Michael Palin - what a fantastic, actor - absolutely convincing as any, character. This is such a great series. Sublime writing by Terry Jones and Michael.
He does repressed lust better than any of the other Python members. His attempt to resist the allure of Mr Russell reminds me of his Galahad in Castle Anthrax.
"....the Greasy Bastard. A tramp steamer that carried rubber items and things for the weekend between London and Rangoon". These words had me rolling the first time I watched this episode as a kid and they've always stayed with me. Barbers used to ask their customers if they'd "like something for the weekend, sir?" which meant would they like to buy some johnnies/rubbers which they'd have in display boxes.
The entire series is a superb, seldom seen and virtually unknown gem, the epitome of the very best of English comedy. From the same era and easily the equal of Fawlty Towers.
Personally I find FT very middle of the road, appeal to the masses kind of humour. Its very quotable. RY is much more odd. It takes more risks and therefore has more character imo
Ft gags are so predictable easy for our american friends to understand, RP yarns have a more cerebral content, irony sarcasm cynicism the essence of the best uk humor
My parents let me watch this when we were on holiday in a little isolated farm on the Scottish Highlands when I was 7. Scared the crap out of me and still does
What a great comedy actor Michael Palin is. I was a Python fan, but I think Ripping Yarns was much funnier. "I got a job as skipper of a tramp steamer called The Greasy Bastard," Priceless.
Having now seen two episodes, I curse my luck of only realizing this show existed. This is a brilliant Hammer Horror comedy. Palin gets to flex his character actor muscles here. So good.
after watching this episode me and my brother would always quote uncle Jack type illnesses if we had a cold or a spot etc as some exotic disease it would drive my mum mad as she wasn't a fan of anything Monty python
When I was around 7 years old I would go to my grandparents and watch a videotape of a few of these episodes , this being the most memorable Re watching it at the age of 22 i can now see all the hidden jokes and just how great ripping yarnes really is Oh the nostalgia !
"Is it crumpet Sir?" "No Grosvenor." "And if you're a good boy, I'll show you my cyst!" "Gosh! Thanks uncle Jack!" There is not a shit bit in any of these most wonderful and hilarious episodes. Thank God for Michael Palin and Terry Jones; they almost make up for John Cleese, (the poor old sod).
Thank you both! I’m watching this again, and again, and I’ve just seen that I left a comment three years ago about it, and there’s still not a shit bit in it! Spiffing stuff! 🧐
@@lpsp442 it wasn’t my line; it was one from the Telegraph‘s film reviewer, I forget his name, but he was reviewing ‘Withnail and I’, and I have to agree with him on that one too 🙃
Wow, thank you uploading this ! I was about two years old when I last saw this, and could remember Uncle Jack dying, and the arm coming out of the coffin, it really disturbed me at the time ! However, I just couldn't remember what it was...I thought I'd imagined it ! Thanks for giving me closure haha.
I can't believe I've found this. I remember watching it when I was a kid. My mum had it taped from one of the only 4 channels we all had back then. The claw gave me nightmares for so long. I think I was about 5 years old. I had no idea about the comedy side, I was just so frightened of the actual claw.
Sigh. Wasn't it great when, to get something broadcast on a 'screen' (technical term, there - stop me if I'm getting too scientific), all you needed was a great idea, excellent writing skills, a sound knowledge of theatrical conventions, a crack team of actors with superb comic timing, a skilful director, and a TV company prepared to let you work without interference from audience panels, focus groups, or ratings analysts. Such simple times compared to now, when the internet has made everyone stars. Oh no, wait - I meant to say 'when the internet has made everyone THINK that they're stars'... ;-)
Must have watched this yarn over 100 times but now actually reading the line above, I agree and the way it's delivered in the show......Genius, as the entire episode.
@@tonysuffolk I knew what you meant, it's a great piece of trivia. It's interesting to see the connections in the entertainment industry. Benedict Cumberbatch's actress mother Wanda Ventham appeared in Eric Idle's Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-70s as well.
Such high quality and expensive productions. Thanks for the entertainment this series has given me over many years. In passing, is that a walnut glued to Uncle Jack's nose?
