The clip shows John Cleese giving an acceptance speech at a 1988 BAFTA ceremony, and the award it marks was made to The Monty Python Team, not to Cleese alone. The official BAFTA 1988 Film Awards archive lists the team as winner of Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema. Scroll.in’s description of the footage says Cleese thanked a series of deliberately absurd recipients, including the “Royal Society for Prevention of Birds,” Søren Kierkegaard, and the publicity department of Turkish Airways.
Who is speaking and who received the award
Scroll.in’s video page, published 11 February 2020, identifies the footage as English actor John Cleese’s acceptance speech for a BAFTA award in 1988. Cleese is the speaker in the clip. The recorded recipient, however, is The Monty Python Team. BAFTA’s 1988 Film Awards results record the team as winner of Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema.
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The same 1988 archive lists two other honours for that year: the Special Awards went to Dirk Bogarde and John Mills. Cleese is not recorded as a Special Award winner in 1988, so any description that credits him personally with that honour is inaccurate.
What Cleese is reported to have thanked
Scroll.in describes the speech as a run of ridiculous thank-yous. The examples its description names are:
#1 Best Overall
- The entire Python gang star in this hilarious retelling of the Knights of King Arthur and their quest for the Holy Grail.
- The “Royal Society for Prevention of Birds”
- Søren Kierkegaard
- The publicity department of Turkish Airways
These are the publisher’s own summary. No full transcript of the 1988 speech was available in the sources reviewed, so the list above should be read as the examples Scroll chose to highlight, not as a complete account of what Cleese said. Likewise, the word “hilarious” in the headline is Scroll’s editorial judgment rather than a quoted reaction from a critic or participant.
Why the years in the records do not match
Two official BAFTA statements refer to the Monty Python team’s honour in different years, and they should not be merged into one date.
Rank #2
- ISBN: 0-7697-1656-3
- Color
- Running Time: 65 minutes
- Sound: Dolby 2.0
- Performers: John Cleese, Michael Palin, Graham Chapman, Connie Booth, Goodie Tim Brooke-Taylor, Gillian Lind
| Source | Date of source | What it records |
|---|---|---|
| BAFTA, Film Awards: 1988 Results (archive) | Archive entry for the 1988 ceremony | The Monty Python Team, Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema |
| BAFTA, Monty Python Special Award press release | 19 August 2009 | Refers to the Academy last honouring the team in 1987 with the Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema |
The sources do not explain how the 1987 wording and the 1988 archive entry relate to each other. The accurate way to report it is to give each source’s date and wording as it appears, rather than choosing one year as the definitive date of the honour.
A later Cleese remark that is not from the 1988 clip
BAFTA’s 2009 press release quotes Cleese saying, “I believe these trinkets are more important than people think.” That remark belongs to the 2009 Monty Python Special Award announcement. It should not be attributed to the 1988 speech, and nothing in the reviewed sources ties it to the clip.
Rank #3
- Movie dvd
What to take from the clip
If you are watching the footage to understand the event, keep three points in mind: the speaker is Cleese, the award recorded in BAFTA’s 1988 archive belongs to the whole Monty Python team, and the thank-you list is Scroll.in’s description rather than a verified transcript. Those three facts are what the available evidence supports.
Sources: BAFTA, Film Awards: 1988 Results; Scroll.in, “Watch: English actor John Cleese’s hilarious acceptance speech for a BAFTA award in 1988,” published 11 February 2020; BAFTA, “BAFTA Monty Python Special Award Press Release,” published 19 August 2009.
Quick Recap
Best Value
Rank #4
- ISBN: 0-7697-8495-X
- Color
- Running Time: 160 minutes
- Sound: Dolby 2.0
- Comedy
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