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{{Short description|British television series (1976–1979)}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image         = Ripping 01title000.jpg
| caption       = Title card
| runtime       = ~30 min
| creator       = [[Michael Palin]]<br/>[[Terry Jones]]
| starring      = Michael Palin
| country       = United Kingdom
| company       = [[BBC]]
| network       = [[BBC Two]]
| first_aired   = {{start date|1976|1|7|df=y}}
| last_aired    = {{end date|1979|10|24|df=y}}
| num_series    = 2
| num_episodes  = 9
| list_episodes =
| opentheme     =  
}}
'''''Ripping Yarns''''' is a [[Television in the United Kingdom|British television]] adventure [[comedy]] anthology series. It was written by [[Michael Palin]] and [[Terry Jones]] of [[Monty Python]] fame and transmitted on [[BBC Two]]. Following an initial pilot episode in January 1976, it ran for two series — five episodes in September and October 1977 and three episodes in October 1979. Each episode had a different setting and characters, looking at a different aspect of [[British culture]] and [[parody]]ing pre-[[World War II]] literature aimed at schoolboys. In the title, "ripping" is a chiefly British slang colloquialism for "exciting" or "thrilling", with "yarn" used in the sense of a story.

==Pilot episode==
In 1975, the [[BBC]] commissioned a pilot episode from Palin and Jones, which was envisaged to be a light entertainment comedy piece. The result was ''Tomkinson's Schooldays'' (a title loosely inspired by ''[[Tom Brown's Schooldays]]'' and suggested by BBC director [[Terry Hughes (director)|Terry Hughes]]). Palin and Jones both wrote and starred in multiple roles.<ref name = Palin>{{Cite book| last = Palin| first = Michael| author-link = Michael Palin| author2 = Terry Jones| author2-link = Terry Jones| title = Ripping Yarns| year = 1980| publisher = [[Eyre Methuen]]| location = London| isbn = 0-413-46250-1| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/rippingyarns00pali}}</ref> Once the series was picked up, Jones did not appear in any further episodes, following a decision by [[James Gilbert (producer)|James Gilbert]] that it should be a “Michael Palin series”.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Palin |first=Michael |title=Diaries 1969–1979: The Python Years |date=3 October 2006 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |isbn=978-0-297-84436-5 |pages=26 January 1977}}</ref>

==Episodes==
{{Main|List of Ripping Yarns episodes}}
The nine episodes and their original airdates are:

===First series===
#"Tomkinson's Schooldays" – pilot – 7 January 1976
#"The Testing of Eric Olthwaite" – 27 September 1977
#"Escape from Stalag Luft 112B" – 4 October 1977
#"Murder at Moorstones Manor" – 11 October 1977
#"Across the Andes by Frog" – 18 October 1977
#"The Curse of the Claw" – 25 October 1977

===Second series===
#"Whinfrey's Last Case" – 10 October 1979
#"Golden Gordon" – 17 October 1979
#"Roger of the Raj" – 24 October 1979

==Production details==
''Tomkinson's Schooldays'' was shot on [[videotape]] in front of a studio audience, with filmed exterior scenes. The remaining episodes were all shot on [[film stock|film]], and were originally shown with laugh tracks (recorded by showing each completed film to an audience), but with a couple of exceptions these have been omitted from reruns.<ref name = Zeta>{{cite web|url=http://www.zetaminor.com/dvd/dvdreviews/ripping_yarns.htm |title=Zeta Minor DVD Review - Ripping Yarns |publisher=www.zetaminor.com |access-date=10 July 2010 }}</ref>

In 2014, the series was repeated on [[BBC Four]], commencing with ''Tomkinson's Schooldays'' on 3 April.<ref>{{cite web|last=Harvey|first=Gary|title=BBC 4 Rediscovers Ripping Yarns|url=http://home.bt.com/entertainment/tv/tvfeatures/bbc-4-rediscovers-ripping-yarns-11363889914030|access-date=3 April 2014}}</ref> This broadcast included a laugh track. The first episode was preceded by a documentary, ''[[Alexander Armstrong (comedian)|Alexander Armstrong]]'s Real Ripping Yarns'', which examined the assumptions and outlook of the original boys' magazines of which ''Ripping Yarns'' were a parody. Both Palin and Jones contributed to the programme.

The theme tune for the series was ''Fanfare'' from the ‘Facade Suite No. 2', by Sir [[William Walton]], played by the City of Birmingham Orchestra, conducted by [[Louis Frémaux]].

