A pair of loved-up Monty Python fans have celebrated tying the knot with a laugh-a-minute tour of film locations in Scotland.
John and Gemma Wood, from Sussex, toured the country earlier this month scoping out locations from 1975 classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. They even recreated scenes made famous by the troupe - John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle - in the same spots where they were filmed almost 50 years ago.
The pair got married after meeting on Pythonesque, a dating website that John, 62, created after divorcing his first wife - and counted Python contributor Carol Cleveland among their guests on the day. The pair are obsessed with the classic British comedy troupe, speaking to each other in quotes and visiting filming locations the length of the country.
Lovestruck John - who was named Britain's biggest Python fan by the BFI - proposed to Gemma, 38, in front of Palin and Gilliam and were married on October 5, 2019, the 50th anniversary of the comedy group. They had planned to visit Scotland for the second part of their honeymoon in summer 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic put those plans on hold.
However, Covid was "but a scratch" on their honeymoon vision and the pair finally visited from July 11-14 to recreate their favourite scenes. The comedy classic was largely shot on location around Scotland, particularly at Doune Castle near Stirling.
John, who is producing a documentary about Beatles and Rolling Stones session musician Nicky Hopkins, said: "Gemma planned the whole thing out, she's fantastic at planning, and we had the loveliest time. The tour guide at Doune Castle said she expected us to be there the longest out of the visitors, and we were - we spent about four hours there.
"To be able to stand in the exact spots where they filmed all of these scenes is just magical. We drove up on the A82 [between Glasgow and Fort William] and there were times I really had to try to keep my eyes on the road."
Monty Python and the Holy Grail is regularly named as one of the best comedies of all time. A comic retelling of the legend of King Arthur, some of its jokes have become firm favourites such as the use of coconut halves to replicate the sound of trotting horses - woven into the story because the film's budget didn't stretch to real mounts.
Among the scenes the pair relived were the dancing from the daft Knights of the Round Table musical number and a scene involving the king of Swamp Castle and his son Herbert in which the father, glancing out of a window, says: "One day, lad, all this will be yours." To which his son replies: "What, the curtains?"
Their trip also included a visit to Stalker Castle in Argyll and Bute - named the Castle of Aaargh in the film after its benefactor died mid-naming - and the Tomnadashan mine near Killin, Perthshire, which featured as the Cave of Caerbannog. There, the pair recreated the infamous Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog scene, complete with a rabbit prop and Gemma's handmade Holy Hand Grenade.
In the film, the grenade is used to blow the rabbit up - but it served as a ring-bearing carry case for the couple at their wedding. For John and Gemma, the trip was a celebration of both themselves and the humour they hold dear.
John - who has met all of the Pythons bar one - added: "Monty Python has always been quite rebellious, making comments about life and traditions that they think are stupid, and they don't take life too seriously, which is a fantastic message to send people. Kids these days still love it too, because it's silly.
"I've absolutely made them part of my personality, and Gemma and I laugh with each other all the time. There's enough doom and gloom at the moment so we hope this makes people smile.
"We're actually running out of Python locations to visit. And the most amazing thing is there are actually swallows at Doune Castle. No idea what kind they are though."
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