Ripping Yarns was a fondly remembered set of spoofs of the Boys' Own Paper stories from the first half of the 20th century, lovingly recreated by Michael Palin with Terry Jones as writing partner, exposing the absurdities and assumptions of the genre. Palin always revelled in this world - at about this time, I remember he did an absolutely straight and very entertaining reading of Biggles Flies North for a Book at Bedtime on Radio 4.
The series was rather disjointed. It began with a one-off production, Tomkinson's Schooldays, was fleshed out into a full series of 5 more episodes, and then, as a cash-in after the success of the Life of Brian, 3 more were added.
There were lots of good bits, all appealing to the Monty Python core support. Several themes were exposed to satirical gaze - the unthinking imperialism, the rigid social codes, the lack of emotional engagement and expression of the 'stiff upper lip'.
The problem was that only about four episodes were actually any good. The pilot, Tomkinson's Schooldays, contained a number of classic Palin/Jones moments, such as St Tadger's Day, and caning the headmaster. The two Yorkshire-set stories, Eric Olthwaite (the most boring man in the world) and Golden Gordon hit the mark. The Curse of the Claw raised a chuckle. But the rest tended to repetition, and plots, even if initially amusing or intriguing, would simply peter out or end in anticlimax.
