Across The Andes by Frog

Tonight, I watched a classic Brit comedy, "Across the Andes by Frog," one of the Ripping Yarns stories by 2 of the Monty Python group, Michael Palin & Terry Jones. Ripping Yarns were based loosely on Boys' Own stories; with a hefty dose of satire, a sideways nudge at the British way of life, and a fair amount of social comment. Tonight's example, Across the Andes by Frog, takes a somewhat tongue-in-cheek look at the very earnest nineteenth-century explorers, with a ridiculous idea that highly-trained frogs could traverse a couple of hundred miles of mountains, escorted by a group of soldiers...the explorer didn't count on local opposition, however, from the sports-obsessed native indians, who wouldn't lift a finger to help him until after the FA Cup Final - and then, of course, it was Wimbledon Fortnight, so he was right out of luck! He REALLY upset them when he shot the only radio in the village...! Michael Palin clearly enjoyed himself as the Explorer, a role he was well suited to (I'm sure you all know why...), and good performances were put in by Denholm Elliot & Don Henderson.

...the first episode of this series, btw, was Tompkinson's Schooldays; this really reminded me of my old school, what with the uniforms & the old stone buildings.