The Cheese Shop sketch reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Cheese Shop sketch

The "Cheese Shop" sketch is a famous sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus. It is a fairly typical John Cleese set-piece. In essence John Cleese attempts to purchase some cheese from the cheese shop; unfortunately the proprietor, Mr. Henry Wensleydale¹ (Michael Palin as usual playing the obstructive shopkeeper to Cleese's irate customer) appears to have not one single variety in stock, not even a morsel of Cheddar cheese, 'the world's most popular cheese'... The slow crescendo of bouzouki music in the background mirrors Cleese's growing anger.

The sketch was parodied by Alexei Sayle in an episode of The Young Ones. Sayle rushes into a shop and asks if it is a cheese shop. When the Palinesque proprietor tells him "No, sir," Alexei says, "Well, that sketch's knackered then, innit?"

¹In the sketch itself Palin refers to his character's name simply as "Mister Wensleydale". However, the name "Henry Wensleydale" appears above the shop front in the series of stills that precede the original TV version of the sketch.

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