428:, and one or the other of us phoned up and said kind of jokingly but also rather anxiously, 'I thought that's what we were supposed to be doing?' And the other one said, 'That's what I thought too.' We felt that Spike had got to where we were trying to get to, but if you'd asked us the previous day, we couldn't have described very well what that was. However, when we saw it on the screen we recognised it, and in a way the fact that Spike had gone there probably enabled us to go a little bit further than we would otherwise have gone" (p. 191).
25:
328:. Another theory is that Milligan was inspired by the BBC 6-point technical quality scale of the time, where "Q5" was severe degradation to picture or sound, and "Q6" was complete loss of sound or vision. This was extended by some engineering departments to a 9-point scale, finishing at "Q9". According to Milligan's autobiography, the final series was renamed
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gave centre stage to
Milligan's freeform surreal wit. The sketches came thick and fast, running into one another, making outrageous leaps from one subject or location to another and often stopping with no apparent conclusion. Even the costumes were madcap and contradictory – in some episodes each of
421:, we almost felt as if our guns had been Spiked! We had been writing quickies or sketches for some three years and they always had a beginning, a middle and a tag line. Suddenly, watching Spike Milligan, we realized that they didn't have to be like that".
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still exist. Episodes 2 and 3 both survive as 16mm black and white tele-recordings. Episode 4 exists in colour in its original form, and a few short clips from this colour episode appeared on the documentary
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series which we all thought was one of the best comedy shows on TV and certainly the most far ahead..." (p. 218). He describes himself and Terry Jones as being so impressed with the
831:
Volume One (containing the first three series) was released on 21 November 2016, Followed by Volume Two (containing the fourth and fifth series) which was released on 27 February 2017.
531:, and the series as a whole was decidedly risqué even by the standards of the 1970s – almost every episode featured an appearance by the scantily-clad, huge-breasted "glamour stooge"
708:
In 2022, film rolls containing sketches from one of the missing Q5 episodes were discovered in Spike
Milligan's personal archive during the making of a documentary about him.
956:
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A 5-disc DVD Collection (consisting the complete second to fifth series, along with all 3 surviving episodes of the first) was released on 20 November 2017.
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had four series between 1969 and 1974, because of
Milligan's tempestuous relationship with the BBC, he had to wait until 1975 for his second series,
424:
Also, in the
Pythons' (2004) autobiography, Cleese cites a conversation between himself and Terry Jones: "We both happened to watch Spike Milligan's
493:, and always maintained that, given the opportunity, he would have produced more. The shows were written by Milligan and his writing collaborator
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374:, they had been forced to scurry around for a new hook for their series, as the format they had been intending to use had now already been done.
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Various reasons have been suggested for the title. One possibility is that it was inspired by the project to construct the Cunard liner
716:
Most of the episodes featured a relatively 'straight' musical interlude, sometimes performed by
Milligan himself, or his collaborators
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we were very depressed because we thought it was what we wanted to do and
Milligan was doing it brilliantly. But nobody really noticed
677:
in order to reuse the videotape, or disposing of master videotapes altogether in order to reduce storage costs. This affected series
728:
Singers, who received custard pies in their faces at the end of one performance. Some of the musical clips were included in the
393:
said: "Shows prepare the way for other shows, and sometimes shows that make genuine breakthroughs are missed. Spike
Milligan's
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registered the trademark; the TV series' opening credits showed the characters 'Q8' being formed from the word 'Kuwait'),
315:. The first and third series ran for seven episodes, and the others for six episodes, each of which was 30 minutes long.
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in 1982. Milligan resented the BBC for the cold attitude they took towards the series in comparison with series like
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them still bore its BBC Wardrobe
Department tag – and Milligan seemed to have a fondness for large noses and hats.
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Chapman, G., Cleese, J., Gilliam, T., Idle, E., Jones, T., & Palin, M. (2004). Edited by Bob McCabe.
