'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - Episode 4 Online Quiz | Television

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Though this episode is officially entitled 'Owl-Stretching Time', the first item to appear on the screen following the opening theme song is a black screen with the words 'Episode _______'. What man's name fills the blank?

Answer: Arthur

For some odd reason, the name Arthur came up a lot during the first several episodes of the series. There is no explanation, ever, for the official title 'Owl-Stretching Time'. No owls appeared, or were hurt, during the filming of this or any other episode of the 'Flying Circus'.

2. In the 'Art Gallery' sketch, we find two badly dressed mothers talking about their naughty sons. As the sketch progresses, the two women eventually start munching on (yes, consuming) a famous painting called 'The Fighting Temeraire' by which British artist?

Answer: Turner

The two mothers are quite abusive, almost constantly turning to slap their poor sons. Apparently the boys have been quite naughty. For example, Kevin, the son of the John Cleese character, has just smeared ketchup all over Raphael's 'Baby Jesus'. Likewise, Ralph, the son of the Graham Chapman character, is able to hit a Van Gogh with a wad of spittle from 30 yards. Eventually, Ralph is caught munching on the Turner painting.

The two mothers decide to give the painting a try...delicious!

3. Throughout the episode, the Pythons appear to be making fun of an advertising slogan recently used by the British army. What is this phrase?

Answer: It's a man's life in the modern army

The first mock-up of this slogan (It's a man's life in the Cardiff Rooms, Libya) is displayed while Eric Idle sings the folk tune 'And Did Those Teeth'. After the slogan is displayed, an insistent army colonel insists that the cameras cut to him. He (Graham Chapman) procedes to lambast those involved in mocking the British military institutions.

4. During the sketch 'Undressing in Public', Terry Jones makes a number of hilarious attempts to remove his street clothes in favor of a bathing suit. Is he ever able to remove his street clothes?

Answer: Yes

Indeed, he is! Done in a slapstick, Chaplinesque style, this series of vignettes illustrates Terry Jones comic capabilities. After failing numerous times to remove his street clothes for the sake of common decency, Jones finds himself on a silent stage and begins to finally change into his beach costume. Suddenly, music reminiscent of a strip joint begins, and the formerly modest Jones character proceeds with a strip tease.

5. In the 'Self-Defence Against Fruit' sketch, the instructor, played by John Cleese, insists on showing his class how to defend themselves against maniacs wielding various fruits. Among his students is Eric Idle, who continually insists on learning how to defend against what alternative type of weapon?

Answer: Pointed stick

The class has been doing fresh fruit for nine weeks. Michael Palin asks, 'Can't we do something else for a change?' Eric Idle adds, 'Like someone who attacks you with a pointed stick.' John Cleese trenchantly responds, 'Pointed Sticks? Oh, oh, oh, we want to learn how to defend ourselves against pointed sticks, do we? Getting all high and mighty, eh? Fresh fruit not good enough for you, eh?'

6. Having exhausted a number of fruit possibilities, the John Cleese character finally locates a fruit that has not been explored. With which fruit does he have the Graham Chapman character attack him?

Answer: Banana

Seemingly having the upper hand, Graham Chapman mounts his maniacal charge armed with a razor-sharp banana. However, unbeknownst to Mr. Chapman, the Cleese character has a gun and is not afraid to use it, even in demonstration. Cleese terminates poor Chapman with a ruthless dispatch, much to the shock and consternation of Chapman's classmates.

7. By using which method does the Cleese character fend off the vicious attack of the raspberry-wielding Terry Jones character during the 'Fruit' sketch?

Answer: 16-ton weight

In the first usage of the live-action 16-ton weight in the 'Flying Circus' series, Cleese squashes Jones like a helpless flapjack. This is only after promising not to shoot the poor sod.

8. In the 'Secret Service Dentists' sketch, the Eric Idle character enters a book store in search of a particularly fascinating book entitled 'An Illustrated History of __________'. What fills the blank?

Answer: False Teeth

The man behind the counter at the book shop, an incredibly paranoid John Cleese, seems to suspect something from the very beginning. His fears are confirmed after hearing of Idle's desire to purchase the book 'An Illustrated History of False Teeth', and he pulls a gun on the poor, unsuspecting Idle.

9. Though the John Cleese character suspects otherwise, the Eric Idle character claims to be a member of which profession in the 'Dentists' sketch?

Answer: Tobacconist

Cleese asks Idle, at gunpoint, if he is a member of the British Dental Association. Idle claims to be a mere tobacconist. Apparently, Cleese thinks that Idle is after 'the fillings', apparently the objects of desire of many a dentist in this sketch.

10. It turns out at the end of the 'Dentists' sketch that the Eric Idle character is indeed a dentist named Arthur. What is the surname of this sneaky chap?

Answer: Lemming

The episode concludes with Arthur Lemming announcing himself as a special investigator for the British Dental Association. After hearing Lemming's theme music, the words 'It's a man's life in the British Dental Association' are flashed on screen, followed by another protest by the army colonel, who orders the program stopped.

Thank you for trying this quiz, I hope you enjoyed it!

Source: Author thejazzkickazz

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ArleneRimmer before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

'Monty Python's Flying Circus' - Episode 4 Quiz

Apart from being my favorite episode, this entry in the 'Flying Circus' compendium includes folk music, homicidal fruit wielders, conspiratorial dentists and man-eating tigers. Enter if you dare!

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