[citation needed] Though many found it to be more "hit and miss" than Milligan's earlier work, especially The Goon Show, it is considered by many to be one of the landmarks in British comedy.

In particular Q5, which first aired on 24 March 1969, and with its surreal bent and almost stream-of-consciousness format is seen by many as a forerunner to Monty Python's Flying Circus, which debuted a few months later.

[2] Also, in the Pythons' (2004) autobiography, Cleese cites a conversation between himself and Terry Jones: "We both happened to watch Spike Milligan's Q5, and one or the other of us phoned up and said kind of jokingly but also rather anxiously, 'I thought that's what we were supposed to be doing?'

Q7 appeared in 1978, Q8 shortly after in 1979 (two years before the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation registered the trademark; the TV series' opening credits showed the characters 'Q8' being formed from the word 'Kuwait'), Q9 in 1980 and There's a Lot of It About in 1982.

The shows were written by Milligan and his writing collaborator Neil Shand, with occasional episodes (especially in later years) giving "additional contribution" credit to any or all of David Renwick, Andrew Marshall, and John Antrobus.

Even the costumes were madcap and contradictory – in some episodes each of them still bore its BBC Wardrobe Department tag – and Milligan seemed to have a fondness for large noses and hats.

[citation needed] However, Milligan was criticised for his tendency to make racially charged jokes, especially regarding Jews and Pakistanis, and the series as a whole was decidedly risqué even by the standards of the 1970s – almost every episode featured an appearance by the scantily-clad, huge-breasted "glamour stooge" Julia Breck.

[citation needed] In 2022, film rolls containing sketches from one of the missing Q5 episodes were discovered in Spike Milligan's personal archive during the making of a documentary about him.

There were also appearances by jazz groups, ragtime bands, singer-songwriters and the Mike Sammes Singers, who received custard pies in their faces at the end of one performance.