boys born before WW1 could only see sacrilege..

[@TonyEnglandUK]

I'm convinced Muggeridge thought the Pythons were mocking Jesus but they were simply saying _"What if people followed the wrong Messiah?"_ and making fun of that. And there was literally a Messiah fever in the area at Jesus' time, many many were claiming to be the Messiah, not just Jesus, so there were plenty to choose from.

[@robertmcelwaine7024]

It'll definitely be long remembered after those two jokers who are now dead, in the cold cold ground.

[@martinsanchez4827]

​@@robertmcelwaine7024They weren't that bad

[@robertmcelwaine7024]

@@martinsanchez4827 I respectfully disagree. Especially Stockwood who was particularly smug, condescending and pompous. I mean both Palin and Cleese were and are highly educated men, who had done their research before making Life of Brian. Of all people they weren't one's to be talked down to or be lectured by a man who clearly had all too high an opinion of himself. A standout moment was when he sharply stated that Palin and Cleese would both get their thirty pieces of silver. I can imagine that would have seriously ticked off Palin, who by that time was already seething enough with anger.

[@wez4517]

Well i’m sorry but I couldn’t take anything Malcom Muggeridge said seriously from 18:21 onwards. It’s blatantly obvious he was just bitterly jealous of the success the Python guys had because he had seemingly failed in writing comedy himself. He admitted it himself “trying to make the British public laugh, which is practically impossible!” That single statement alone highlights his prejudices as he obviously felt he didn’t get enough respect in that field. Who knows... perhaps he was just really crap at writing jokes?! You take that on board and then it becomes clear why he was so vitriolic about the film!

[@stewartellinson8846]

editing punch is never going to make anyone laugh, not since the 1880s.

[@nevarmaor]

Those that can, make people laugh. Those that can't, spitefully ridicule.We all know where Monty Python and Malcolm Muggeridge fit in. I had even forgotten he was a person until I watched this.

[@A-small-amount-of-peas]

I'm so pleased this occurred after the BBC used to have to wipe their tapes to save money as it's an incredibly important moment in history to be documented in terms of freedom of speech for future generations to look back on

[@davewolfy2906]

Too late

[@MickFrank1992]

Try making a comedy about Islam now

[@davewolfy2906]

@@MickFrank1992 they have - The Book of Mormon. That is my take on it.

[@thecolourrose9022]

@@MickFrank1992pretty sure there are a few its just you cant go over the top like with other religions especially nowadays

[@gilgamesh101]

@@MickFrank1992 what I found interesting is that the made the point that they couldn't have done it even then in 1979! And that situation has become far more extreme in the 50 years since despite us having supposedly "progressed"

[@jeremiahd5332]

The thing that struck home for me is the way in which the Bishop and Muggeridge resorted to insults and aspersions, both about the film and the Python team, whilst the Python team maintained their level of politeness and decorum throughout the interview. And the Bishops thirty pieces of silver comment at the end showed him in his true light.

[@peterwallis4288]

Well, it's because the whole film kind of is an insult, then the Pythons act innocent. I still like them though, but having become a Christian, I now see it from a different perspective and see why these religious folk were upset by it. They pretend it's not based on Jesus, but a parallel "messiah". I know there were other figures that people followed. But come on, at the end of the film he's crucified. It's obvious they're poking fun at Jesus. Having said all that, I'm not too upset by it. But I feel a bit odd about it, and I can completely see their point.

[@portcullis5622]

​@@peterwallis4288Can you not see that they were not poking fun at Jesus? It was actually aimed at the acolytes (of all faiths) who blindly follow ancient books and hide behind them as excuses for intolerances as they judge and condemn others, while turning a blind eye to atrocities carried out by people who follow the same Faith as themselves. The finest joke I have heard that sums up the dogma religions (and the way they are divisive) was told by Canadian comedian Emo Phillips. It is on KZbin (probably called 'Golden Gate Bridge'). It is about how he saved a man from jumping to his death by talking him down from edge of the bridge. They then got talking about religion. It turned out they were both Christians and appeared to have a lot in common. That was until they worked backwards, tracing the routes of their beliefs and their branch of Christianity, until eventually, they found a slight difference. Emo ends the joke with: "I said die heretic and I pushed him off the bridge".

