I SAY, WHAT LARKS!
Upper Class Twit Of The Year
Much-loved satire on dim-witted members of the English aristocracy Filmed at Hurlingham Park in Fulham, south-west London, the seven-minute sketch is styled as a horse race with five contestants, all with double-barrelled names, racing against the clock in a series of lunatic events. The term Sloane Ranger was still to be coined when the script was written but there was no doubt as to the target of the sketch. Cleese says he was inspired by the behaviour of the Nigels and Tarquins who frequented a wine bar near his apartment in Kensington (although he later admitted: ‘I met my first twit in prep school’). In particular, he took exception to them keeping him awake as they slammed the doors of their expensive cars – one of the key events in the contest, along with Insulting The Waiter, Taking The Bras Off Debutantes and Shooting Themselves (above).