JOHN CLEESE and GRAHAM CHAPMAN, along with Tim-Brooke Taylor (the future Goodie, who is also in "How to Irritate People"), Marty Feldman (who probably needs no introduction), and Aimi MacDonald headlined the 13 episodes of this black-and-white classic series, which directly preceded (and inspired) Monty Python. With every episode a string of wildly silly and hilarious sketches, it deserves to achieve immortal status. However, the master tapes of all but two of the episodes were erased many years ago. Only through the detective work of tape historians have episodes of the series have been recovered. Six complete episodes are now known to survive, along with many incomplete episodes.

We used to provide downloads of full episodes of this series at this site. These downloads have been taken down at the request of Mr. David Osterley. According to Mr. Osterley, as well as other sources, episodes of At Last the 1948 Show are soon to be released on DVD, so look for them soon.



A breakout success for the then-unknown Marty Feldman [later the legend of The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine and Young Frankenstein], it was also John Cleese's first real original tv creation as a writer/performer [after working on many David Frost shows and on the endlessly long-running radio classic "I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again," still popular today]. The title of the programme came from a sarcastic remark by Cleese about the amount of time it had taken to get the programme up and running. It was a chance for the "Frost Report" crewmember to escape David Frost. For whatever reason, the programme was only shown in a few ITV regions in the UK, and never nationally networked.

"We got a little bit of freedom for the first time ... we were actors and editors ... We had felt stifled on The Frost Report ... we couldn't use a lot of the material that we had written for that show. But with '1948' and Python, it was half an hour of comedy ... with the latter, four extra writers meant a lot of less writing for us! [Cleese and Chapman] ... We were annoyed with convention ... '1948' used a lot of the current technology in the same way that Spike Milligan did." - Graham Chapman

"Once in television there was definitely no going back to a proper job. I gained a lot of useful knowledge from hanging around and being the corpse in the coffin, or the man who falls to the ground dead, in At Last the 1948 Show, a very, very funny show." - Eric Idle



There is a sense of fun in the hastily-shot show, taped with hardly any budget, which did not allow for second takes. In the "drag policemen" sketch pictured above, seen in one of the few surviving episodes, John, Marty, Tim and Graham are about to burst into laughter at any moment, and push each other farther and farther until poor Tim can barely get out his lines. A very old-fashioned show, perhaps, but crucial to understanding the madness of Python.




So how many of the 1948 Shows still exist? Audio recordings exist of the entire series, although some episodes are incomplete. Five episodes exist as complete 16mm prints. At least some video exists for every episode except the very first. Five compilation episodes turned up in Sweden, which allowed one full episode to be restored by the restoration artists at the BBC's Missing Believed Wiped program (which recovers footage from programs thought to have been lost forever). This episode screened on BBC4 as part of Missing Believed Wiped night. It looked beautiful, and is available on this page. So, six full episodes exist. For information on the incomplete episodes, read the episode guide by Matthew Sharp.

The rare soundtrack album is notable to Python fans because of some odd similarities to Python -- the phrase "And now for something completely different," for one, and a performance of the "Bookshop" sketch starring John and Marty (recycled much much later, of course, for the Contractual Obligation album). In addition to this album, which had no songs on it, a single was released [now rare as hell] featuring John Cleese singing two songs in his own, er, inimitable fashion. Have a listen below!

Ferret Song (MP3)
(Performed by John Cleese, 1967, from At Last the 1948 Show)

Rhubarb Tart Song (3.54 MP3 by SirKobble)
(Performed by John Cleese, 1968, from At Last the 1948 Show)

Bookshop sketch 1967 Version - the original from At Last the 1948 Show

With John Cleese and the real Marty Feldman instead of a Graham Chapman impersonation of same. This same performance is on the 1948 Show album which is also at this page.

At Last the 1948 Show - The Album (29.8 MB, MP3)
The entire original album from the pre-Python series At Last the 1948 Show, starring John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Mary Feldman, Tim Brooke-Taylor and the lovely Aimi Macdonald. I have also included in this file the songs sung by John Cleese, "Ferret Song" and "Rhubarb Tart," which were released as singles. This album features many sketches from the first series of At Last the 1948 Show, including the "Bookshop" sketch which was later reperformed for Monty Python's Contractual Obligation album.

An Image Gallery
by Garrett Gilchrist


Another Image Gallery
by Linus the Llama


The Minister Falls Apart
from At Last, the 1948 Show
(1.4 MB, MPEG-1 video)

Graham Chapman can't keep it together while talking to Tim Brooke-Taylor. The entire episode this sketch is in is presented in higher quality below.

Working on the series helped cement the Python belief that sketches did not have to have punchlines to be successful, because while many 1948 Show sketches were among the best the team ever wrote, they could rarely think of a punchline that merited the orchestral stinger-zoom that always accompanied such last bad jokes. The punchline problem is always evident, but it's wonderful to see the young crew playing with the old traditions before Python made John and Graham so famously nonsensical. Several 1948 Show sketches eventually found their way into Python, including "Four Yorkshiremen" in the live performances, "Bookshop" on the Contractual Obligation album (and "Nude Woman Memory Course" was also performed but cut from the final album), and the "Hearing Aid" sketch in German Show 2.