[@MichaelWillby]

​@@peterwallis4288everyone who was anyone got crucified back then .

[@peterwallis4288]

@@MichaelWillby it may be so. However, with the image of a man who was mistaken as the messiah being crucified, I think it's an obvious jab at the real Christ. I think there are just acting innocent saying it's not.

[@willhughes5976]

@@peterwallis4288 You've missed the point entirely about the film, it's about the life of Brian, not Jesus. Crucifixion was a common and brutal practice that the Romans carried out. The obvious jab is in fact at the writers and followers of Jesus' life. Just take a moment to think of what the reality would have been for a man like Jesus. He wouldn't have been the only one in that world claiming to be the son of God, but we know him today because at least some people at the time believed his claims and some even witnessed miracles he may have carried out and they eventually wrote these things down. The Python's are raising the point that it's okay to be sceptical of the words in the Bible because we can't be certain how accurate they are considering some of the things weren't written down for at least 30 years after the events happened. That's an entire lifetime of a man living 2000 years ago. Some of the things that are attributed to Jesus may never have happened to him at all, but instead happened to the likes of Brian and somehow 30 years down the line it becomes a story about Jesus. It's also possible everything written in the Bible about Jesus is true. The Python's are telling you to take in everything and make that judgement yourself.

[@polygonalmasonary]

I am an independent Christian, Any Christians that objected to this film are severely lacking in their own faith to feel threatened by it. In my opinion 👍🙏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

[@jameseglavin4]

As an angry, lapsed, atheist catholic I have no idea what an independent Christian is but I wholeheartedly agree that the only thing that can threaten faith is internal doubt so thank you for that 😊

[@alvarhanso6310]

Fully agree. My other favorite religious film is Last Temptation of Christ, which faced similar boycotting and protests, and I find it endlessly fascinating, and think you are absolutely supposed to wrestle with such concepts. Python makes it a much more lighthearted wrestling match, but both are worthwhile explorations.

[@pr4737]

“…it will have absolutely no influence in the long run…”. That didn’t age well.

[@STEFiRoTH]

I gotta say we ought to pay more attention to Religious predictions....they always turn out spectacularly wrong with such consistency we could use them to predict the future.

[@James-ll3jb]

It didn't. Talk to anyone under 40 years of age and they've never heard of it.

[@Maddog-xc2zv]

@@James-ll3jb you live in a monastery or what? I don't even live in Britain and there are many and many teens in college (I'm doing another degree at the moment in another field of knowledge distinct of the first and I'm also a Invited Professor and researcher with PhD in my first chosen field, so I know a lot of late teens not only from classes, as professor or colleague, but also from national and international conferences) that keep loving this movie in particular and the Pythons in general. What a narrow path of life you're following if you believe in your own words...

[@James-ll3jb]

@Maddog-xc2zv Nothing compared to the late 70s, when undergrads knew a little Sartre, Camus, Pinchon, Vonnegut, and Frank Zappa. For us, Python wasn't an anchronidtic fad, but gospel. (I didn't know a Ph.D plus was a prerequisite for authentic Monty Python aesthetic appreciation. You could be a sketch! Lol.)

[@Maddog-xc2zv]

I was born in the middle 70's, so I prefer other music, but I do like Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd (70's included), others. I would add to that list Nietzsche, Russel, Foucault, Bauman, Goffman, Jung, Simmel and Baudrillard. And I'm a sketch just like you, we're only ready when finally our body fails completely (or at least your brain stem). I study because I do like to learn and I had the fortune to make it my profession. I started school with 6 years, I will die in it. Lol for you too. Cheers with a a smile, life without humor is boring.

[@lonestar6709]

There's nothing more condescending, than a person, who thinks they know something, they don't. And I don't just mean the religious, iron-age bigotry. But the fact that Muggeridge and Stockwood, completely got the movie wrong (The film is very respectful to Jesus, incidentally). You'll often see Life of Brian, number 1, on people's best-of lists. A squalid little movie, it is not! Cleese and Palin kept their cool. And it only added to the movie's box office. Flawless victory.

[@VisionaryofMirage]

There really is no arrogance as condescending as religious arrogance...

