John Cleese: I don’t think Terry Gilliam has ever said anything I agreed with

The fraught relationships between the members of Monty Python are laid bare in a revealing documentary which will be premiered tonight.

John Cleese admitted the five comedians were not “natural best friends” in a behind-the-scenes film made during their run of live shows at the O2 this summer.

Monty Python: The Meaning Of Live — co-directed by Roger Graef and James Rogan — features clips of the troupe singing and dancing backstage as they wait to go on, and Cleese repeatedly fretting that he has not got big enough laughs as he comes off stage.

He said: “Most of us are not natural best friends. I don’t think Terry Gilliam has ever said anything I agreed with.”

Gilliam said of his colleagues: “Without laughter, they die, sad, horrible old men in their lonely mansions.” The film captures Eric Idle speaking of his relief that Michael Palin put his foot down over doing more shows in South Africa, America and Australia. Gilliam talks of Idle’s need to be loved and his worries about letting the group down as director of the shows.

Graef said: “I’m so pleased with it. I think we’ve done something good here. The core story is known to everybody. This story is what they’re like [as people]. Backstage as they gear themselves up to perform, they’re intense versions of themselves.”

The documentary finishes with the group reflecting on the end of Monty Python. Idle said: “I’m glad we ended on a big, high note, not in some embarrassing hall where someone has a heart attack and can’t go on.”

Monty Python: The Meaning Of Live, 9pm tonight on Gold.