BBC Monty Python fans were surprised after unearthing a little-known Terry Gilliam comedy sketch.

The filmmaker and comedian rose to fame as part of the British comedy troupe Monty Python, alongside Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Eric Idle.

The group formed in 1969 and soon began performing sketches for a series called Monty Python’s Flying Circus, broadcast on the BBC.

Gilliam went on to direct Monty Python and the Holy Grail with castmate Jones after deciding to move from television to film.

But longtime fans of his work were shocked to discover an animated comedy Gilliam directed in 1979 that was lost in the archives.

Taking to social media with this exciting discovery, one person wrote: “I’ve been a fan of Python since around 1975, but I’ve never seen this before. Does anyone know the story about this?

“It’s very similar to Python stuff, but it’s not Python stuff. And it was obviously a lot of work, I’m sure he didn’t do it just for laughs.

Another fan of the troupe responded, explaining, “All the Pythons did other work before, during, and after their work together. »

The short they discovered was called Story Time and was made up of three different animated sketches written by Gilliam.

In the first, titled Don the Cockroach, a small insect has secret adventures under the floorboards of a house – until he meets an untimely end when the cockroach infestation is discovered.

The story of Albert Einstein follows this with a sketch about a normal man with the same name as the famous scientist.

In other words, he’s normal, except for one small problem: his hands come alive and commit indecent acts of their own at night over which he has no control.

The strangest and final segment, The Christmas Card, features the characters on a collection of different animated festive cards.

The first two sketches were actually broadcast on The Marty Feldman Comedy Machine in 1971, and the third was broadcast on the ITV comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set in 1968, but it seems that several Monty Python fans were completely missed.