Hi, Tony! In answer to your 'walnut' question I'm tempted to say "Yes," but "Yaws," would be more likely. Yaws is nasty, and gives the kind of swellings you mention, but if you want real horror you've got to go for syphilis. Much more fun. Ironically, considering you brought up the idea of walnuts, one of the most hideous places syphilis dissolves into stinking, gaping, pus-dripping holes are the, er, gentleman's nuts. Isn't nature wonderful. Oh, and do enjoy you supper. How about a nice bowl of prunes and custard? ;-)
@@EleanorPeterson Yes, of course. I could understand Uncle Jack picking up a dose of syphilis to help fight the yaws infection. So sad that the grand old gentleman didn't live to add Covid 19 to his collection. That said, such a puny virus probably wouldn't have been worthy of him.
I was a similar age, my brother and sisters enjoyed the series immensely. Some of the humour went over my head at the time I'm sure, which makes watching them now just as enjoyable. Very clever writing. Loved uncle Jack!
I watched this the first time round aged 7 and it terrified me for some strange reason I could swear even now the claw grabbed my arm from under the bed the night I watched it though looking at it now I see it was a comedy ah well I was only 7
Es el capitulo con el final mas oscuro. Cuando Mike va en barco y existe deseo sexual entre su personaje y la chica,es notable el refinamiento con el que tratan un tema como la masturbacion, tenido durante siglos como un pecado y degeneración. ..etc. En su litera Mike mira de reojo la caja con esa MANO monstruosa...Se muerde el puño...estruja la almohada.La escena termina bien.Ella va hacia el y se aman. (Por fin Sir Galahad!!!😆)Pero la extraña peste que consume al personaje máscilento, corresponde a todos los mitos que desde siempre se asoció a la práctica de la masturbacion.Brillante por momentos.Gran actuación de Palin. 😘💎💎💎💎💎💎
Hi, Kev! Download the hit soundtrack now - it includes the classics 'The Rain it Raineth Every Day'; 'My Love is a Prick (on a Tudor Rose'; and 'Hot Sex Madrigal in the Middle of My Tights'... Enter Lord Flashheart: "Whuff!" "HOORAY!"
Nobody knows... And that's part of the terrible curse. Dramatic irony. They know something we know they know we don't know. You'd never get that kind of stuff past a moronic modern TV focus group. :-)
Curiously, this happened to me when I was a youngster. I was just a humble hand working aboard a Malaysian fishing boat crewed mostly by women. I still dream of how my life may have panned out if I hadn't decided to get a regular job.
So far I've watched all of them in the first series up to this one. All of them are very good, the Andes frogs one is probably the weakest so far, but even that has some great moments and Denholm Elliott.
I really don't understand that ending. He says that it's the Claw's final, hideous trick, so are all of these things illusions? Has the Claw trapped him in a timeloop where he'll relive it all over again? Has he been sent back to live his life over again? That doesn't sound so bad. Before Palin passes someone has to ask him just WTF this ending was supposed to mean.
Well old chap, I suppose that, in the language of the time, the poor old man has rather lost his marbles old boy. Wouldn't you say!!! Spiffing episode, what! Oh rather!
English humour at its best!
My favourite - In London he contracted Pellagra, Lockjaw and Scurvy as a protest against the postal charge!
😂😂😂😂😂
Michael Palin - what a fantastic, actor - absolutely convincing as any, character. This is such a great series. Sublime writing by Terry Jones and Michael.
He does repressed lust better than any of the other Python members. His attempt to resist the allure of Mr Russell reminds me of his Galahad in Castle Anthrax.
Ripping Yarns was a marvellous series, and this is my favourite episode.
Mine too! The tramp steamer the Greasy Bastard from Grimsby to Rangoon 😂
Me too ☺️
This one and the Prisoner of War trying to escape were best.
This is also my favorite episode of the series
Thanks be to Heaven for British humour.
"....the Greasy Bastard. A tramp steamer that carried rubber items and things for the weekend between London and Rangoon". These words had me rolling the first time I watched this episode as a kid and they've always stayed with me. Barbers used to ask their customers if they'd "like something for the weekend, sir?" which meant would they like to buy some johnnies/rubbers which they'd have in display boxes.
This was the best episode of them all for me. Grovenor is hilarious.
This shows Palin at his best
And 'Maidenhead'...perfect!
The entire series is a superb, seldom seen and virtually unknown gem, the epitome of the very best of English comedy. From the same era and easily the equal of Fawlty Towers.
Don’t be ridiculous. Yes some of the episodes are good but equal to Fawlty Towers?!?! Very few people would agree with that statement.
@@mitapi8095 No its not! This is brilliant but FT was above and beyond
Personally I find FT very middle of the road, appeal to the masses kind of humour. Its very quotable. RY is much more odd. It takes more risks and therefore has more character imo
Ft gags are so predictable easy for our american friends to understand, RP yarns have a more cerebral content, irony sarcasm cynicism the essence of the best uk humor
Not a massive fawlty towers fan
It’s strange how this series was forgotten. It’s hard to pick a favorite episode, but this is up there.
