While there were four seasons of Monty Python's Flying Circus, it is often forgotten that John Cleese only actually starred in four of them. The legendary actor said in an interview that he was "an awful purist" and "took it too seriously" so decided to quit while the show was ahead.

He shared: "I was genuinely bothered that by the third series we weren't really doing original material. We were doing permutations and combinations of sketches from the first two series. I don't think the other Pythons minded, they would say 'oh, we are just having fun!' And to me, with this puritanical streak professionally in those sort of days, I just thought we were not getting anywhere so should stop." In the same interview, Cleese went on to admit that he had been "applauded" for the same actions when it came to calling it quits on Fawlty Towers, but when quitting Flying Circus he was met with anger from his co-stars.

Cleese also admitted that it was hard to walk away because he "felt very guilty". However, the BBC "put a lot of pressure" onto the actor as he claims that, without him, they would not even consider a third series.

"But after three series, I remember thinking 'I just don't want to do this anymore'," he shared. "I felt desperately trapped."

The actor explained that his Python work often took up 10 months of the year and he wanted the opportunity to be doing other things too. He shared that it could be "very frustrating".

However, he returned to the Monty Python franchise to do movies as they were much less time-constraining.

The sketch show was created by and starred Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Terry Gilliam, who collectively became known as The Pythons.

It first aired in 1969 and ran for 45 episodes airing over four series, coming to an end in 1974.

The programme's success led to the Pythons going on live tours and creating three additional films, while the individual Pythons flourished in solo careers.