UK’s Royal Mail celebrates Monty Python

Britain’s Royal Mail has issued stamps celebrating the absurdist comedy of Monty Python… and from all of us here at Euronews Culture, who frequently cut down the mightiest trees in the forest with a herring: it’s a “Ni!” of approval.

The 10-stamp series announced today celebrates some of the legendary troupe’s most iconic characters and catchphrases, from “Nudge, nudge” to “The Lumberjack Song.”

Six stamps depict scenes from the sketch-comedy TV series Monty Python’s Flying Circus, including The Spanish Inquisition, The Ministry of Silly Walks, Dead Parrot and The Nude Organist.

Another four mark the 50th anniversary of the cult classic 1975 film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, including one showing the limb-losing Black Knight insisting “’Tis but a scratch.”

Made up of Michael Palin, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Graham Chapman, Monty Python brought a unique blend of satire, surrealism and unfiltered silliness to British TV screens in their series that ran from 1969 to 1974.

The gang also made several feature films, including Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983).

David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs, said: “Monty Python has left an indelible mark on global comedy, all while remaining unmistakably British at its core. From their groundbreaking television debut to a string of iconic films, this stamp collection honours a body of work that has shaped the comedic landscape for nearly six decades.”

As for Palin, he said he was “very glad to share a stamp with the nude organist!”

The group disbanded in the 1980s, and Chapman died of cancer in 1989 aged 48. The five surviving Pythons reunited in 2014 for a string of live stage shows.

Jones sadly died in 2020 from a rare form of dementia, aged 77.

Euronews Culture caught up with Terry Gilliam two years ago at the Festival Lumière in Lyon, where he told us that Monty Python may not be able to do their brand of comedy in modern times.

“People are losing their sense of humour, and that, to me, is probably the most important sense,” he said. “Sense of touch is very important, sense of taste also – but sense of humour is more important. You get to the point where people are frightened to laugh. ‘Oh, no, you’re making fun of somebody!’ No, I’m making fun of humanity, and we are an absurd species of creatures.”

He added: “We are funny because we got such pretentions, and we fall on our face so constantly. Make jokes about it! It keeps life interesting.”

Check out our full interview with Terry Gilliam here.

The Monty Python stamps are available to pre-order from today and go on general sale from 14 August.