Not forgotten by those of us who saw it the first time round. I've never slept soundly since.
My parents let me watch this when we were on holiday in a little isolated farm on the Scottish Highlands when I was 7. Scared the crap out of me and still does
"He would run like the wind without a truss or surgical appliance of any kind". RIP Terry Jones.
I love the innocent and hopefully expectant delivery of "I've got a new bicycle!".
What a great comedy actor Michael Palin is. I was a Python fan, but I think Ripping Yarns was much funnier. "I got a job as skipper of a tramp steamer called The Greasy Bastard," Priceless.
captain
that isn't remotely amusing
@@drinking6314 Oh yes it is!
Excellent you couldn't make it up, if ever I get a boat it shall be the Greasy Basterd two. 2.
🤭
Having now seen two episodes, I curse my luck of only realizing this show existed. This is a brilliant Hammer Horror comedy. Palin gets to flex his character actor muscles here. So good.
after watching this episode me and my brother would always quote uncle Jack type illnesses if we had a cold or a spot etc as some exotic disease it would drive my mum mad as she wasn't a fan of anything Monty python
Enjoying this just as much the second time around. RIP Terry, and thanks for co writing this.
When I was around 7 years old I would go to my grandparents and watch a videotape of a few of these episodes , this being the most memorable
Re watching it at the age of 22 i can now see all the hidden jokes and just how great ripping yarnes really is
Oh the nostalgia !
Ditto! Never left me.
He’s a great actor 🎉and the humour 😂is brilliantly dry 👑👑👑
Michael Palin was always good at playing different characters.
used to watch these with my dad , just remembered it and i can now laugh at everything
Seeing Palin in that pre-WWI merchant navy cap is hilarious. A strange ending when the curse is lifted and everyone returns. A marvellous episode.
Absolutely outstanding writing. Just completely brilliant.
"My shameful passion for the chief petty officer grew and grew..." LOL. Shameful passion or not, he still remembers exact rank titles...
The inspiration , surely for 'Bob' in Blackadder 2.
"Is it crumpet Sir?"
"No Grosvenor."
"And if you're a good boy, I'll show you my cyst!"
"Gosh! Thanks uncle Jack!"
There is not a shit bit in any of these most wonderful and hilarious episodes. Thank God for Michael Palin and Terry Jones; they almost make up for John Cleese, (the poor old sod).
Johnny 666 it's so funny
"There's not a shit bit" is a great metric for rating shows and content
Thank you both! I’m watching this again, and again, and I’ve just seen that I left a comment three years ago about it, and there’s still not a shit bit in it! Spiffing stuff! 🧐
@@lpsp442 it wasn’t my line; it was one from the Telegraph‘s film reviewer, I forget his name, but he was reviewing ‘Withnail and I’, and I have to agree with him on that one too 🙃
Probably my fav episode.
They set the mood perfectly!!
The ending was obscurely terrifying!
It's an absolute corker,
many thanks for sharing it.
"Burma is 10,000 miles away!"
"I've got a new bicycle."
That line has inspired many a lunatic to ride ludicrous distances.
Wow, thank you uploading this ! I was about two years old when I last saw this, and could remember Uncle Jack dying, and the arm coming out of the coffin, it really disturbed me at the time ! However, I just couldn't remember what it was...I thought I'd imagined it ! Thanks for giving me closure haha.
I love the broken legs bit, "I've broken two now!"
Great! I liked how there was a typhoon warning in the sports section just to provide the dramatic exit atmosphere!
More a sight gag
_"She had such a fabulous body sir......"_
Arise, Sir Michael. Knight of the British Empire.
Right there, by the trapeze....
A classic and the tone is so, so dark especially the ending.
Almost Lovecraftian
I can't believe I've found this. I remember watching it when I was a kid. My mum had it taped from one of the only 4 channels we all had back then. The claw gave me nightmares for so long. I think I was about 5 years old. I had no idea about the comedy side, I was just so frightened of the actual claw.
Me too, mate. It's one of my earliest memories lol. Scared shitless.
So much witty humour in one place :)
Sigh. Wasn't it great when, to get something broadcast on a 'screen' (technical term, there - stop me if I'm getting too scientific), all you needed was a great idea, excellent writing skills, a sound knowledge of theatrical conventions, a crack team of actors with superb comic timing, a skilful director, and a TV company prepared to let you work without interference from audience panels, focus groups, or ratings analysts.
