And Now For Something Completely Different - Origins of Phrase

Origins of Phrase

The origin of the phrase is credited to Christopher Trace, founding presenter of the children's television programme Blue Peter, who used it (in all seriousness) as a link between segments.

Many of the early episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus feature a sensible-looking announcer (played by John Cleese) dressed in a black suit and sitting behind a wooden desk, which in turn is in some ridiculous location such as behind the bars of a zoo cage or in mid-air being held aloft by small attached propellers. The announcer would turn to the audience and announce "and now for something completely different", launching the show's opening credits starting with the second series of the show.

The phrase was also used as a transition within the show. Often it would be added in order to better explain the transition, for instance, "And now for something completely different: a man with a tape recorder up his nose." In later episodes, particularly the third season, the credits-launching was reduced to a split-second stock footage of the announcer saying "And now..." in a similar fashion as was done with its predecessor, the "It's" man, which appears immediately after. Both were preceded by a naked organist, usually Terry Jones.