Coincidentally, an hour or so ago I asked on one of the Monty Python Facebook fan pages what everyone thought the best way of keeping the legacy of Python alive might be, now that we’re unlikely to see those guys make any new films or shows. A few moments later, I checked the BBC News Culture page and found this story reporting that “Monty Python actor Eric Idle has said he is still working at the age of 80 for financial reasons.” Idle says that he has been unable to retire because the money he expected to get from his comedy and media career has run dry. “I don’t know why people always assume we’re loaded. Python is a disaster. I never dreamed that at this age the income streams would tail off so disastrously.”

If that is so, then I can’t help wondering whether Python really is dead after all: those guys are all over eighty, so we’re unlikely to see them make any new films or shows. Yet, if they have a financial incentive, perhaps the five remaining Python members will find a way to keep the legendary comedy series going. Who knows: perhaps it will now somehow evolve into something new, with fresh talent taking up the reins. Of course, I know the original cast can never be replaced – the Parrot Sketch with anyone other than John Cleese or Michael Palin just wouldn’t work – but if we draw inspiration from Star Trek or James Bond, franchises which have both had multiple manifestations, surely anything is possible.,