Before we had 'Monty Python', we had 'At Last The 1948 Show'. This Associated Rediffusion sketch show featured some of the best comedy talent around at that time - Marty Feldman ( who later would land his own BBC sketch show ), Tim-Brooke Taylor ( who later became one of 'The Goodies' ), John Cleese and Graham Chapman ( both of which would later become part of the 'Monty Python' cast ). Aimi MacDonald opened and closed each show, describing herself as 'the lovely Aimi MacDonald'.It trod the same line as 'Monty Python' later would. Surreal sketches, sometimes dark in tone, clever wordplay and musical items. The title, 'At Last The 1948 Show', was a light hearted dig at TV executives inability to get productions in the can on schedule.Not all the sketches made their mark but there were some absolute corkers, such as a men's wear department wracking a customer with guilt in order to get him to purchase a shirt, a man going to visit a psychiatrist in belief that he is a rabbit and a group of police officers going under disguise as female dancers to crack a case. The best one of all was 'The Four Yorkshiremen' in which a group of wealthy men from Yorkshire reminisce about the days when they were poor, with each trying to outdo one another with tales of how worse off they were, each tale being more far fetched than the last.The two main comedians in the show were indeed John Cleese and Marty Feldman, though without Tim-Brooke Taylor and Graham Chapman, the show would have went nowhere. Aimi MacDonald's sketches I found rather irritating ( wasn't she gorgeous, though? ). Barry Cryer and Eric Idle appeared from time to time.For years, it was believed that only two of the thirteen episodes still existed however in recent years, more episodes have been rediscovered, meaning that only two of the 11 episodes are still missing. The next stepping stone to be laid for the path of 'Monty Python' was 'Do Not Adjust Your Set!' ( another Rediffusion show ) but in my opinion it was largely inferior in comparison.

I watched the DVD release of the surviving material from "At last the 1948 show" and enjoyed it very much.The show is a funny humor show, more "classic" in its form than Monty Python and The Goodies. Ami MacDonald is a self-centered hostess pushing herself at any possible moment, while Cleese, Chapman, Brooke-Taylor and Feldman do sketches in-between.MacDonald is really the most daring part. Otherwise, much is classic punchline-driven sketches. However, beyond the punchlines and laughter tracks, you can feel the humor of what was to come. There are sketches very much in Monty Python-style (for example, "Let's speak English"), as well as Goodies style "Chartered accountant dance"). The show is most famous for including the original "Four Yourshiremen", which was written by Feldman and Brooke-Taylor, later used by Monty Python despite not really being their style. (There shouldn't be a punchline in a Monty Python sketch.)Fans of Marty Feldman, Monty Python or the Goodies (or why not all three?) will like this both for its humor and its historic/nostalgic value.

At last, the chance to compare what's left of this show (bringing John Cleese and Graham Chapman together with Tim Brooke-Taylor and Marty Feldman, with 'the lovely' Aimi MacDonald) with the other pre-Python comedy show, Do Not Adjust Your Set.Five compilation episodes from the 1948 Show are now available on DVD, and although the viewing quality is pretty poor, there are some gems here - the Four Yorkshiremen (done later by Python at the Hollywood Bowl and by Python plus Rowan Atkinson at the Secret Policeman's Ball); the Plain Clothes Policeman (where Cleese, Chapman and Feldman are in unconvincing drag); the Chartered Accountant Dance (Tim Brooke-Taylor in one of the highlights of the set); the Sidney Lockerbys; and much more.Aimi MacDonald, all set hair and impish smile, soon gets tedious with her introductions and her links; but the comedy sketches stand up well. Not as mad or as silly as DNAYS (which after all was aimed at a younger audience) but just as valuable in seeing where the roots of Python (and The Goodies) came from. The real scene-stealer here though is Marty Feldman (how could he not be with those eyes?) although all four are a lot of fun.

Contrary to popular belief, Monty Python's Flying Circus did not spring fully-formed out of thin air. In the heady days of the early sixties lots of young British comic performers were coming up with ideas for shows that, like radio's Goon Show of the fifties, would break the mould of the rather stuffy sitcoms of the time. In 1967, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Marty Feldman and Tim Brooke-Taylor got together, with "the lovely" Aimee McDonald as presenter, to create 1967's "At Last the 1948 Show" (the title was based on the idea that TV executives would sit on shows for years before finally broadcasting them). The result was a surreal comic sketch show that can hold its own against the best Python material. Indeed, one sketch involving four impoverished Yorkshiremen, was later incorporated into Python's live routine, and some other 1948 Show sketches were used in the Pythons' two German TV specials. Other highlights include a rather strange English-for-beginners playlet in which Cleese refuses to stick to the script, and a Newhart-style single-header in which Cleese plays a neurotic headmaster (shades of Basil Fawlty already!) The show was produced for the commercial ITV Network, and the copyrights were held by David Frost's production company. Sadly after a few years this company decided to wipe the series, and only two complete episodes out of 26 survived. Some best-of-series compilations were later found in an archive in Sweden, of all places. While the loss of the complete series is a tragedy for students of TV comedy, I can only hope that the surviving material will someday be released on video, so we can all have a good laugh at what's left.