[@LookToWindward]

Yep. I have strong opinions but I must concede that there is a chance that I am mistaken in them. And indeed I have changed many of my opinions throughout my life. But a religious person thinks they are in possession of Absolute Truth and that there is a 0% chance that they are wrong.

[@williamboyd9690]

Scientific arrogance.

[@jamesrushton816]

@@williamboyd9690agreed. Hate it when people tell me apples always fall from trees rather than floating upwards.

[@michaelharrison3602]

Religious people believe that everything they believe is true because it says so in a book written by other people who believed it was true. It must be true because it says so in the bible

[@michaelharrison3602]

I always look on the bright side of life and death 😅

[@haydoncooper3744]

What John and Michael are saying is so relevant today.

[@rickkybobby8118]

It's interesting to hear the two old men talk about the growing moral corruption of society back then. The coming end of western civilization. How troubled the times are. It really is all the same stuff that we're hearing now. The rhetoric never changes.

[@petermcmillan3446]

Kicking back at those drunken bullies was about as angry as Michael Palin ever got. You can see the frustration and anger clearly about 43 minutes in. He's fuming.

[@richardjames3356]

I've never seen Michael Palin angry before.

[@johnd8538]

A zealot and a communist attacking two free minded (yet slightly naive in some ways) men.

[@noahbrock349]

​@@johnd8538Communists? They were strong opponents of communism.

[@TonyEnglandUK]

@@johnd8538 Who are the "zealot" and the "communist", lol. That sounds almost Pythonesque in its description.

[@whatamalike]

I operate on the principal "who in that lineup is most likely to have fiddled a kid?" And I believe palin and cleese are certainly right at the bottom of the pile

[@mrmatthewmale5892]

I remember Michael Palin saying he was really upset by this because he'd always admired Malcolm Muggeridge. You can tell he's taking it seriously, while John Cleese is just taking the p**s.

[@Schmidtelpunkt]

John Cleese did not expect anything but this. He was prepared to just switch to equally smug mockery and pull their legs, while Palin thought there was the opportunity for an actual discussion, just to see that both those guys were exactly what was criticized in Life Of Brian.

[@hadtopicausername]

I think Cleese has even remarked that he'd rarely seen Palin so genuinely angry.

[@lrmunro]

Malcolm Muggeridge is genuinely admirable, but this interview is a good example of why one shouldn’t meet one’s heroes.

[@judepower4425]

@@lrmunro What do you admire him for, please tell?

[@lrmunro]

@@judepower4425 He went to Moscow in the early 30s and became one of the first to report on the famines in Ukraine. He served as an intelligence officer in the Second World War.

[@amtlpaul]

I like to dredge this film up every now and then for a good laugh. The Bishop and Muggeridge make a point of missing the point of the film.

[@reecetomm]

The most hilarious thing about this entire debate is that the religious defenders frequently berate the film as though the film is lacking any intelligence whatsoever, meanwhile they frequently show examples of where they themselves are so blind towards their own bias that they fail to have enough intelligence to even understand any of the most simplistic jokes within the film

[@jasonglidden1966]

"I'm Brian and so is my wife!"

[@sjl197]

I’m not!

[@jameseglavin4]

Omg there is literally no way to satirize British religious figures of the 70s, they really are that pretentious and self-important… truly amazing

[@brianfergus839]

Insert any decade

[@sealark1719]

As a 14 year old when Life of Brian was released, and having long since turned against the Christian beliefs being rammed down my throat at school, this film was like Rock 'n Roll. The one that empowered me to stand up and say "I'm not accepting this any more." I was subsequently thrown out of school but, thus far, have eluded hellfire & damnation

[@JJONNYREPP]

1979: The Great LIFE OF BRIAN DEBATE | Friday Night Saturday Morning | BBC Archive 14.11.24 2206pm i recall the trailer being shown Saturday mornings on iTV... it showed the clip of the space ship inadvertently saving Brian before crashing into the bazaar... i never could work out what the damn film was trying to convey... not being old enough to see the film at the local ABC cinema, but certainly mature enough to appreciate the story, i was left to reach my teens wherein i could hire the video from local video hire store. it's an amusing film. as is holy grail. not so much the now for something completely different enterprise... not so much the meaning of life - they're pretty much Oxbridge revue type presentations... as was policeman's ball series. religion passed me by at an early age. i have no overt hatred of it but no overt desire to wallow in it.

