John Cleese to embark on tour celebrating Monty Python And The Holy Grail

Comedic actor John Cleese is to embark on a UK tour celebrating more than 50 years since the release of Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

The 86-year-old will host a 45-minute Q and A session with fans after a screening of the 1975 film introduced by the star.

Cleese said: “I’m delighted to be celebrating more than 50 years of Holy Grail with these incredible live events around the country, mainly because I genuinely never expected either the film or myself to last this long.”

The sessions will see Cleese reflect on the making of the film and its legacy, with fans able to ask their own questions.

The tour will begin at Basingstoke Anvil Arts on September 1 and run until its final show at Leeds Grand Theatre on September 22, stopping at Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham, with tickets going on sale now and priced at £39.50.

Monty Python And The Holy Grail follows King Arthur and his knights after they are tasked by God to find the Holy Grail.

Along with The Holy Grail, Cleese also starred in two other classic movies alongside the original Monty Python troupe – Sir Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Graham Chapman – Monty Python’s Life Of Brian (1979) and Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life (1983).

The original Monty Python’s Flying Circus shows were first broadcast on the BBC in 1969. The ground-breaking, surreal sketches have had a profound influence on comedy and popular culture, and the Pythons have frequently been dubbed “the Beatles of comedy”.

Cleese also enjoyed huge success with A Fish Called Wanda (1988), starring alongside Jamie Lee Curtis and Palin. The movie also featured an Oscar-winning performance from Kevin Kline.

Another enduring success for Cleese was the BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers. Set in a fictional hotel in the seaside town of Torquay, only 12 episodes were ever made, from 1975-79.

Based on a real-life hotel owner, Donald Sinclair, Cleese came up with the idea for the character Basil Fawlty when he stayed at Sinclair’s Gleneagles Hotel and said he became fascinated with his rude behaviour.

Cleese’s latest tour comes after Fawlty Towers’ stage adaption ran at the Apollo Theatre in London’s Shaftesbury Avenue last year, before heading out on a tour of the UK and Ireland.

John Cleese And The Holy Grail tour in full

September 1 – Basingstoke Anvil Arts

September 2 – Tunbridge Wells Assembly Hall

September 3 – Cambridge Corn Exchange

September 5 – Milton Keynes Theatre

September 6 – Buxton Opera House

September 7 – New Brighton Floral Pavilion

September 8 – York Grand Opera House

September 9 – Newcastle Tyne Theatre

September 11 – Torquay Princess Theatre

September 12 – Woking New Victoria

September 14 – Watford Colosseum

September 15 – Bournemouth Pavilion Theatre

September 17 – Cheltenham Town Hall

September 18 – Bedford Corn Exchange

September 19 – Richmond Theatre

September 20 – Birmingham Town Hall

September 21 – Manchester Opera House

September 22 – Leeds Grand Theatre