For Monty Python admirers the chance to read unpublished material by the comedy troupe is the holy grail. The search for undiscovered sketches since the group produced their last film 35 years ago has slowed but this is about to change with the opening of Michael Palin’s private archive.
Boxes of material deposited at the British Library and seen by The Times contain dozens of unused script ideas, including two sketches written for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. One is about a Wild West bookshop and another features an amorous Pink Knight. They are reproduced in full for the first time today.
The sketches, typical of the group’s silliness, are being prepared for public access alongside more than 50 notebooks filled with