"It's" man
Played byAnnouncer
Played byNaked organist
Initially played byMr Badger
Played byPepperpots
The term "Pepperpots" refers to any of the middle-aged, matronly type women played by the men of Monty Python, first appearing in the "Whizzo Butter" sketch in episode 2 (written as episode 1 but broadcast later). The sketch was a parody ofGumbys
A character generally played byColonel
Described in one of the scripts as "excruciatinglyKnight
Played byLuigi Vercotti
Luigi is a low-levelMr Eric Praline
Played by John Cleese, Mr Eric Praline is introduced during theVikings
The Viking most often appears as a linking element, usually played by Gilliam, but also Cleese and Palin on occasions. Like the Knight, the Viking is used to satirise the television practice of smooth linking by deliberately drawing attention to the link element, and thus breaking the smooth transition. This is one of many ways the Pythons broke and ridiculed the conventions of television production by taking them to extremes. A running gag in the show is to allow the Viking to speak only one word before being interrupted. "Njorl's Saga" in episode 27 takes this to extremes where Njorl is repeatedly interrupted by two Pepperpots. Perhaps the most well known viking scene is "Spam" in episode 25 where a group of vikings burst into song, the lyrics of which are mainly "spam" chanted repeatedly, every time spam is mentioned. Terry Jones went on to direct the feature film ''References
Bibliography
* Chapman, Graham, ''The Complete Monty Python's Flying Circus'', volume 1,