Do Not Adjust Your Set
Surreal sketches that anticipated Monty Python's Flying Circus.
The title referenced the on-screen message displayed during transmission difficulties. The show helped launch the careers of Denise Coffey, David Jason, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, three of whom became members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- c. 25 minutes (excluding commercials)
- Executive producers
- Humphrey Barclay (series 1); Ian Davidson (series 2)
- Starring
- Denise Coffey
- Eric Idle
- David Jason
- Terry Jones
- Michael Palin
- Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Network
- ITV
- First aired
- 26 December 1967
- Last aired
- 14 May 1969
Facts from the source article.
Home media
The first series of Do Not Adjust Your Set originally had 14 episodes, but only nine made it to a DVD release on August 25, 2005, in both the UK and US. Those discs, which are NTSC Region 0, were created from telerecordings of the original videotapes. Despite being labeled as episodes 1 through 9, they actually correspond to episodes 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 of that series—a misnumbering similar to what happened with At Last the 1948 Show. The sole surviving episode from series 2 and the Christmas special Do Not Adjust Your Stocking were left out. Terry Gilliam’s animations are absent from this release, though he is credited as an additional writer on episodes 3 and 4. The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band appears in episode 7, performing their song “Death Cab for Cutie.” On September 16, 2019, the British Film Institute issued a more complete DVD set covering both series. It includes the previously missing fourth episode of the first series, which was rediscovered after a copy sent to the Prix de Jeunesse jury was found. The BFI release uses the original episode numbering, includes the Christmas special, and restores Terry Gilliam’s animations from his own masters.
Episodes
The introductory special for Boxing Day 1967 was accidentally swapped with the first regular episode everywhere except London. Rediffusion produced the first series, thirteen episodes airing Thursdays at 17:25 from 26 December 1967 to 28 March 1968. Three episodes are lost; nine survive as telerecordings, and episode 4 exists on a home tape. For episode 9, Tim Brooke-Taylor stood in for Michael Palin, who was having his appendix removed. The next episode saw Eric Idle cover vocals and piano for the Bonzo's song 'Love is a Cylindrical Piano' because Neil Innes had the flu. A summer special aired on 29 July 1968, the last Rediffusion production, broadcast on their final day before Thames Television took over. The Christmas special was Thames' first episode. This special also contained Terry Gilliam's first animated sketch. Most episodes are missing, though audio recordings of several survive. Only episode 2 remains intact, on its original 2-inch master videotape. Gilliam's animated sequences, including 'Beware of the Elephants' and 'Learning to Live with an Elephant', survive on black-and-white 35mm film.
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