[@adamquirke6024]

How was it being rammed down your throat? And did this film cause you to loose your faith?

[@theradgegadgie6352]

Life Of Brian wasn't against God or religion, it was against religious bullies and dogmatic idiots.

[@adamquirke6024]

@ here here. I don’t mean I’m one of them I just mean I agree with you

[@adamquirke6024]

@@sealark1719 what were you excluded from school for?

[@flatoutflatbroke]

40:48 Is Michael Palin being about as angry as you'll ever see him!

[@CricketEngland]

Yes he is

[@celestesmith6060]

Pompous old men who thought their opinion mattered are the reason why the film was so successful.

[@SimonParkes-ud4jn]

The Bishop and Muggeridge are satires of themselves. This could have been a sketch on Monty Python, instead it was left to Not the Nine O’Clock News to pick it up.

[@hilaryepstein6013]

I hope that the amount of good free publicity this discussion must have given to the film outweighed the obvious anger and frustration being felt by John and Michael.

[@SuperHammaren]

John liked it Palin hated it and was really angry.

[@JoeD_95]

As a Christian myself, I love the Monty python films, especially life of Brian and the holy grail. Religion should never be above ridicule or scrutiny. Just because I’m convinced Christianity is true, doesn’t mean we need molly coddling as the two men arguing against insinuate.

[@peterharvey1762]

I can’t take the Bishop seriously and he’s acting like a python sketch clergy man

[@danielwmwolf]

He thinks he's auditing for the inquisition part.

[@brentbreaw9104]

Yeah, he's as gay as Christmas...

[@Isabella-nh5dm]

So... I'm 70 years old. I remember when Life of Brian (and Search of the Holy Grail) each debuted. They were classic Monty Python, each an absolute piece of art. They have both proved to stand the test of time and continue to delight many, many people. I have a grandchild in her early 20's now. She came home 2 months ago raving about the fantastic movie she and her Uni friends found. Life of Brian. The comedy film continues to be rediscovered and delight the masses.

[@tessaroo222]

40 odds years after the film was made, I often “ dredge it up” to watch. It’s a bit of a Good Friday favourite 😂

[@LisavonAustralis]

He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy! Now, piss off! I still watch it several times a year. In fact, I'm going to put it on rn! 😂😂😁👌🏻

[@nickcrosby9875]

Yup, Easter viewing

[@guitarmatricide4834]

I can’t say if it’s a tradition in all of America, but among my group of friends, we watch it every Christmas and every Easter.

[@hedgehog1965uk]

For anyone who loves this video, and hasn't already seen it, I would really recommend the parody film "Holy Flying Circus". It is brilliantly done and portrays this whole affair including this TV discussion. I have seen it more times than I can count, having bought it on DVD, iTunes and Amazon Prime Video.

[@jaymondo]

This is so interesting to watch now. The Life of Brian is one of the greatest films of all time and it DID make me question those that were in charge of Christianity, I think I was 14 when I watched it. I first watched it in a Religious Education lesson in secondary school. The teacher was a local Vicar. Great Lesson and Great Teacher. My own kids love it even though it's an "old film."

[@omgu8mynewt]

I find it really interesting to watch too, because the Bishops views are so different to mine, like when he talks about it corrupting young minds or whatever, it really took me a minute to work out what he was talking about. They think making fun of Christ will prevent young people accessing their faith, rather than thinking about what they're being taught and becoming more thoughtful Christians? And using as evidence that loads of artists were inspired by Bible stories, but disregarding it is irrelevant that the artists were Christians because they were in Christian countries, and if they were born in other places they would have been making different art? They were incapable of questioning their own religion that they say they question everyday, the context of medieval art, ignoring any perspectives other than their own and but thinking it is the 'duty' of any art to educate more young people to follow Christianity. The Bishops were a couple of morons, and I say that as a Christian. At least I was brought up to consider the context of Bible stories I was taught and the propaganda spin put on all religious texts of any religion, the difference between Faith and Fact.

[@ellywhitcombe5007]

Muggeidge and the bishop a are so pompous in this discussion. Good on you, Pythons!

