Among his memorable characters were a children’s storyteller shocked by his book’s scandalous content; an insinuating pub patron who tries to tease out a fellow patron’s sex life; Bruce, the Australian academic whose passions include philosophy and beer; a travel agent customer who rants unceasingly about bad experiences abroad; TV personality Timmy Williams (whose resemblance to David Frost was entirely coincidental), and award show host Dickie Attenborough; matriarch of the award-winning East Midlands Most Awful Family (Lower-Middle-Class Section); an RAF pilot with appallingly bad banter; the not-quite-so-brave Sir Robin; and Stan, who wants to be called Loretta.

Jones was the Python most likely to appear in drag (usually as a haggard housewife having to contend with gas cooker deliverymen, rat tarts or poets) or nude (playing the organ). His most notable characters include Arthur “Two Sheds” Jackson, Cardinal Biggles of the Spanish Inquisition; Scottish poet Ewan McTeagle; aspiring but hopelessly untalented filmmaker L.F. Dibley; a Spam restaurateur; Superintendant Harry “Snapper” Organs; a collector of butterfly hunters; Arthur Mee, the cheesy host of the All-England Summarise Proust Competition; the Dirty Vicar; prospective bridegroom Prince Herbert; Mandy, the mother of Brian (not the messiah, but a very naughty boy); and the gluttonous Mr. Creosote.

The most innocent-looking of the group — and consequently able to play some of the most subversive parts, such as gangsters or unctuous presenters, to uproarious effect — Palin is best known for such Python characters as the leader of the Spanish Inquisition; the devious proprietor of a pet shop selling dead parrots, or of a cheese shop devoid of cheese; the transvestite lumberjack; the host of the game show “Blackmail”; the bicyclist Mr. Pither; the mentally-challenged Mr. Gumby; the leader of the Knights Who Say “Ni!”; and Roman governor Pontius Pilate, afflicted with a giggle-inducing speech impediment.

Chapman often played befuddled or obnoxious policemen, and most notably appeared as the Colonel, who abruptly interrupted sketches or castigated the actors for being “too silly.” Other parts included bonkers movie executive Irving C. Saltzberg, Jr.; a cross-dressing cabinet minister; the President of the Royal Society for Putting Things on Top of Other Things; the false-proboscis-wearing Raymond Luxury Yacht; The Rev. Arthur Belling of St. Looney Up-The-Cream-Bun-and-Jam; Sir Kenneth Clark, defending his Oxford title in a boxing ring; a gloomy Icelander hawking honey; Mr. Neutron (“the man who could catch H-Bombs in his teeth”); and, most famously, as the leads – King Arthur and Brian – in the Pythons’ two best movies.

In the show’s second series the Pythons were even more confident and daring than in their first, as evident in both the tightness of the editing and the breadth of their material – thus avoiding the “sophomore jinx.”

In December 1971 the Pythons began recording their third BBC series, pushing themselves with more creative narrative development and more surreal characters (and, thanks to improved BBC budgets, more ambitious location shoots). The third series also marked the first Python episode in which a single story (“The Cycling Tour”) took up the entire half-hour. Pushing the boundaries of taste, however, ended up inviting more oversight by the BBC’s censors.

Filmed after the completion of “Holy Grail,” the fourth series (whose title was shortened to just “Monty Python”) constituted just six episodes. John Cleese had already expressed his desire to move on to solo projects (“Fawlty Towers” would premiere on the BBC in September 1975), and so he does not appear, although he received a writing credit for his contributions with Graham Chapman.

After a compilation of Python sketches won a second place prize at the Montreux Festival in 1971, Alfred Biôlek, a producer from Bavaria Films, contacted Ian MacNaughton to propose a Python show for German television, launching “Monty Python’s Fliegender Zirkus.”

A documentary commissioned by UKTV which also made the festival rounds, “Monty Python: The Meaning of Live” gives viewers unparalleled backstage access to the preparations and staging of the Pythons’ 2014 reunion at London’s O2 Arena. What is most revealing is the genial humor and affection of the Pythons and their thoughts about taking to the stage once again, as they reunite for their first live performance in 34 years.