A.J.P. Taylor in Budapest at a TV interview in 1985
In addition to his academic work, Taylor had a significant broadcasting career, writing for newspapers, and appearing on radio and television. The first ‘Telly-Don,’ Taylor was a pioneer in the broadcasting of history on TV and his lectures, delivered without notes, were very popular. Here is Taylor appearing on TV in Hungary. The inscription on the reverse of this photograph reads ‘Alan in Budapest TV interview 1985.’
Post-production script of How Wars Begin: The Second World War (episode 5)
A large part of Taylor’s fame was due to his many appearances on radio and television. Between June and August 1977, he presented a 6-episode series called How Wars Begin for the BBC. The programme, 30 minutes in length, had a minimal set and consisted of Taylor speaking directly to camera. He delivered his lectures without the aid of notes. This post-production script was produced for the ease of the producers editing the programme. However, this particular copy belonged to Taylor. Throughout the script, he has written minor changes and crossings out. Comparing this document with Taylor’s book How Wars Begin, published in 1979, it is evident that Taylor used this script to perfect the text for the book’s publication.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail DVD
In the 1960s, as a student at Brasenose College, Michael Palin attended A. J. P. Taylor’s lectures. They clearly made an impression on Palin. Monty Python and the Holy Grail includes a scene with ‘A Famous Historian,’ filming a documentary on Arthurian legends. The historian, wearing Taylor’s trademark bow tie, is killed by a passing knight on horseback.
BBFC Letter regarding the classification of Monty Python and the Holy Grail
This letter from Stephen Murphy, of the British Board of Film Classification, offers advice about the Monty Python and the Holy Grail script. If the Pythons hoped to be given an ‘A’ rating, they would need to do something about their use of gore and bad language. Murphy refers to a scene with A. J. P. Taylor as ‘really too bloody.’ That Murphy directly names Taylor suggests that the original script used his name; that somewhere down the line, a decision was made to anonymise the character to ‘A Famous Historian.’