[@MichaelChurchill1982]

I'm reading through these comments 10 hours after this was uploaded and in amazed that nobody has mentioned 'Not The 9 O'clock News'

[@hopebgood]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6S4qn5sf7ynb7c

[@SuperHammaren]

Mocking life of John Cleese!!! I am furious :))

[@hedgehog1965uk]

The General Synod's Life of Christ. A parody of our Lord John Cleese.

[@Mishima505]

"Whenever two people are gathered together they shall perfom the Parrot Sketch"

[@nickcrosby9875]

I remember that sketch when it first aired. Hilarious- Mel Smith ‘I mean even the initials, JC are a parody of the messiah John Cleese’ ;)

[@brianquigley1940]

Cleese was right... the Archbishop is a complete caricature! 😂

[@riggers1977]

John with his tash just reminds me of Basil. I kept expecting him to shout ‘Manuel!’ Love these two chaps… they outclassed the inquisition with ease

[@owensecord2503]

Been a Christian for over 40 years. This is one of the funniest films ever.

[@scottydu81]

Just the setup alone has to be the funniest Christian themed comedy ever. The man born next door to Jesus 😂😂

[@MAC-qt9ko]

I was 15 when Life of Brian came out. At the time I could not understand what was wrong with adults who thought it had anything to do with Jesus and I still cannot understand that interpretation. The title is "Life of BRIAN"! To this day I believe that anyone who saw or sees this movie as having anything to do with ridiculing Jesus has completely missed the point, and certainly not bothered to pay attention to the title. The film did not shake my faith, and it gave me a great deal of admiration for the humor found in every day life on which the film is built. People fighting at the back during the Sermon on the Mount - believable and funny. Women disguising themselves as men to take part in a stoning - ridiculous and funny. John Cleese has it right when he says "Decide for yourself".

[@richardjames3356]

"Faith is a low grade form of imagination. Indeed, one where someone else has done all the imagining for you." - Jonathan Meades

[@orangewarm1]

Faith is at the heart of life. You cant do anything without faith. Religious faith is exactly the same thing as regular faith.

[@marks6928]

@@orangewarm1 "You can't do anything without faith". Speak for yourself. I have absolutely no faith whatsoever and I do plenty. "Religious faith is exactly the same thing as regular faith", that's because religious faith IS "regular faith". There is no such thing as "regular faith", all faith is inherently religious. If you don't understand that you don't understand what faith is. Faith is not at the heart of all life. Life on earth existed for billions of years before there was a concept of faith. Dinosaurs didn't have faith. Animals in the precambrian explosion didn't have faith. Trilobites in the Paleozoic era didn't have faith. Please stop talking nonsense.

[@adamquirke6024]

@@marks6928 you have faith in something then if you are doing plenty.

[@marks6928]

@@adamquirke6024 So you're telling me that I have faith in something when I explicitly say that I don't? You know my mind better than I do? Please, stop being so patronising.

[@adamquirke6024]

@@marks6928 yes, you will have faith in something. Completely depends upon you and what you are like. Some people have faith in inanimate objects, some a sports team, some an activity. Everyone has faith in something, even the lack of God.

[@MarcoSpeaksNadsat]

Well, I thought the Bishop was quite funny. Muggeridge on the other hand........🙄

[@Bondek1996]

The Hulk really was Palin. You don't ever make Palin angry.

[@RolandoRatas]

That Bishop of Southwark is not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy.

[@Daracdor]

Pfffft you beat me to it !

[@jonathangriffin1120]

Very topical when you think of Welby and Smyth........

[@bonnetdedouche437]

The baby-eating Bishop of Bath and Wells?

[@RolandoRatas]

@@jonathangriffin1120 not really there was one just outside my window which overlooks a church, caught doing something right there that is not a million miles away from what Smyth was doing and all that happened is that he was very briefly moved to another parish to tend to another flock in a different church. No real consequences. I stay well clear of that lot.

[@MichaelWillby]

​@@RolandoRatasall religions have been hiding dark secrets since they were thought of .

[@fburton8]

The skeleton character in the old Scotch VHS tape adverts ("Re-record, not fade away") always reminded me of Malcolm Muggeridge.

[@robinvanags912]

With me, it was Bill Deedes ('Dear Bill').

[@fburton-k9p]

@@robinvanags912 Yeah, that definitely works too!

