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"The Cycling Tour" is the thirty-fourth episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It is one of only two episodes in the series that have a linear storyline, rather than a series of sketches. The episode involves a clumsy cyclist from Cornwall named Mr. Pither (played by Michael Palin).

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Trivia[]

  • This episode is the first episode of Flying Circus to feature a full-length story. The second is "Mr Neutron".
  • Instead of the usual animated opening titles, the episode begins with a simple full-screen caption that reads "The Cycling Tour".
  • John Tomiczek, Graham Chapman's adopted son, makes a brief appearance as one of two children (other one being Graham dressed as a teenage girl) to ask for an autograph from a man they thought was singer Clodagh Rodgers. Despite his brief appearance, John Tomickzek did not have a speaking part.
  • The music that Mr. Pither is cycling to is the waltz from Act II of the opera Faust by Charles Gounod.
  • The song that the animated monsters dance to at the end of the episode is "Jack in the Box" as performed by Clodagh Rodgers.
  • The story is about a travelling cyclist; decades later, Michael Palin would have a whole second career as a globetrotting travel writer and filmmaker.
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