Monty Python's Life of Brian recreated for BBC comic drama

"Holy Flying Circus will tell the story of the making of Life of Brian and the righteous fury that surrounded the release of its satirical take on the gospels. It is the first attempt to dramatise the activities of the sextet who transformed the nature of comedy in this country and produced a British film now critically regarded as one of the very best.

Coming together this summer to play Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman, the performers have admitted to feeling odd about playing men who have the status, if not of modern-day messiahs, then at least of comedy gods for their fans around the world.

During the filming of BBC4's Holy Flying Circus, which is written by Tony Roche, co-writer of In the Loop and The Thick of It, its stars were initially wary of impersonating such famous comics. "We wanted to be affectionate about the Pythons and we all had a sense they were our comedy heroes," said director Owen Harris. "You could feel the anxiety in the room when the actors got together in character for the first time. We had a room full of Pythons."
via The Observer /continue reading