Terry Jones - Definition and Overview

Terry Jones

Jones was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, and attended the Royal Grammar School in Guildford, where he was head boy; he graduated from St. Edmund Hall, Oxford. He appeared on At Last the 1948 Show with Michael Palin and John Cleese and wrote for The Frost Report and several other of David Frost's programmes on British television. He was a member of the team of writers and performers that made Monty Python's Flying Circus. He co-wrote with Michael Palin Ripping Yarns, and wrote the screenplay for Labyrinth (1986). He has also written several books on mediæval history and numerous works for children.

Publications

Fiction

• Fairy Tales - 1981
• The Saga of Erik the Viking - 1983 (Children's Book Award 1984)
• Nicobobinus - 1985
• The Knights and the Squire - 1997
• Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic - 1997, a novel based on the computer game of the same name by Douglas Adams. Jones claims to have written the entire book while in the nude.
• The Lady and the Squire - 2001 (nominated for a Whitbread Award)

with Brian Froud

• The Goblins of the Labyrinth - 1986
• Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book - 1994
• The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins - 1996 (an abridged re-release of The Goblins of the Labyrinth, in a smaller format with the colour plates missing)
• Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research - 1996

Non-fiction

• Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary - 1980, (updated 1994)
• Foreword to The Quest for King Arthur by David Day - 1995
• Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery with Robert Yeager, Terry Dolan, Alan Fletcher and Juliette Dor - 2003
• Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror: Observations and Denunciations by a Founding Member of Monty Python - 2004

Television

Terry Jones has presented several factual television programmes, notably the BBC documentary series The Crusades (1996) and Terry Jones' Medieval Lives (2004).

Screenplays

• Labyrinth - 1986
• Erik the Viking - 1989, which includes a notice in the credits specifically disclaiming any link with Jones's earlier novel ("although he hopes it will help the sales")
• The Wind in the Willows - 1996

Political articles

• I remain, sir, Haggard of the Hindu Kush (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,625736,00.html) - published in The Observer, December 30, 2001
• Spare our blushes and put a sack on it (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/waronterrorism/story/0,1373,628354,00.html) - published in The Observer, January 6, 2002
• Why grammar is the first casualty of war (http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0112-02.htm) - published in The Daily Telegraph, January 12, 2002
• OK, George, make with the friendly bombs (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,651594,00.html) - published in The Observer, February 17, 2002
• A fox isn't a chicken. Is it? (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,669027,00.html) - published in The Observer, March 17, 2002
• If you want a free vote, ask nicely (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,687987,00.html) - published in The Observer, April 21, 2002
• The audacious courage of Mr Blair (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,796739,00.html) - published in The Observer, September 22, 2002
• I'm losing patience with my neighbours, Mr Bush (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,882459,00.html) - published in The Observer, January 26, 2003
• Powell speaks with forked tongue (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,901052,00.html) - published in The Observer, February 23, 2003
• Could Tony Blair look at the internet now, please? (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,905990,00.html) - published in The Observer, March 2, 2003
• Mr Bush goes for the kill (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,910023,00.html) - published in The Observer, March 9, 2003
• Poor Tony Blair wakes up (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,914504,00.html) - published in The Observer, March 16, 2003
• Tony and the pixies (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,919899,00.html) - published in The Observer, March 23, 2003
• Welcome aboard the Iraqi gravy train (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,935610,00.html) - published in The Observer, April 13, 2003
• Mr Blair's dark days (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,944604,00.html) - published in The Observer, April 27, 2003
• "If fish can feel pain, then maybe Iraqi children can, too" (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,949003,00.html) - published in The Observer, May 4, 2003
• Why look in the crystal ball? (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/worldview/story/0,11581,949384,00.html) - published in The Observer, May 4, 2003
• If politicians start telling the truth ... (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,958347,00.html) - published in The Observer, May 18, 2003
• Alastair, God and the Devil (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,992598,00.html) - published in The Observer, July 6, 2003
• A resignation is worth a thousand smiles (http://politics.guardian.co.uk/kelly/comment/0,13747,1032782,00.html) - published in The Observer, August 31, 2003
• Why Tony went to war (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/iraq/story/0,12239,1056409,00.html) - published in The Observer, October 5, 2003
• Let's make infants pay for their schooling (http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=485110) - published in The Independent, January 27, 2004
• Suits you, sir - but can we suggest something warmer? (http://argument.independent.co.uk/commentators/story.jsp?story=486587) - published in The Independent, February 1, 2004
• Tony really must try harder (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1191333,00.html) - published in The Guardian, April 14, 2004
• Invade Iraq? It's a no brainer (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1194707,00.html) - published in The Guardian, April 19, 2004
• The war of the words (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1206738,00.html) - published in The Guardian, April 30, 2004
• This week (http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1222394,00.html) - published in The Guardian, May 22, 2004
• This won't hurt much (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1239688,00.html) - published in The Guardian, June 16, 2004
• In Iraq, it's already July 9th (http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,1255561,00.html) - published in The Guardian, July 7, 2004

Exxternal link

• Terry Jones.net (http://www.terry-jones.net/) Holly's fan site