Such simple times compared to now, when the internet has made everyone stars. Oh no, wait - I meant to say 'when the internet has made everyone THINK that they're stars'... ;-)
you are an old fogie and entirely correct.
The funniest part has gotta be when the ship just straight up explodes!
What a fantastic Manservant Grosvenor is!!!
No laugh track! Thank you!!!
You don't need a laugh track for good comedy.
@Son Of Cherve *_Gladly!!_* The funny bits are between 0:00 & 31:39
_you're Welcome!!!_
@@hereticpariah6_66 ⬆️👍 correct
"And my younger brother David was killed for walking on the flower beds " lol
Who doesn't think this is the best thing ever
"Nothing wrong with a bit of Bubonic as long as you get a rabid dog to lick out the poison"
Palin at his best...brilliant!
I'm sure one of those natives was Boysie from Fools and horses
He contracted a rare Spanish skin disease, which cheered him up a bit,apart from that it had all been downhill lol.
Look away woman lest it excite and stimulate you to unseemly lubricity! Funniest damn line in the whole episode broke a damn rib laughing !
Must have watched this yarn over 100 times but now actually reading the line above, I agree and the way it's delivered in the show......Genius, as the entire episode.
That whole rampage - "Put that away at once, sir!" - is a stellar sequence. Brilliantly written and performed.......and all in one take.
I broke my leg laughing. Owwwww, there goes the other one!
The work of evil men.
That was brilliant, thank you for sharing 👏👏👏
His fathers performance was hilarious.
Imagine being stuck on board with Chief Petty Officer Russell and his colleagues, for weeks on end!
Judy Loe. A real beauty and mother to Richard Beckinsale.
@@tonysuffolk I think you mean the wife/widow of Richard Beckinsale, and mother to the actress Kate Beckinsale.
@@jimmycampbell78 Of course. Silly me; I had a senior moment.
@@tonysuffolk I knew what you meant, it's a great piece of trivia. It's interesting to see the connections in the entertainment industry. Benedict Cumberbatch's actress mother Wanda Ventham appeared in Eric Idle's Rutland Weekend Television in the mid-70s as well.
@@jimmycampbell78 I knew Judy Loe back in the 1960s - we were at university together
You can see were the guys of The League of Gentlemen got there ideas from, great stuff.
What a shame he didn't get to sail the seas forever with Mr Russell.
‘The claw is too strong....too cunning....Done for now boy’ 😆😆 The Father is brilliant too!
The "Greasy Bastard". Brilliant !
'What do you feel?'
- A sort of furry thing...
'No no, not the rats !!'
Nooo Mr Russell boom quality hats off
Haha The ultimate curse, being a kid again.
@MichaelKingsfordGray Easy fuhrer cat.
Like stoking the boiler, sir?
My favourite episode after Tomkinson, it's flawless.
Aaaaaah so many memories of this when it was on and used to watch it with my old man. Excellent stuff
"That's not the atlas, dear."
Great film with ambience. Classic year 1926 !
No Laughing Track! excellent! Thanks for this
“Oh yes I think this one is about the 3 ladies and the gentleman..”
Where's Burma? It's in the Midlands, Warwickshire
Such high quality and expensive productions. Thanks for the entertainment this series has given me over many years. In passing, is that a walnut glued to Uncle Jack's nose?
Hi, Tony! In answer to your 'walnut' question I'm tempted to say "Yes," but "Yaws," would be more likely.
Yaws is nasty, and gives the kind of swellings you mention, but if you want real horror you've got to go for syphilis. Much more fun. Ironically, considering you brought up the idea of walnuts, one of the most hideous places syphilis dissolves into stinking, gaping, pus-dripping holes are the, er, gentleman's nuts.
Isn't nature wonderful. Oh, and do enjoy you supper. How about a nice bowl of prunes and custard? ;-)
@@EleanorPeterson Yes, of course. I could understand Uncle Jack picking up a dose of syphilis to help fight the yaws infection. So sad that the grand old gentleman didn't live to add Covid 19 to his collection. That said, such a puny virus probably wouldn't have been worthy of him.
Just a touch of the ol’ cancer. Nothing to worry about.
This is Great .Thanks for sharing.!
I havent watched this in 30 years but I still remember the line 'i was the only survivor'.
My favourite so far among six.
Fantastic love it ! It takes me back
fantastic.. great memories
Love MP. Really really.
That's why it's curious he & TJ thought the finished series would work.
