Long thought lost or wiped, every episode of Michael Palin and Terry Jones’ The Complete And Utter History Of Britain is now available to watch on Britbox.
The hunt for missing episodes from television history is an ongoing quest, and when one is found there is usually huge fanfare. It was a decade ago when, incredibly, almost every episode of Doctor Who stories The Web Of Fear (apart from episode three) and The Enemy Of The World were revealed to have been found, for instance. Both have since been restored and made available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Now though, there’s been a fresh discovery to add to the list.
Incredibly, Michael Palin and Terry Jones’ 1969 comedy series The Complete And Utter History Of Britain has been found in ITV’s archive – it was mislabelled, and only discovered due to the diligence of archivists undertaking a thorough examination of every asset. Better yet, every episode is now available to watch on Britbox and ITVX’s premium service. It popped up on the platform earlier this week.
Written by and starring Palin and Jones, the show was a series of spoof documentaries which viewed British history through a Pythonesque prism. Monty Python was formed almost immediately after the series was made, and as such it’s a notable part of television history. One that’s now available in complete form, pretty much against the odds.
Previously, Network released a DVD with all existing material, mainly comprising episodes one and two alongside a selection of film inserts. That’s still available second hand, but again, the full series is now available on streaming.
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