The Testing of Eric Olthwaite
Eric Olthwaite is so boring that his family all leave home to escape him. Then one day he is accidentally caught up in a bank robbery and discovers that the robber shares his interests in shovels,black pudding and rainfall so they team up to make daring raids to steal rainfall records. As a result Eric becomes famous and is considered interesting again,so much so that he is made the mayor of Denley Moor.
Casts & Crew
Also Directed by Jim Franklin
Sir Kevin Orr is anxious to return the Sacred Claw of the Naga hills given him as a child by his uncle Jack but warned that unless it is returned before his sixtieth birthday the curse of the claw will kill him. He sets sail to return it but falls for the ship's female officer,who throws the claw overboard,killing everybody but Kevin. Years later the claw has returned and on his sixtieth birthday Kevin finds his wife Agatha dead,the claw beside her. He finally sends the claw back to the Naga hills,breaking the curse but sending him back in time to his childhood,his relatives still alive.
Not as well-known as Fawlty Towers or The Rutles, Michael Palin and Terry Jones's Ripping Yarns is poised for discovery as among the best of the post-Python projects. Palin essays a gallery of colorful (or colorless, as in the case of one of the series' best episodes, "The Testing of Eric Olthwaite"), archetypal characters drawn from the storybook adventures that thrilled English schoolboys pre-World War II.
During World War 1 major Errol Phipps is determined to escape from Stalag Luft 112B but his attempts all fail. However all the other prisoners and the guards succeed, leaving him alone in the camp to make elaborate plans - including a tunnel system so extensive it becomes the Munich Underground. He is so obsessed with his escape plans he fails to realise that the war has ended and dies a disappointed man. He does however manage to escape from his grave after he has been buried though.
On the eve of the Great War Roger Bartlesham's aristocratic parents are firm believers in the Empire though Roger, encouraged by socialist Latin teacher Mr Hopper,dreams of equality and opening a tea shop with his sweet-heart Miranda. After a sojourn in India where various officers shoot themselves to atone for breaches in etiquette Roger gets caught up in Hopper's attempt to bring the Russian revolution to England but is rescued from the chaos by Miranda in time for them to pursue their dream.