It didn't, even though concept was clever silly.
‘Turn away woman less it arouse you to unseemly lubricity’
They should have made it into a radio series.
I remember watching this when it was first aired. I was probably 10 or 11 years old.
I think I was about eight when I watched it’s first airing
I was about 22 when I first watched it ... but that was only a few years ago tbf
I was a similar age, my brother and sisters enjoyed the series immensely. Some of the humour went over my head at the time I'm sure, which makes watching them now just as enjoyable. Very clever writing. Loved uncle Jack!
Same age
I watched this the first time round aged 7 and it terrified me for some strange reason I could swear even now the claw grabbed my arm from under the bed the night I watched it though looking at it now I see it was a comedy ah well I was only 7
Seems to be a reworking of the Monkey's Paw story.
The Claw obviously has a hearty, if not somewhat warped, sense of humor.
Es el capitulo con el final mas oscuro. Cuando Mike va en barco y existe deseo sexual entre su personaje y la chica,es notable el refinamiento con el que tratan un tema como la masturbacion, tenido durante siglos como un pecado y degeneración. ..etc. En su litera Mike mira de reojo la caja con esa MANO monstruosa...Se muerde el puño...estruja la almohada.La escena termina bien.Ella va hacia el y se aman. (Por fin Sir Galahad!!!😆)Pero la extraña peste que consume al personaje máscilento, corresponde a todos los mitos que desde siempre se asoció a la práctica de la masturbacion.Brillante por momentos.Gran actuación de Palin. 😘💎💎💎💎💎💎
I really fancy Chief Petty Officer Russell. Maybe I've been cursed by The Claw.
Cue Blackadder and Bob lol
Hi, Kev! Download the hit soundtrack now - it includes the classics 'The Rain it Raineth Every Day'; 'My Love is a Prick (on a Tudor Rose'; and 'Hot Sex Madrigal in the Middle of My Tights'...
Enter Lord Flashheart:
"Whuff!"
"HOORAY!"
Grosvenor has a one-track mind...
End music from Curse of the Crimson Altar,1968.
Why haven’t we got anything like this nowadays 😂
Hahaha - absolutely brilliant!
I was laughing from start to finish.
Yes this reminds me of the end.
So... the claw has trapped him in a time loop which he is doomed to repeat forever?
Nobody knows... And that's part of the terrible curse. Dramatic irony. They know something we know they know we don't know. You'd never get that kind of stuff past a moronic modern TV focus group. :-)
Love the boat
Tell me tales of his journeys around the world. Of the women and the diseases he had😷😄
Dam that's one cursed claw .
The young actress playing the Captain is the mother of Kate Beckinsdale.
4 seconds in and I Fkin love it!
"See that? That's mange..."
It has been a long-standing ambition of mine to captain a brusquely-named tugboat crewed by women that believe they are men
Curiously, this happened to me when I was a youngster. I was just a humble hand working aboard a Malaysian fishing boat crewed mostly by women. I still dream of how my life may have panned out if I hadn't decided to get a regular job.
Malaysians, no less! To turn back the hourglass ...
Strange how not every episode has a laugh track.
They are quite annoying so their absence is not regretted.
"I'ts in the Indian ocean"-priceless!
this and tomkinson make the first series
and my own favourite Eric Olthwaite
So far I've watched all of them in the first series up to this one. All of them are very good, the Andes frogs one is probably the weakest so far, but even that has some great moments and Denholm Elliott.
Both series are beyond compare....now what have we got Miranda...yeah very good....funny as PILES...
Mrs Brown's Boys, ffs!
Funny as piles, ayyy????
imprisoned for putting too much butter on her scone!! Only the British could find that funny.
I really don't understand that ending. He says that it's the Claw's final, hideous trick, so are all of these things illusions? Has the Claw trapped him in a timeloop where he'll relive it all over again? Has he been sent back to live his life over again? That doesn't sound so bad. Before Palin passes someone has to ask him just WTF this ending was supposed to mean.
Well old chap, I suppose that, in the language of the time, the poor old man has rather lost his marbles old boy. Wouldn't you say!!! Spiffing episode, what! Oh rather!
i always felt "League Of Gentlemen" owed a bit of a debt to this one...
Don't be fatuous, Jeffrey Some of the things the father says sound a bit like Edward
It's fun to see what else the characters did. The Chief Petty Officer is Kate Beckinsale's mother.
Amazing
uncle jack!!! took suddenly ill? i really laughed at that.
This gave me nightmares as a kid. Now I find out it was a parody!