Monty Python's Nude Pianist Honoured with Terry Jones Statue in Colwyn Bay

Or should that be the other way around?  Probably, but I think Jones may have liked it this way!

Here's the story. In the winter of 1970, British television viewers were given thirteen new episodes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, with a host of new secondary characters to help while away the winter nights.  By far the most talked about was The Nude Pianist played (mostly) by the late, great Terry Jones.  The pianist (who wasn’t always naked to start with) proved so popular that he became slightly more of a fixture in the third series in 1972-3.  

Why?  The character perfectly captured the programme's surreal, subversive humour. His calm indifference to his own nudity made the joke even funnier. At a time when British television was still relatively conservative, the sight of a naked pianist popping up unexpectedly between sketches was both shocking and irresistibly absurd, ensuring audiences eagerly anticipated his return.

Now, the sea front of Jones’ home town of Colwyn Bay on the North Wales Coast has a permanent commemoration of this cheeky little character in the form of a sculpture by Nick Elphick.  

Sir Michael Palin has apparently described the statue as a fitting tribute, joking that commemorating a comedian with a monument might seem a little absurd. However, he added that Terry Jones would have appreciated the irony of such a playful, slightly subversive memorial, making him especially pleased with the idea.

Subversive? Well, if you are reading this from our home page, click “read article” below to get a better idea of why what Palin said got to the bottom of this particular piece of art in an instant.  Thank you to Kuriositas reader Sonny Chapman for taking the pictures.

Taron Egerton and David Walmsley: Bright New Stars of Sky 1’s Upcoming Firefighter Drama The Smoke

Taron Egerton David Walmsley The Smoke

Earlier in the week I met up with friends Mark and Tony for a drink and a chat in one of Lewisham’s best pubs The Fox.  While I was buying a round I absentmindedly counted my money in Welsh (long story, but it’s easier than doing it in English if you are as semi-numerate as I am).  One of the guys playing pool just behind me overheard and started counting in Welsh too…

Now you don’t hear Welsh spoken often in Lewisham (even though I believe it was a Welsh enclave in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries) so a conversation naturally ensued.  The Welsh speaker turned out to be Taron Egerton (above right) and his friend was David Walmsley (left).  I am the good looking one in the middle.

You might be scratching your head right now as neither is a household name, just yet but the title above has probably given you a clue.  They may, however, have to get used to being recognized in the street in the near future as they have been filming a new series for Sky 1 which will be broadcast in early 2014.

The Smoke will tell the stories of the White Watch team, London firefighters who tackle blazes while negotiating their own sometimes messy private lives.  The series is fronted by Jamie Bamber (most recently killed off in a hail of bullets in Law and Order UK) and Jodie Whitaker who gained a host of new fans for her performance as Beth Latimer in ITV’s compulsive Broadchurch earlier this year.

Both Taron Egerton and David Walmsley have a strong theatre background but if you don’t put your bum on a theatre seat very often and their faces seem somehow familiar it is because neither is new to television.  You might remember Taron Egerton doing an excellent coma as Liam Jay in the Lewis two parter  The Ramblin' Boy (he wasn’t in a coma all the time!).  As for David Walmsley he did an equally excellent zombie, returning soldier Rick Macey in BBC 3’s mildly perplexing but thoroughly enjoyable supernatural drama In The Flesh.

It’s been a while since we had a mainstream TV drama about firemen and women in the UK. The last of any note was the long running and immensely popular London’s Burning which ran for over a decade starting in 1988 but has been off our screens since 2002.  Originally written by the legendary Jack Rosenthal, The Smoke has a lot to live up to but the signs are good.  It was written and created by Lucy Kirkwood who is mostly known as a playwright but has written for the Channel 4 drama Skins.

Egerton and Walmsley will play two of the firefighters of White Watch which promises to show what being a team member for this vital emergency service is really like in contemporary Britain.  The first series will be eight episodes and is quickly becoming one of Sky TV’s most anticipated new shows. 

Certainly if their fictional characters are as engaging on screen as Messrs Egerton and Walmsley are in real life, then The Smoke should make for great viewing.  I really enjoyed our chat in The Fox, gentlemen, and as I did, after all, promise you a shameless plug for your show, I hope that this is (as my grandmother used to say) adequate sufficiency.  I’ll see you on the goggle-box!