[@80sandretrogubbins25]

Norman Tebbitt more like.

[@gwheregwhizz]

Menzies Campbell

[@JJONNYREPP]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/l6S4qn5sf7ynb7cfeature=shared

[@folkestrid5923]

26:18 You wouldn't make fun of Socrates? The purple-clad bishop fellow clearly hasn't heard of Aristophanes comedy The Clouds and how it took the piss out of Socrates in 423 BC. And yes, it's hilarious.

[@intergalactic92]

And of course Horrible Histories would go on to make fun of Socrates, and other Greek philosophers, much later.

[@rand0mati0n]

28:00 it’s extremely satisfying that he is so colossally wrong about the film’s legacy. One of the most iconic British comedies of all time - in part thanks to the ignorant (and here I’d also add envious) ridicule of people like him Streisanding it to greater heights of fame.

[@LukeTG1TTV]

Wear a pink robe and a necklace and you're suddenly important. 😂

[@suehewitt8931]

Don't forget the huge stoned ring. The piety of it all...

[@gyakuto7775]

An ‘inconsequential’ film became a beloved classic and due to many scandals, Christianity is dying.

[@amtlpaul]

I find it telling when the Bishop asks, "Why lampoon dearh?". I'd have thought that according to his faith, death had no real power (death, where is thy sting?), but maybe not.

[@k.gall7591]

The Bishop looks and sounds like a Python character 😂

[@TrishBurgess-d6v]

I love Life of Brian - it’s in my top 5. It’s so cleverly written and every time I watch it, I pick up something new. It’s brilliant, intelligent, wonderfully funny and sometimes foreboding… Loretta 😉

[@ellywhitcombe5007]

Brilliant comments from Cleese and Palin

[@davidboon7219]

Brilliant Film that stood test of time ! So is a Great Ledgend of a Movie 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@hadtopicausername]

What I absolutely love about this film, is that is shows how easily both religions and political groups are so readily divided into groups that find it impossible to agree with one another. Brian loses a piece of footwear, and suddenly you have people arguing about whether it's a sandal or a shoe, and what it all means, all the while someone wants everyone to follow the gourd instead. And no one listens to the one bloke who encourages everyone to stop, pause and think. And then we have People's Front of Judea, the Judean People's Front, not to mention the Popular Front... Splitter!!!

[@Subcomandante73]

It is nice to see some TV from an age when people actually sat around and could debate rather than just spout some soundbites.

[@GuitarJammerJohn]

That Priest was definitely spouting sound bites tbh 😂

[@asdf2593]

this was soundbite after soundbite, interrupting, crowd applause, shouting, pointless points etc

[@rakino4418]

Really? This is a terrible debate. Palin and Cleese are honestly trying and the two old men are just berating them.

[@markjohnston9321]

Cleese was on point with thinking for oneself about Jesus. In doing so, the individual may find something worth interest

[@MortenEng]

In Norway, the film "Life of Brian" was stopped in 1980 by Statens Filmkontroll (the State Film Control, current Norwegian Media Authority) on the grounds of the blasphemy clause.

[@itseperkele181]

And then it was advertised in sweden as "a film so funny norway banned it"

[@MortenEng]

@@itseperkele181 - Yeah! Weird thing ever happened to a film in the Nordic countries.

[@GhastlyCretin]

It was also banned in Ireland. It was made 6 years before I was born but my parents loved Python and I remember them telling me they had to get a bootleg audio version on record before they ever actually saw it properly.

[@joshuataylor3550]

​@@itseperkele181 hahaha that's fantastic

[@happyspaceinvader508]

Such gems as “I’m not trying to be pompous… but I have been bishop for twenty years…” 😂

[@stevemcintyre7530]

“Drunken Bullies” is so right. Muggeridge hadn’t even seen it!! Cleese throwing in the Inquisition is priceless. And why does M. bang on about Mother Theresa?

[@meiji.meiji.]

It's a wild assertion that people who do good in the name of their Jesus would suddenly be unable to do anything good in their life if he was made less divine. That shows an incredible dismissive nature of humanity, and says more about him than I think he would like.

