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Out of the Trees
Encyclopedia
Out of the Trees is a 1975 television sketch show
pilot written by Graham Chapman
, Douglas Adams
and Bernard McKenna
that was broadcast on BBC 2 in 1976. The show shared some of the stream-of-consciousness style of Monty Python's Flying Circus
, of which Chapman was a member. Actors included Mark Wing-Davey
and Simon Jones
.
The concept of the show was, according to Chapman, to follow the exploits of two modern-day linguists who would travel around a Britain gripped in rapid decline. The linguists would comment upon the origins of a word or phrase, which would then be the genesis of a sketch. Although two scripts were written (the second a collaboration between Chapman and David Yallop
), only one episode was ever filmed. It was broadcast only once by the BBC, with little promotion, at 10pm on Saturday 10 January 1976 opposite Match of the Day
, and so was seen by relatively few people.
The videotape recording of the show has since been wiped
, as used to be common for archived BBC shows, due to the relatively high cost of videotape at the time. The film segments shot in outdoor locations survive, and consist of a sketch titled "Severance of a Peony", and some inserts intended for an item about Genghis Khan
. The former was included on the DVD for Adams's 1981 TV series adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
, and also appeared, rewritten as an anecdote, in Chapman's book A Liar's Autobiography
. Rewrites of the Ghengis Khan sketch appeared in some editions of Adams's posthumous work The Salmon of Doubt
as the short story "The Private Life of Genghis Khan
".
It was reported in 2005, by a representative posting on the forum at the archive television website The Mausoleum Club, that a videotape made by Chapman on an obsolete format had been handed to the National Film Television and Videotape Archive. This was restored and shown at the National Film Theatre on Saturday, 2 December 2006 as part of the Missing Believed Wiped event.
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
pilot written by Graham Chapman
Graham Chapman
Graham Arthur Chapman was a British comedian, physician, writer, actor, and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe.-Early life and education:...
, Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
and Bernard McKenna
Bernard McKenna (writer)
Bernard McKenna is a Scottish writer/producer who has written, or co-written, many hours of British television comedy. He is most noted for his work with Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame as well as his collaborations with Peter Cook and Douglas Adams...
that was broadcast on BBC 2 in 1976. The show shared some of the stream-of-consciousness style of Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Monty Python’s Flying Circus is a BBC TV sketch comedy series. The shows were composed of surreality, risqué or innuendo-laden humour, sight gags and observational sketches without punchlines...
, of which Chapman was a member. Actors included Mark Wing-Davey
Mark Wing-Davey
Mark Wing-Davey is a British actor and director.-Early life and career:The son of actor and actress Peter Davey and Anna Wing, Wing-Davey went to school at Woolverstone Hall School, before studying at Cambridge University where he was a member of the Footlights from 1967 to 1970.He had a featured...
and Simon Jones
Simon Jones (actor)
Simon Jones is an English actor, most famous for his appearances in the television and radio series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which he played the lead role of Arthur Dent from 1978 to 2005...
.
The concept of the show was, according to Chapman, to follow the exploits of two modern-day linguists who would travel around a Britain gripped in rapid decline. The linguists would comment upon the origins of a word or phrase, which would then be the genesis of a sketch. Although two scripts were written (the second a collaboration between Chapman and David Yallop
David Yallop
David Anthony Yallop is an agnostic British author who writes chiefly about unsolved crimes. In the 1970s he also contributed scripts for a number of BBC comedy shows...
), only one episode was ever filmed. It was broadcast only once by the BBC, with little promotion, at 10pm on Saturday 10 January 1976 opposite Match of the Day
Match of the Day
Match of the Day is the BBC's main football television programme. Typically, it is shown on BBC One on Saturday evenings during the English football season, showing highlights of the day's matches in English football's top division, the Premier League...
, and so was seen by relatively few people.
The videotape recording of the show has since been wiped
Wiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
, as used to be common for archived BBC shows, due to the relatively high cost of videotape at the time. The film segments shot in outdoor locations survive, and consist of a sketch titled "Severance of a Peony", and some inserts intended for an item about Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan
Genghis Khan , born Temujin and occasionally known by his temple name Taizu , was the founder and Great Khan of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest contiguous empire in history after his death....
. The former was included on the DVD for Adams's 1981 TV series adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast in January and February 1981 on BBC Two...
, and also appeared, rewritten as an anecdote, in Chapman's book A Liar's Autobiography
A Liar's Autobiography
A Liar's Autobiography humorous, fictionalised account of his life written by Graham Chapman of Monty Python fame. First published in Britain in 1980, it was republished in 1991 and again in 1999...
. Rewrites of the Ghengis Khan sketch appeared in some editions of Adams's posthumous work The Salmon of Doubt
The Salmon of Doubt
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time is a posthumous collection of previously published and unpublished material by Douglas Adams...
as the short story "The Private Life of Genghis Khan
The Private Life of Genghis Khan
The Private Life of Genghis Khan is a short story written by Douglas Adams and Graham Chapman. It is based in part on a sketch devised by Graham Chapman, and written by Chapman and Adams for the 1975 TV show pilot Out of the Trees. It appears in The Utterly Utterly Merry Comic Relief Christmas Book...
".
It was reported in 2005, by a representative posting on the forum at the archive television website The Mausoleum Club, that a videotape made by Chapman on an obsolete format had been handed to the National Film Television and Videotape Archive. This was restored and shown at the National Film Theatre on Saturday, 2 December 2006 as part of the Missing Believed Wiped event.
Sources
- http://orangecow.org/pythonet
- http://web.ukonline.co.uk/sotcaa/python.html
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6150254.stm
- http://www.bfi.org.uk/incinemas/nft/film/7027