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The Best Episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus

Every episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus!

Binge this in 21h 54m•Peaking at 8.9/10

A British sketch comedy series with the shows being composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 2 - The Spanish Inquisition
    8.9/10(1397 votes)

    #1 - The Spanish Inquisition

    S2:E2

    Featuring the Spanish Inquisition, courtroom charades and a semaphore interpretation of Wuthering Heights.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  2. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 8 - Full Frontal Nudity
    8.6/10(1371 votes)

    #2 - Full Frontal Nudity

    S1:E8

    Featuring an art critic, some hermits, Hell's Grannies and the dead parrot sketch. Some newlyweds attempt to buy a bed and the mafia offer protecting to the army.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  3. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 12 - Spam
    8.6/10(1038 votes)

    #3 - Spam

    S2:E12

    The sketches in this episode include Dirty Hungarian Phrasebook, World Forum-Communist Quiz, Hospital for Over-Actors and Spam.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  4. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 3 - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away
    8.5/10(1575 votes)

    #4 - How to Recognise Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away

    S1:E3

    Featuring a court scene, the larch, Bicycle Repair Man, children's stories, a restaurant sketch, some seduced milkmen, an interview with some children and a stolen newsreader.

    Directors:John Howard Davies, Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  5. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 1 - Face the Press
    8.5/10(1184 votes)

    #5 - Face the Press

    S2:E1

    Featuring Doug and Dinsdale Piranha, Face the Press and the Ministry of Silly Walks. Mrs G Pinnet buys a new gas cooker.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  6. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 9 - The Ant, An Introduction
    8.3/10(1263 votes)

    #6 - The Ant, An Introduction

    S1:E9

    Featuring Ken Buddha, a man with a tape-recorder up his nose and a hairdresser who always wanted to be a lumberjack.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus

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  7. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 12 - The Naked Ant
    8.3/10(1189 votes)

    #7 - The Naked Ant

    S1:E12

    Featuring the North Minehead by-election, the Upper Class Twit of the Year competition, Ken Shabby and a Party Political Broadcast on behalf of the Wood Party.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  8. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 11 - How Not to Be Seen
    8.3/10(990 votes)

    #8 - How Not to Be Seen

    S2:E11

    Features gags and sketches such as Job Hunter, Railway Timetables, How Not to be Seen and Interview in a Filing Cabinet.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  9. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 3 Episode 3 - The Money Programme
    8.2/10(930 votes)

    #9 - The Money Programme

    S3:E3

    Features The Money Programme, Erizabeth L, Dead Bishop, Jungle Restaurant and The Argument Skit.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  10. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 3 Episode 8 - The Cycling Tour
    8.2/10(968 votes)

    #10 - The Cycling Tour

    S3:E8

    This episode tells the story of Mr Pither as he embarks on his Cycling Tour.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  11. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 5 - Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century
    8.1/10(1346 votes)

    #11 - Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century

    S1:E5

    Featuring Confuse-a-Cat, discussion programme A Duck, a Cat and a Lizard, the arrest of a newsreader, an erotic film, a silly job interview and a burglar/encyclopaedia salesman.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  12. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 3 - Déjà Vu
    8.1/10(1054 votes)

    #12 - Déjà Vu

    S2:E3

    Featuring the work of the poet Euan McTeagle, a psychiatrist milkman and some exploding animals. A television presenter suffers from a severe case of deja vu.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  13. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 4 - The Buzz Aldrin Show
    8.1/10(1043 votes)

    #13 - The Buzz Aldrin Show

    S2:E4

    More surreal humour from the Monty Python team. Sketches include The Architects, How to Recognise a Mason, Poets and the Chemist sketch.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  14. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 13 - Royal Episode 13
    8.1/10(954 votes)

    #14 - Royal Episode 13

    S2:E13

    Sketches in this episode include How to Feed a Goldfish, The Man Who Says Things in a Very Roundabout Way and Lifeboat.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  15. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 3 Episode 7 - Salad Days
    8.1/10(904 votes)

    #15 - Salad Days

    S3:E7

    Features gags and sketches such as Biggles Dictates a Letter, Climbing the North Face of the Uxbridge Road, Lifeboat and The Cheese Shop.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  16. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 3 Episode 11 - Dennis Moore
    8.1/10(897 votes)

    #16 - Dennis Moore

    S3:E11

    Features the sketches Dennis Moore, What the Stars Foretell, The Ideal Loon Exhibition, Off-Licence and Prejudice.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  17. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 9 - How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body
    8.0/10(989 votes)

    #17 - How to Recognise Different Parts of the Body

    S2:E9

    Featuring a guide on how to recognise parts of the body, a singing policeman, an interview with a plastic surgeon, a camp soldiers' drill and the Verrifast Plane Company.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  18. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 3 Episode 4 - Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror
    8.0/10(905 votes)

    #18 - Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror

    S3:E4

    Features gags and sketches such as Blood, Devastation, Death, War and Horror, The Man who Speaks in Anagrams and Pantomime Horses.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  19. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 1 - Whither Canada?
    7.9/10(1855 votes)

    #19 - Whither Canada?

    S1:E1

    Featuring 'It's Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart', an Italian lesson, Whizzo Butter, 'It's the Arts', Arthur 'Two-Sheds' Jackson, a cycling race, and The Funniest Joke in the World.

    Directors:John Howard Davies, Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  20. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 4 - Owl Stretching Time
    7.9/10(1356 votes)

    #20 - Owl Stretching Time

    S1:E4

    Featuring fresh fruit as self-defence, some folk-singing, an art gallery sketch and Lemming of the BDA. An Edwardian man struggles to undress on the beach.

    Directors:John Howard Davies, Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  21. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 6 - It's the Arts
    7.9/10(1287 votes)

    #21 - It's the Arts

    S1:E6

    Featuring a gang of legal burglars, the Whizzo Quality Assortment, a Scottish wedding and a day in the life of a city stockbroker. Some film moguls try to impress their boss.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  22. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 1 Episode 13 - Intermission
    7.9/10(1128 votes)

    #22 - Intermission

    S1:E13

    Featuring some historical impersonations, a cinema usherette with a dead seabird, restaurant abuse and Probe Around On Crime.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  23. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 5 - Live from the Grill-O-Mat
    7.9/10(1008 votes)

    #23 - Live from the Grill-O-Mat

    S2:E5

    Featuring gameshow Blackmail, The Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and boxer Ken Clean-Air System.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  24. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 2 Episode 8 - Archaeology Today
    7.9/10(982 votes)

    #24 - Archaeology Today

    S2:E8

    Featuring Mrs Beethoven, the Reverend Arthur Belling, some Australian Mosquito Hunters and a drink party with the Gits.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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  25. Monty Python's Flying Circus Season 3 Episode 2 - Mr. and Mrs. Brian Norris' Ford Popular
    7.9/10(918 votes)

    #25 - Mr. and Mrs. Brian Norris' Ford Popular

    S3:E2

    Features Emigration from Surbiton to Hounslow, The Fish Slapping Dance, SS Mother Goose, Trim-Jeans Theatre and some very famous guests.

    Director:Ian MacNaughton
    Writers:Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Spanish Inquisition" is the best rated episode of "Monty Python's Flying Circus". It scored 8.9/10 based on 1397 votes. Directed by Ian MacNaughton and written by Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, it aired on 9/22/1970. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "Full Frontal Nudity".