[@davidmurrell5143]

People like him ignored the truth of her barbaric treatments of the poor of Kolkata, mostly because she was a nun and the people calling her out were poor brown people. The part were he warbled on about how she would have stopped if she lost her faith, made me think I wish she had lost her faith a long time before she died.

[@KingBollock]

I used to own and run a mobile disco. We’d do all sorts of occasions. An unfortunate part of the drinking culture in the UK is that those nights would often end in violence. I learned that working with someone else’s mobile disco, previously. We would end every one of our discos with the song “Always look on the bright side of life”. We never, not once, had problems with violence at the end of the night. Most people went off with their arms around other peoples’ shoulders, loudly singing along to that song. It was great!

[@marksullivan8815]

I never realized how much priests cared about 14 year olds…

[@stupidas9466]

I know, they are much too old for most priests.

[@legoqueen2445]

Sadly, for a lot of priests, it goes hand in hand 😮

[@Dim4323]

Simply they ignored the begining of the movie. John clease: oh I see, you ignored the begining were they mistake brian has jesus.

[@mjowsey]

@@Dim4323 Mugerage and the bishop famously missed the first ten minutes of the film

[@bertiesaurus]

I don’t think that really appreciates the true implication that it’s undeniably parallel to Jesus

[@highjim7778]

@@bertiesaurus whys that? the story of someone claiming to the son of a god, who rises fromm the grave etc.. happened many time before and since thejesus myth

[@bertiesaurus]

@@highjim7778 it’s stupid to pretend that the events are not tied and parallel to Jesus. That is not something anyone was really trying to argue. John Cleese would say it is exactly doing this, in that they are showing that Jesus was a normal human (as he was 100% human)

[@nicksushkevich]

"for that reason it will have absolutely no influence in the long run" hahah

[@StrawberrySunday212]

"He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy" 🤣🤣

[@anml1969]

Muggeridge: “…I don’t think in the eyes of posterity it will have a very distinguished place.” 2024, it regularly tops numerous lists as the best comedy.

[@RandyHawkeye]

I put on closed captions and my eyes were rewarded with the phrase “shart cathedral “.

[@BillyParker-j1m]

The film remains a classic. And it was not mocking religion either. It was merely mocking the way that different religious groups have historically interacted with one another. An important distinction, and one that permits many people to enjoy the film regardless of their own personal faith.

[@squelching]

"two gentleman who don't normally see movies..." - I think this is a salient quote as without the experience of film, these two can't see them as art.

[@davidboon7219]

Muggeridge & Bish Pompous Gits 😡

[@mattcorby]

It's such a good job none of those type of people are represented in the upper government. Oh wait.

[@MichaelWillby]

​@@mattcorbythey're now being replaced by slims , they're even worse marrying 9 year old.

[@bob23301]

Ironic that all these years later this is now a official Monty Pythin sketch with 2 python grotesque charactors, and Palin and Cleese.

[@Liofa73]

For the old guys it’s “their way or the highway” - totally closed minded old bigots.

[@bertiesaurus]

That’s a pretty isolating viewpoint too though

[@marks6928]

@@bertiesaurusHis observation is correct.

[@maybud60]

Fascinating discussion about a film that's now regarded as a classic. There is passion and anger on BOTH sides of the argument. It's sad that we no longer see this sort of intelligent and passionate discussion in the media 😥

[@dmuntz]

Really? The religious guys sounded like they'd be right at home as pundits on Fox "News." The ad hominem attacks and disingenuous takes on the film would fit perfectly into today's "debates."

[@r4zi3lgintoro65]

Interview that has its own movie

[@michaelharrison3602]

John Cleese's moustache always makes me laugh 😂

[@kennethrollo7891]

Has lived 76 years and would never change his mind, 76 years wasted.

[@LeftIsBest001]

As a Christian, I find The Life of Brian absolutely hilarious and it is rightly considered a comedy classic. I'm offended by the hypocrisy and pomposity of the two so-called Christians in this debate. They did themselves and Christianity no favours at all.

[@johntate5722]

Sadly malcolm and mervyn just dont get it

[@nedludd7622]

In its description, BBC describes Palin and Cleese as being 2/3's of Monty Python which had 6 members.

