Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Bangs, Belches, Smut And Smoke | 20201202 | 20220119 (BBC7) | Diane Morgan celebrates the life and work of Neil Innes, the music and comedy legend of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band & The Rutles. A towering talent, occasionally known as the 7th Python and regularly found with a duck on his head. His legacy of music and comedy is rich, inspiring and inspired. Neil said of his work: “Shakespeare wrote comedies as well as dramas. I'm just like Shakespeare, except with better songs. ? Featuring old interviews, performances and programmes, conversations with family, friends and fans including his wife of over fifty years Yvonne, Stephen Fry, Adrian Edmondson, Kevin Eldon, Rick Wakeman and Arthur Smith, bandmates Rodney Slater, Phil Jackson, Ken Thornton, and John Halsey (better known to Rutles fans as Barry Wom), TV producer Ian Keill, record producer Martin Lewis, studio engineer extraordinaire Steve James, musical arranger extraordinaire John Altman, and Pythons Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin. In the first of three parts, we look at Neil's early life and his musical and artistic influences. And we go out on the road, and into the recording studio, with the group of absurd young men who came together by chance, to mutilate the trad jazz movement of the 1920s, to subvert the new wave of psychedelic pop and to nurture a quite deliberate misunderstanding of anarchy - The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. |
| 02 | Ego Warrior | 20201209 | 20220126 (BBC7) | Diane Morgan continues her celebration of the life and work of Neil Innes, the music and comedy legend of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band & The Rutles. A towering talent, occasionally known as the 7th Python & regularly found with a duck on his head. His legacy of music and comedy is rich, inspiring and inspired. Neil said of his work, “Shakespeare wrote comedies as well as dramas. I'm just like Shakespeare, except with better songs. ? Featuring conversations with family, friends and fans. Including his wife Yvonne, Stephen Fry, Arthur Smith, bandmates Phil Jackson and Ken Thornton, John Halsey (better known to Rutles fans as Barry Wom), producer Ian Keill, and Michael Palin. In the second of three parts, we open up the Innes Book of Records, follow Neil on his foray into Children's TV (after all, the Raggy Dolls are dolls like you and me), and we take a look at Neil's approach to songwriting, and his craft of setting beautiful stories to music. |
| 03 | Ouch! | 20201216 | 20220202 (BBC7) | Diane Morgan concludes her celebration of the life and work of Neil Innes, the music and comedy legend of The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band & The Rutles. A towering talent, occasionally known as the 7th Python & regularly found with a duck on his head. His legacy of music and comedy is rich, inspiring and inspired. Neil said of his work, “Shakespeare wrote comedies as well as dramas. I'm just like Shakespeare, except with better songs. ? Featuring conversations with family, friends and fans. Including his wife Yvonne, Stephen Fry, Arthur Smith, bandmates Phil Jackson and Ken Thornton, John Halsey (better known to Rutles fans as Barry Wom), producer Ian Keill, and Michael Palin. In the last of three parts, Diane takes a look at Neil's work with the Monty Python team on television, film and record, his work with Eric Idle on Rutland Weekend Television and The Rutles, and how the fictional outfit with a 'legend that would last a lifetime' became a living, breathing, and touring band with adoring fans. |