N. F. Simpson which no episodes survive. His final series for television was the unsuccessful "Charley’s Grants" (1970), co-written with John Fortune and John Wells, starring Hattie Jacques, and produced by Ian MacNaughton (who produced "Monty Python’s Flying Circus"), which is also entirely lost. Plays followed, including a satire on advertising, "Thank You Very Much" (1971), and an effective three-hander for ITV, "Silver Wedding" (1974), directed by Mike Newell. Simpson’s highest-profile production for television was "Elementary, My Dear Watson" (1973), a Sherlock Holmes parody for BBC One’s "Comedy Playhouse" starring John Cleese and Willie Rushton. It has been screened several times at the
John Cleese very own series. However, owing to Chapman's alcoholism, Cleese found himself bearing an increasing workload in the partnership and was, therefore, unenthusiastic about doing a series with just the two of them. He had found working with Palin on "The Frost Report" an enjoyable experience and invited him to join the series. Palin had previously been working on "Do Not Adjust Your Set" with Idle and Jones, with Terry Gilliam creating the animations. The four of them had, on the back of the success of "Do Not Adjust Your Set", been offered a series for Thames Television, which they were