===Directors===
[[Terry Hughes (director)|Terry Hughes]], who had directed ''[[The Two Ronnies]]'' and would later direct ''[[The Golden Girls]]'' and ''[[3rd Rock from the Sun]]'', directed early episodes of ''Ripping Yarns''.<ref name = Zeta/> [[Jim Franklin (director)|Jim Franklin]], known for ''[[The Goodies (TV series)|The Goodies]]'', directed other episodes and two episodes in the second series were directed by [[Alan J. W. Bell]], known for ''[[The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)|The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy]]'' and ''[[Last of the Summer Wine]]''.<ref name = Zeta/> Bell used [[Michael Radford]], who later became noted for the films ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film)|Nineteen Eighty-Four]]'', ''[[White Mischief (film)|White Mischief]]'' and ''[[Il Postino]]'', as cinematographer.<ref name = Zeta/>

===Cast===
Each episode featured several guest character actors including [[Ian Ogilvy]], [[Kenneth Colley]], [[Isabel Dean]], [[Liz Smith (actress)|Liz Smith]], [[Roy Kinnear]], [[Frank Middlemass]], [[Iain Cuthbertson]], [[John Le Mesurier]], [[Jan Francis]], [[Denholm Elliott]], [[Gwen Taylor]], [[Harold Innocent]], [[Richard Vernon]], [[Gwen Watford]], [[Barbara New]], [[Gerald Sim]], [[Gilly Flower]], [[Joan Sanderson]], [[Roger Sloman]] and [[David Griffin (actor)|David Griffin]].<ref name = Palin/> [[John Cleese]] makes a [[cameo appearance]] in the episode "Golden Gordon".

==Reception==
The series was nominated for a [[BAFTA]] award in 1978 for 'Best Film Cameraman' (Peter Hall)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000123/1978 |title=BAFTA Awards (1978) |publisher=www.imdb.com |access-date=10 July 2010 }}</ref> and won in 1980 for 'Best Light Entertainment Programme/Series'.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000123/1980 |title=BAFTA Awards (1980) |publisher=www.imdb.com |access-date=10 July 2010 }}</ref>

In a review for the Guardian, Phelim O'Neill praised the show for its superior production values, stating it was "charming, insightful and very, very silly."<ref>{{cite web |last1=O'Neill |first1=Phelim |title=Your next box set: Ripping Yarns |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/mar/29/ripping-yarns-your-next-box-set |website=The Guardian |access-date=16 October 2025}}</ref>

==Books==
[[Image:The complete ripping yarns book cover.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''The Complete Ripping Yarns'' by Michael Palin (right) and Terry Jones (1999)]]
The scripts were published in book form, with sepia-tinted stills, as ''Ripping Yarns'' (1978; <small>{{ISBN|0-413-46250-1}}</small>) and ''More Ripping Yarns'' (1980; <small>{{ISBN|0-413-47530-1}}</small>) and later collected in an omnibus volume, ''The Complete Ripping Yarns'' (1999; <small>{{ISBN|0-413-77360-4}}</small>).

''Across the Andes by Frog'' originally appeared in ''[[Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls]]'', co-authored by Palin and Jones.

==Home media==
The series was released on three [[VHS]] tapes in the UK in the 1990s. Two of these compilations were reissued by Revelation Films on [[Region&nbsp;0|Region 0]] (worldwide) [[DVD]] in 2000, though the six episodes included were not [[Remaster#Remastering|remastered]].

The fully restored series was released in October 2004 as ''The Complete Ripping Yarns''. This two-disc [[DVD region code#2|Region 2]] DVD set included commentaries on all nine episodes by Palin and Jones and a deleted scene (without soundtrack) from ''Murder at Moorstones Manor''. All of the episodes, except ''Tomkinson's Schooldays'' and ''Murder at Moorstones Manor'', have optional laugh-free soundtracks.

The DVD set also includes the only surviving (and rather poor quality) recording of Palin and Jones's comic BBC play ''[[Secrets (Black and Blue)|Secrets]]'' from 1973, as well as a documentary by Michael Palin entitled ''Comic Roots'' in which he goes back to visit his home town. Not linked in the menu are scans of the first drafts of the scripts for six episodes (''Tomkinson's Schooldays'', ''The Testing of Eric Olthwaite'', ''Murder at Moorstone Manor'', ''Across the Andes by Frog'', ''The Curse of the Claw'' and ''Whinfrey's Last Case''), type-written with Palin's handwritten comments and changes in the margin. There is an informative booklet enclosed. This set was also released in [[DVD region code#1|Region 1]] with all of the above included, apart from ''Secrets''. A further box set, fully remastered, including the directors commentary, was released in 2004.

The DVD was re-released in March 2012. To publicise the event, Network hosted a "Hopathon" to recreate the "Tomkinson's School Days" episode. The intention was to break a [[Guinness World Record]], but not enough people took part.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://michaelpalinsfault.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/ready-steady-hop/ |title=Ready, Steady …. Hop! &#124; It's all Michael Palin's fault |publisher=Michaelpalinsfault.wordpress.com |date=4 March 2012 |access-date=14 May 2014}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{BBC programme}}
*[https://everything2.com/title/Ripping+Yarns?searchy=search Episode guide]
*{{IMDb title}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Terry Jones}}
{{Monty Python}}

[[Category:1976 British television series debuts]]
[[Category:1979 British television series endings]]
[[Category:1970s British anthology television series]]
[[Category:1970s British comedy television series]]
[[Category:BBC anthology television shows]]
[[Category:BBC television comedy]]
[[Category:British adventure television series]]
[[Category:British parody television series]]
[[Category:British English-language television shows]]
[[Category:Eyre Methuen books]]
[[Category:Works by Michael Palin]]
[[Category:Works by Terry Jones]]