[@guitarmatricide4834]

I believe I remember hearing somewhere that the Bishop and Muggeridge walked into the cinema 5 minutes late; which, as we all know, illustrates that Brian and Christ are two separate people. Yet felt the need to give a consummate review of the film having not seen the introduction. That’s blind religious pontification for you…

[@joelalexander8644]

I think my big question whilst watching this interview is why these Christian apologists refuse to acknowledge the openess of the gospels to criticality. If the life of Christ is so crucial and intergral to the youth of today, why should it be withheld by gatekeepers of the faith and not regarded openly by all? Christ's life is influential and should be read and questioned; if anything, a film from a skeptical view which contains the actual words of the gospel would be welcomed by anyone who seeks a genuine and deep engagement with the gospel. I think Palin is spot on when he says that if the sermon on the mount scene troubles someones faith so deeply then perhaps it is no faith worth having at all.

[@ZeltonTheWarlock]

It's fascinating... Fifty years ago the Life of Brian was banned for being blasphemous... Now turn on the telly and see how long it takes before you see something unforgivable...

[@richardsanchez5444]

Was anyone in England outraged how they portrayed King Arthur in quest for the holy grail?

[@SNORKYMEDIA]

Your god is pretty weak if it is threatened by a comedy film....

[@adamquirke6024]

He isn't. I'm a Christian and watch TLOB. I think it was because it was in the 70's and the only high level people they could get to critique the film are these 2 elderly guys.

[@kevino4372]

God doesn't exist

[@adamquirke6024]

@ God does exist 👍🏻

[@kevino4372]

@@adamquirke6024 doesn't

[@adamquirke6024]

@ he does 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@TonyEnglandUK]

I would find it impossible to agree with Muggeridge and the Bishop on anything simply because they ooze pomposity.

[@lotsofstuff9645]

I find it interesting that Mother Teresa suggests that she wouldn’t have “helped” the poor is Jesus never existed. That isn’t morality, that’s obedience.

[@cjraymond8827]

They could've said "is there anything wrong with always looking on the bright side of of life?"

[@zhara9741]

1:30 John is so right.. Trevor is a hilarious name. I use it as a placeholder name all of the time. The best is when ppl hit on me, I tell them my name is Trevor.

[@MichaelWillby]

Hi Trev !

[@davewolfy2906]

Malcolm. Norman. Eddie. Neville. Cyril. Bernard.

[@MichaelMackenzie-nt2rf]

Keep in mind Trevor, Kevin and Brian were all once babies. That really tickles me. I have an uncle who changed his name to Brian, which i never understood

[@BrodieVickers-tk9sd]

"The shirtiest I've ever seen Michael Palin." - *_John Cleese_*

[@lorihenderson673]

If your faith is so fragile that you think a comedic film will become a reason to forget it...are you really faithful??? Long live life of brian❤

[@ThunderForce2000]

I love the parody of this debate from Not in the Nine Clock News. “This is a lampoon of the comic messiah himself; our lord John Cleese.”

[@steveandme63]

What jerks! 5 minutes listening to this bishop would make anyone turn away from organized religion, especially any he was representing .

[@Johnbeardshall-m8r]

When life becomes difficult I always ask what would Brian do

[@murasaki848]

The one in the corduroy jacket says without any opposition that every great work in Europe in the AD has been directly inspired by the "incarnation" and "that was where our civilization began." I'm failing to see how the characters of Macbeth and the witches were inspired by this story. I'm missing how the resurrection caused Archimedes to run through the streets shouting, "Eureka", or for Sir Isaac Newton to create the calculus. Whether or not all the scientists and inventors and artists since AD1 were Christian (which not all of them were), that he so blithely claims credit for his religion of every creative thing is absurd. I also find it depressing if true his claims that Mother Theresa and that crowd only aided the poor to impress Jesus instead of it being the right thing to do for its own sake and they believe it's not possible for anyone to be charitable without being Christian. I would have loved to inform him that, as a counterexample, the so called "Golden Rule" was first penned five centuries before Christ by the Chinese philosopher Confucius.

[@Johnbeardshall-m8r]

In these times of war and chaos the lord brian keeps me grounded

[@rwburdett]

Superb encapsulation of differing ideas. Great to watch. I attend church and like the film.

[@jackwalker1697]

"I don't think in the eyes of posterity it will have a very distinguished place," this one didn't age quite so well did it?