Praline (John Cleese)
Hello, I wish to register a complaint… Hello? Miss?
Shopkeeper (Michael Palin)
What do you mean, miss?
Praline
Oh, I’m sorry, I have a cold. I wish to make a complaint.
Shopkeeper
Sorry, we’re closing for lunch.
Praline
Never mind that my lad, I wish to complain about a parrot what I purchased not half an hour ago from this very boutique.
Shopkeeper
Oh yes, the Norwegian Blue. What’s wrong with it?
Praline
I’ll tell you what’s wrong with it. It’s dead, that’s what’s wrong with it.
Shopkeeper
No, no it’s resting look!
Praline
Look my lad, I know a dead parrot when I see one and I’m looking at one right now.
Shopkeeper
No, no sir, it’s not dead. It’s resting.
Praline
Resting!?!
Shopkeeper
Yeah, remarkable bird the Norwegian Blue, beautiful plumage, inn’t?
Praline
The plumage don’t enter into it - it’s stone dead.
Shopkeeper
No, no - it’s just resting.
Praline
All right then, if it’s resting I’ll wake it up.
(shouts in into cage)
Hello Polly! I’ve got a nice cuttlefish for you when you wake up, Polly Parrot!
Shopkeeper
(jogging cage)
There it moved.
Praline
No he didn’t. That was you pushing the cage.
Shopkeeper
I did not.
Praline
Yes, you did.
(takes parrot out of cage, shouts)
Hello Polly, Polly
(bangs it against the counter)
Polly Parrot, wake up. Polly
(throws it in the air and it lands on the floor)
Now that’s what I call a dead parrot.
Shopkeeper
No, no it’s stunned.
Praline
Look my lad, I’ve had just about enough of this. That parrot is definitely deceased. And when I bought it not half an hour ago, you assured me that its lack of movement was due to it being tired shagged out after a long squawk.
Shopkeeper
It’s probably pining for the fjords.
Praline
Pining for the fjords, what kind of talk is that? Look, why did it fall flat on its back the moment I got it home?
Shopkeeper
The Norwegian Blue prefers kipping on its back. Beautiful bird, lovely plumage.
Praline
Look, I took the liberty of examining the parrot, and I discovered that the only reason that it had been sitting on its perch in the first place was that it had been nailed there.
Shopkeeper
Well of course it was nailed there. Otherwise it would muscle up to those bars and voom.
Praline
Look matey (picks up parrot) this parrot wouldn’t go voom if I put four thousand volts through it. It’s bleeding demised.
Shopkeeper
It’s not. It’s pining.
Praline
Ot’s not pining, it’s passed on. This parrot is no more. It has ceased to be. It’s expired and gone to meet its maker. This is a late parrot. It’s a stiff. Bereft of life, it rests in peace. If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch, it would be pushing up the daisies. It’s rung down the curtain and joined the choir invisible. This is an ex-parrot.
Shopkeeper
Well I’d better replace it then.
Praline
(to camera)
If you want to get anything done in this country you’ve got to complain till you’re blue in the mouth.
Shopkeeper
Sorry guv’, we’re right out a parrots.
Praline
I see. I see. I get the picture.
Shopkeeper
I’ve got a slug.
Praline
Does it talk?
Shopkeeper
Not really, no.
Praline
Well, it’s scarcely a replacement, then is it?
Shopkeeper
Listen, I’ll tell you what, (handing over a card) tell you what, if you go to my brother’s pet shop in Bolton he’ll replace your parrot for you.
Praline
Bolton eh?
Shopkeeper
Yeah.
Praline
All right.
(He leaves, holding the parrot.)
CAPTION: ‘A SIMILAR PET SHOP IN BOLTON, LANCS’ Close-up of sign on door reading: ‘Similar Pet Shops Ltd’. Pull back from sign to see same pet shop. Shopkeeper now has a moustache. Praline walks into the shop. He looks around with interest, noticing the empty parrot cage on the floor.
Praline
Er, excuse me. This is Bolton, is it?
Shopkeeper
No, no it’s ,er, Ipswich.
Praline
(to camera)
That’s Inter-City Rail for you
(leaves)
Man in porters outfit standing at complaints desk for railways. Praline approaches.
Praline
I wish to make a complaint.
Porter (Terry Jones)
I don’t have to do this, you know.
Praline
I beg your pardon?
Porter
I’m a qualified brain surgeon. I only do this because I like being my own boss.
Praline
Er, excuse me, this is irrelevant, isn’t it?
Porter
Oh yeah, it’s not easy to pad these out in thirty minutes.
Praline
Well I wish to make a complaint. I got on to the Bolton train and found myself deposited here in Ipswich.
Porter
No, this is Bolton.
Praline
If this is Bolton, I shall return to the pet shop.
CAPTION: ‘A LITTLE LATER LTD’
Praline walks into the shop again.
Praline
I understand this IS Bolton.
Shopkeeper
Yes.
Praline
Well, you told me it was Ipswich.
Shopkeeper
It was a pun.
Praline
A pun?
Shopkeeper
No, no, not a pun, no. What’s the other thing which reads the same backwards as forwards?
Praline
A palindrome?
Shopkeeper
Yes, yes.
Praline
It’s not a palindrome. The palindrome of Bolton would be Notlob. It don’t work.
Shopkeeper
Look, what do you want?
Praline
No, I’m sorry, I’m not prepared to pursue my line of enquiry any further as I think this is getting too silly.