John Cleese wants to make a TV show about religion.
The 74-year-old actor has hinted that once Monty Python’s 10 live shows at London’s The O2 arena, ‘Monty Python Live (Mostly): One Down, Five To Go’, come to an end, he plans to turn his hand to writing for television and find a network to develop a historical project he has in mind.
He revealed during a press conference at the London Palladium theatre: "In a year’s time I think there will be surprises. For example, I suggested to ITV I wanted to do a series about religion and what it would be if the churches hadn’t f***ed it up. I thought it would be very interesting but [the head of ITV’s] eyes just glazed over. So I’ll have to see if anyone else wants it."
Michael Palin chuckled: "’How The Churches F***ed It Up’, I can just see the title now, coming to you on ITV. With jolly John Cleese!"
The five remaining Pythons – John, Michael, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam – will perform on stage for the very last time together on July 20 and ‘The Last Night of the Pythons’ is set to be broadcast in 1800 cinemas around the world and shown live on UKTV Gold.
When questioned about the decision to choose UKTV Gold over the BBC, which aired the original ‘Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ series from 1969 until 1974, John mused: "Why doesn’t BBC air Python? They have the rights and they haven’t put us out for ages. But quite honestly, somebody else made the decision."
This comes after the ‘Fawlty Towers’ star blasted the BBC for not understanding the true nature of comedy.
He said: "One of the things that makes me saddest about the way the country has gone since I was young is the BBC. I look back at what was really a magnificent institution that, for economic reasons, has been thinned down and become something very different."
New tickets for ‘Monty Python Live’ go on sale today (01.07.14), while this week sees the release of the complete collection of all nine albums, ‘Monty Python’s Total Rubbish’, by Virgin EMI Records.
John Cleese plans TV show about religion
