Unlike his Cantabrigian cohorts in the comedy troupe Monty Python, Welsh-born Terry Jones was a student of medieval literature at Oxford, where he was participated in the Experimental Theatre Club. After graduation, he was employed as a script editor and gag writer by the BBC, where he met Michael Palin. The pair formed a writing partnership and they contributed material to TV series like "The Ken Dodd Show" as well as comedy material for Marty Feldman and others. In 1967, Jones with Palin and Eric Idle wrote and appeared in the British TV sketch comedy series "Do Not Adjust Your Set" (1967-69). Palin and Jones were the team behind the delightful "The Complete and Utter History of Britain" (London Weekly Television, 1969) and the pair, along with John Cleese and Graham Chapman were contributing writers to "Marty" (BBC-2, 1968-69), starring Marty Feldman. BBC comedy consultant Barry Took brought together Jones, Palin, Idle, Cleese and Chapman and added American Terry Gilliam to the mix in 1969 to form what became Monty Python.
Originally intended as a late night satire series, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" (BBC, 1969-74) developed into a cult hit on both sides of the Atlantic. With their distinctive yet innovative brand of irreverent and surreal sketch comedy, the troupe savaged the pomposity and repression of British society, spoofed European history and satirized intellectuals and other cultural figures. (Additionally, a number of the sketches relied on drag performances.) The TV show spawned five films ranging from "And Now for Something Completely Different" (1971) to "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975, co-directed by Jones) to the biblical spoof "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979, directed by Jones).
Palin and Jones also wrote the witty series parodying English literature "Ripping Yarns" (BBC-2, 1977) and the 1979 sequel "More Ripping Yarns". Solo, Jones found a secondary career as an author, publishing the scholarly "Chaucer's Knight: Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary" in 1980 and a series of children's book. He also co-scripted the concert film "The Secret Policeman's Ball" (1979) and wrote the Jim Henson-directed "Labyrinth" (1986), an uneven but engrossing children's film about a teenaged girl who must negotiate a maze in order to rescue her baby brother. Moving away from children's fare, Jones directed "Personal Services" (1987), a very adult, well-acted yet comic look at a woman who is drawn into the world of prostitution. In 1989, he adapted his children's book as "Erik the Viking", a wildly uneven look at Norse mythology. Like many of the Python sketches, "Erik" attempted to retell European history with a comic twist, but most critics felt that Jones and his cast (headed by Tim Robbins) missed the mark. It was nearly a decade before Jones returned to the big screen as writer-director and co-star of "The Wind in the Willows" (1997), a charming live-action version of the classic novel. The film fell victim to the vagaries of contemporary moviemaking. Originally produced by Disney, "Willows" was acquired by Columbia Pictures which basically dumped this critically-praised version, partly because Disney retained the video release rights.
Copyright © Baseline 2006.