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at the piano. There were also appearances by jazz groups, ragtime bands, singer-songwriters and the
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Though many found it to be more "hit and miss" than
Milligan's earlier work, especially
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34 of the 38 "Q" episodes still exist. Through the mid-1970s, the BBC had a policy of
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In the Python autobiography, Michael Palin mentions meeting their directors. "One was
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show that they specifically sought out MacNaughton to direct their own series.
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Scudamore (1985, p. 170) cites one interview with the
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shows... was the first writer to play with the conventions of television."
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However, Milligan was criticised for his tendency to make
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49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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946:Chapman's posthumous input via collateral sources
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675:wiping master copies of previously aired shows
473:shortly after in 1979 (two years before the
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904:Ventham, Maxine (2002). "Michael Palin".
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332:after the BBC felt the public might find
275:television comedy sketch show written by
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
1102:British surreal comedy television series
936:The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons
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1127:1982 British television series endings
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1012:. London, Hodder and Stoughton. 2003.
417:concurred. Jones noted that "watching
370:themselves remember that, having seen
1122:1969 British television series debuts
1117:1980s British television sketch shows
1112:1970s British television sketch shows
1097:1960s British television sketch shows
1092:British black comedy television shows
906:Spike Milligan: His Part in Our Lives
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299:. The show ran from 1969 to 1982 on
523:charged jokes, especially regarding
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
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1010:Spike Milligan: The Biography
908:. Robson. pp. 156–159.
475:Kuwait Petroleum Corporation
363:Monty Python's Flying Circus
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1087:BBC television sketch shows
878:Spike Milligan: A Biography
876:Scudamore, Pauline (1985).
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691:There's a Lot of It About
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1008:Carpenter, Humphrey.
984:Q Volume 1 Series 1-3
58:"Q..." TV series
838:Notes and references
740:Regular cast members
340:Forerunner in comedy
43:improve this article
880:. London: Granada.
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182:"The Q5 Piano Tune"
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467:appeared in 1978,
1107:Lost BBC episodes
1018:978-0-340-82611-9
963:. 1 December 2022
938:. London: Orion.
854:. 28 October 2014
761:Jeannette Charles
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382:and I adored the
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989:, retrieved
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139:Logo c. 1969
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41:Please help
36:verification
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858:13 February
801:Keith Smith
786:David Lodge
781:Peter Jones
746:Julia Breck
726:Mike Sammes
628:9 May 1979
577:5 May 1969
560:Last Aired
557:First Aired
533:Julia Breck
447:Development
407:Terry Jones
391:John Cleese
380:Terry Jones
368:The Pythons
285:Julia Breck
200:of episodes
1081:Categories
1036:BBC Online
967:2 December
821:John Wells
771:Linzi Drew
756:Alan Clare
722:Alan Clare
687:Q7, Q8, Q9
529:Pakistanis
495:Neil Shand
297:John Wells
281:Neil Shand
257:1982-10-25
247:1969-03-24
220:30 minutes
212:Production
163:Neil Shand
155:Created by
69:newspapers
816:Rita Webb
378:recalls "
205:4 missing
811:Bob Todd
730:BBC Four
718:Ed Welch
554:Episodes
539:Episodes
521:racially
293:Bob Todd
169:Starring
99:May 2007
1057:at the
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273:surreal
255: (
251: –
245: (
240:Release
230:Network
83:scholar
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712:Guests
548:Series
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451:While
352:comedy
295:, and
149:Comedy
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551:Title
271:is a
145:Genre
90:JSTOR
76:books
1048:IMDb
1014:ISBN
993:2016
969:2022
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910:ISBN
882:ISBN
860:2017
689:and
527:and
525:Jews
441:Q...
413:and
384:Q...
301:BBC2
279:and
268:Q...
203:38 (
127:Q...
62:news
1061:'s
1059:BFI
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334:Q10
321:QE2
307:to
234:BBC
198:No.
45:by
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