Television and Society in the 1960's

         As we have seen, from their student years in the early 1960's in Oxford and Cambridge, and up to 1969, all the Pythons participated in various university revues and radio or television programmes. This long apprenticeship, in this very particular context of the 'Oxbridge Mafia' certainly accounts for their mastery of comedy. Yet they had always been writing or performing in others' shows and had never the entire freedom to do what they really wanted to do , how they wanted to do it. There is little surprise then, that having learnt so much about comedy they felt somewhat frustrated and decided to free themselves of all restrictions in their own show.

         We've already considered what television comedy shows were like in the 1960's before the Flying Circus in 1969. And indeed, most of the Pythons-to-be played a not inconsiderable role in the development of comedy during that period. But before we come to the actual creation of Monty Python's Flying Circus, it may be useful also to consider television as a medium as well at its target, that is to say British society in this context of the 1960's, for it may be helpful to understand in what way the Flying Circus was "completely different" and how it could be perceived at that time.

                  a) The socioeconomic context

         On the whole, the 1950's and the early 60's were characterized by economic growth and prosperity. 1951 had seen the appointment as Prime Minister of Winston Churchill, leader of the Conservatives who had promised to "set the people free". And indeed in those years, the average economic well-being of the population rose considerably. However, this was true only up to a certain point. In fact this prosperity created a large demand for imports which hurt the value of the pound and eventually created inflation. For this reason, England went through different crises with waves of strikes.

         On the other hand, Britain benefited from the attraction of  "Swinging London" and its related industries such as fashion, music, photography, design, etc.

         The long Conservative leadership came to an end in 1964 when Harold Wilson was appointed Prime Minister. But the Labour Government inherited the problems of the past period. In an attempt to improve the situation, Wilson's government took unpopular measures such as strict controls on imports, wage restraints and the devaluation of the Pound. Consequently, the Labour Government became more and more unpopular and partly owed its continuation to the divisions among the Conservatives at that time.

         Thus, the second half of the 1960's was a period of social tension and it may be interesting to note that Monty Python's Flying Circus appeared precisely in this context of a depressed social climate. Yet the Flying Circus was not a reaction to the harshness of the 1960's and indeed the Pythons had nothing really to complain of. However, we know that nonsense which is at the heart of Python humour is commonly closely associated with satire and often reemerges in periods of crisis. We can assume that, as the Pythons always claimed, their only purpose was to do something funny, nothing more. Nonsense created satire and the social context provided material for it.

         In terms of television, the Wilson Government allowed a new-found freedom of expression and creativity even if - as we will see later - Wilson probably partly regretted this later. The 1960's have been a kind of pivotal decade in that respect. The 1950's were still characterized by the unquestioned deference to authority and respect for royalty and the major institutions of Britain, that is to say the Church, the Law, Parliament, the Army and the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The 1960's saw a general liberalization that also affected television with programmes such as That Was the Week that Was even if it sometimes engendered violent reactions. But if it is true that things evolved during the 1960's it would be erroneous to believe that by 1969 all the taboos had been defeated. A militant homosexual, Graham Chapman joined the Gay Liberation Front and participated in the creation of the gay magazine Gay News. He wrote :

      "I realized then that I didn't have to have women all the time, and that guilt is a weapon used by a muddled society to stop people having a good time. [...]. Even in the sexually liberated Seventies, young people still had to get pissed or high to do what they really wanted to do in the first place."[1]

         In my opinion, the context in which Monty Python's Flying Circus was created is worth being looked at and taken into consideration, but maybe not in the sense one could expect. The social or political climate of the period does not really have any significance as material for satire. Indeed, what is criticized in The Flying Circus is not so much such or such an institution than the absurdity of life as a whole. Therefore, Monty Python's Flying Circus still has a satirical power nowadays. The interest of considering the context is rather to understand in what way Monty Python differed from the existing television comedy programmes and how such a provocative show could be received in 1969.

                  b) Broadcasting

         The Sixties saw great evolutions concerning television in terms of technical improvement. In the early 1960's, the Pilkington Committee reported on the future of broadcasting, recommending that a service of colour television matching the standard used in Europe should be introduced as soon as possible. This resulted in many technical improvements even though colour television did not come to BBC 1 and ITV before 1969.[2]

         As a consequence, the programming trends also evolved and ranged from drama to escapism with, in between the two, a new television comedy form.

         Humour reached its peak with the programming of That Was the Week that Was which, as we saw before, introduced satire to the general audience. John Speight, author of the sitcom series Till Death Us Do Part remembers : "On certain nights of the week, you'd only watch BBC - the programmes were so good. The streets used to be emptied by television."[3]

         The Pythons' view of the world as television comedy writers and performers was largely formed between the years 1960 and 1969. This period corresponds to Sir Hugh Carlton Greene's position as Director-General of the BBC. Throughout the 1960's, the BBC consolidated its status as a dominant cultural institution while abandoning the image of an old-fashioned, snobbish organization to take a new lead. This was the time when interviewers began to drop their deferential attitude to persons in authority and when one could watch the social drama Cathy Come Home and the police serial Z Cars. The BBC always remained a very respectable corporation but it suggested that there could be alternative views to the idea that the conventions were sacrosanct. Greene's desire was to encourage creativity by giving a free hand to the artists:

      "No correspondant could do his work if he had an editor constantly breathing down his neck. And the same is true of producers. Nothing could be achieved by censorship or coercion, either from within the Corporation or from the outside - nothing, that is, except the frustration of creative people who achieve their best work by the concious stimulation of their positive ideas."[4]

         Although Sir Hugh Carlton Greene had retired by the time Monty Python's Flying Circus was created, the Pythons benefited from his policies. Consequently, they were able to choose their producer ; Ian MacNaughton. As for MacNaughton's superiors, they considered the responsibility for the programme was his and they did not ask to see the scripts before they were broadcast - at least at the beginning. Complaints from inside or outside the Corporation - if there were any -  were always dealt with after the creative decisions were made and this even though Tom Sloan, the Head of Light Entertainment, as the Pythons knew, could not understand the programme and did not like it at all.

         Thus, throughout the Sixties, the irreverent and liberalizing attitudes of some BBC programmes offended both politicians and pressure groups. The most famous of these is probably Mrs Mary Whitehouse who, in the early 1960's was worried by the change in moral attitudes she noticed among young people and which she attributed to the change in moral attitudes portrayed on television. On 16th March 1965, she launched the National Viewers' and Listeners' Association. She spoke for a section of the community - quite large at that time - which deplored the changes that had taken place in British society.

         And among the politicians who had felt offended by the BBC's new attitude was Britain's Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson whose Government had itself contributed to the achievement of this new freedom of expression. As a reaction Harold Wilson appointed a new chairman for the BBC Board of Governors, Lord Hill of Luton for his reputation as an interventionist chairman.

         However, it must be acknowledged that it is partly the BBC which made the creation of Monty Python possible even if it later gradually withdrew its position as the Pythons were gaining confidence.[5]