A young Eric Idle and Barry Cryer are listed as having walk-on roles in several episodes, and can be clearly seen (and heard) in the episode that screened on Missing Believed Wiped. (See screenshot above.)

Written by: Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Marty Feldman

Directed by: Ian Fordyce

Executive Producer(s): David Frost

Rediffusion

2 series, 13 episodes

Series 1

6 episodes transmitted between 13-Feb-67 and 22-Mar-67

Sketch itemisation compiled by Matthew K Sharp (kirseval@mira.net)

Shows itemised as far as is known (usually omitting Aimi McDonald links). V indicates sketch survives in vision; A indicates an audio recording of the soundtrack to the sketch is known to exist. (There are, apparently, audio recordings of all episodes ­ although 2/7 is incomplete. I have only listed those sketches which I have heard and can verify as existing.)

Series 1, Programme 1: 15 Feb 1967
Exists as a complete audio recording ­ this is the only episode for which no vision survives.
a Opening (Leave TBT alone; GC as Tab Bootgroper; MF as Count Mollusc; JC as a QC)
a Doctor Sketch (Skinny Legs)
a Witch Restaurant Quickie
a Self-Wrestling
a Secret Service Interview (Hit by balls)
a There's A Man In My Soup (Fly noises)
a Treasure Trove a Public Opinion

Series 1, Programme 2: 22 Feb 1967
v Opening (JC in bath; GC as Dr Dan Tendril; MF as Rock Thunderclap)
v Foggy Spain Link
v The Four Sydney Lotterbies
a Lucky Gypsy Clothes Pegs
a Judge Not -- DNA Lecture

Series 1, Programme 3: 1 Mar 1967
a Opening (TBT as Pvt Truskett; JC as Corporal )
v Visitors For The Use Of
v Sleep Starvation
v Mice Laugh Softly, Charlotte (Captured Spy)
a Sheep Dog Trials
a Bookshop
a Do You Match This Description?

Series 1, Programme 4: 8 Mar 1967
Exists as a complete 16mm kinescope ­ recovered c.1994
v Someone Has Stolen The News
v Grublia Tourist Office
v Jack The Ripper Song
v Memory Training Course (Word Association)
v One Man Battalion
v Minister Who Falls To Pieces
v Engine Driver Spriggs
v Plain Clothes Police(wo)men

Series 1, Programme 5:
15 Mar 1967 Exists as a complete 16mm kinescope ­ recovered c.2003
v Top Of The Form
v Rural Farm (Dialect)
v The Wonderful World Of The Ant
v John & Mary In Malaya

Series 1, Programme 6: 22 Mar 1967 Exists as a 16mm kinescope
v Six Girls And An Exhibit A
v Televisione Italiano Presenta - Let's Speak English
v Headmaster
v Raid On a Crinolene Frock
v Real Life Drama (Choristers)
v Chinese Restaurant
v Beekeeping
v The Ferret Song



Series 2 7 episodes transmitted between 26-Sep-67 and 7-Nov-67



Series 2, Programme 1: 26 Sep 1967
v Doctor Trying To Sell Things
v Reptile Keeper Swallowed By Snake
v Thief Hiding In Public Library
v Come Dancing
a Joke Shop

Series 2, Programme 2: 3 Oct 1967
Exists as a 16mm kinescope compiled from material recovered from Sweden and ABC Australia
v Gangster Opening
v Shirt Shop
v The Nosmo Claphanger Show
v Take Your Clothes Off
v Insuring An Accident Prone Man
v Rowdy Scottish Ballet Supporters

Series 2, Programme 3: 10 Oct 1967
Exists as a complete 16mm kinescope ­ recovered c.1994
v The Story So Far
v Pessimistic Customer (only buying one shoe etc)
v Meek Bouncer
v Old Men Dying in Club
v Look At Science (Insecure Scientist)
v Sydney Lotterby Wants To Know The Test Score
v Hearing Aid & Contact Lens Shop

Series 2, Programme 4: 17 Oct 1967
a Discussion Of Pornography
-- Teach-yourself-a-foreign-language record
a Door To Door Undertaker
v Uncooperative Burglars
v Topic - Freedom Of Speech
v Repeats Report (leads straight into...)
v Tour Through a Live Programme

Series 2, Programme 5: 24 Oct 1967
Exists as a complete 16mm kinescope ­ recovered c.2003
v Choir Won't Sing Hymns
v Psychiatrist
v Secret Service Cleaner
v Footballer On Trial
v Edible town square model

Series 2, Programme 6: 31 Oct 1967
a Return Of The Sydney Lotterbies
v The Chartered Accountant dance
-- Dentistry With A Difference (Welsh miners)
v The Four Yorkshiremen

Series 2, Programme 7: 7 Nov 1967
-- Current Affairs TV Programme
v Train Travelling Pest ("Volestrangler" book gives date as 31 Oct 67)
-- The Pathos Of Pet Shops
a The Rhubarb Tart Song



libraries keeping selected 1948 Show tapes safe: University of East Anglia, University of Sussex

Back to Monty Python's Flying Circus

Thanks to Gavin, David Kurman and Chris Tomlinson for all their help, to Matthew Sharp for his guide, and to Robert Ross for his book.