[2] Biolek arranged to meet with the Pythons in the BBC's bar in London to convince them "with many arguments and even more gin and tonics"[1] to come to Germany for a brief visit.

[2] The Pythons agreed to visit Biolek in Munich in order to explore options for possible material, but did not want to commit at this point.

In fact, the visit, and the resulting two shows "can be viewed as a considered attempt to broaden the stereotypical picture of Germans" by the Pythons.

Monty Python's Fliegender Zirkus was produced by Biolek and translator Thomas Woitkewitsch in co-production with Westdeutscher Rundfunk.

Jones recalled that this posed a considerable challenge to the troupe; he also mentions that because of the rigorous repetition required in production, he was still able to recite the German version of "The Lumberjack Song" over 40 years later.

[2] While these language issues may have contributed to the first show's weak critical reception, Woitkewitsch suggests that they also lent it a "secret charm".

[5] The second episode was the final television show that Cleese recorded with the group, having already announced his decision to only commit to film and stage productions in future.

"Silly Olympics" (minus the relay for the deaf part) and "The Philosophers' Football Match" were also used in the 2014 reunion shows at London's O2 Arena.

Several new sketches were written specifically for this show, including "William Tell", "Little Red Riding Hood," and "The Merchant of Venice" as performed by a herd of cows.

Note: Edited versions of the "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Silly Olympics" sketches were dubbed into English for use in the Python stage shows.

"[7] Biolek retrospectively believes that the German audience was not ready for Pythonesque humour, since it was more used to more traditional sketch comedy, by comedians such as Rudi Carrell and Heinz Erhardt.

[7] In fact, the producers did expect early on that especially the older parts of the German audience would not connect with the Pythons' style of humour.

(This arrangement resulted in the second episode being omitted from A&E's otherwise-complete 16-DVD box set of Monty Python's Flying Circus.)

The Swiss publisher Haffmans released a hardbound book containing the scripts of both episodes, with introductions and essays by the German producers, in 1998.