Zeppelin also known as The Golden Age of Ballooning 6: Ferdinand Von Zeppelin: Pioneer of the Airship is a sketch from "The Golden Age of Ballooning" the fortieth episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Synopsis[]
Footage of Barry Zeppelin (Terry Jones) plays, as he blows up balloons and throws them into the air to see if they will float. When he blows up a large balloon, he pops and begins to fly up into the air.
In 1908, Ferdinand von Zeppelin mingling with guests on his Zeppelin. But when one guest comments on the greatness of his balloon, Zeppelin (Graham Chapman) bursts out "it's not a balloon! It's an airship!" He becomes even more enraged as each guest comes up to him praising his balloon. He shoves Admiral Tirpitz (Jones) out of the zeppelin. On the ground, a German couple Mr and Mrs Helmut (Michael Palin and Jones) are relaxing in their sitting room when Tirpitz's body falls through the roof of the other room. Meanwhile, Zeppelin has kicked out the minister of state for suggesting he call the balloon a Bismarck. Even more people are kicked out and fall into the German couple's house. They finally decide to go and see what's happening. Mrs Helmut comments it's the chancellor, and the Helmuts go into the drawing room to see a pile of bodies. They begin to recognise all the dead bodies of important people. Mr Helmut suggests they ring the government, but Mrs Helmut points out the pile of bodies IS the government.
Eventually, they decide to sort out the bodies and make a list. As they drag the bodies around, they start arguing over where to put each category of corpses. A voiceover (Palin) explains the dire consequences of Zeppelin's actions, for one of ministers fell on woman in Nimwegen and killed her, and his briefcase injured her daughter Alice. Alice was nursed back to health and married her doctor Henderson, and their eldest son George Henderson had a son Mike Henderson who is the producer and director of The Golden Age of Ballooning. The Golden Age of Ballooning credits play but the music changes and the words change to The Golden Age of Colonic Irrigation. It cuts to a scene of a Victorian couple standing in a field with the captions: ‘The Mill on the Floss, Part 1: Ballooning'. They float up into the sky.