Monty Python to disband after 10 London reunion shows

According to organisers, the Monty Python team have "put together a dazzling spectacle"

The final Monty Python reunion show at the O2 Arena in London on 20 July will be "the last time we'll be working together", Michael Palin has said.

The legendary comedy troupe will not go on tour and will go their separate ways after 10 London performances, he said.

Palin told the BBC: "20 July will be the last night of the Pythons in the sense that there are absolutely no plans to do any more shows after that."

Tickets for the 20 July show went on sale on Friday 4 April.

The reunion, which begins on 1 July, will see John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Palin appear together on stage for the first time since 2009.

The only absent member will be Graham Chapman, who died in 1989 at the age of 48.

"We withheld tickets for the last show of all because partly we didn't want touts to get them all too early on, but also we weren't sure whether we were going to do any more," Palin said.

"We hadn't exactly decided on the number of dates. We were going to do two, then four, then five, Now it will be 10. 20 July will be the last night of the Pythons in the sense that there are absolutely no plans to do any more shows after that.

"We had to make a decision otherwise everyone expects you to tour America and Australia and all that. Because everybody's very busy with their own different projects, I don't think it will be possible to get all those together.

"It seems so complicated that there was a general agreement to make this 10 shows our swansong and make the final show a nice climactic 'Last Night Of...'

"I think it's going to be filmed and go out to cinemas and all that. It will be a great show but it is the last time we'll be working together."

Monty Python became hugely popular and influential after forming in 1969

Palin said all members had their own plans and did not want to be tied to the Monty Python reunion.

"The general feeling was that we'd rather have the rest of our life doing what we all wanted to do and not spend the years ahead touring Python," he said.

"There's terrific international interest in Python, particularly in America. So I think they'll be a little bit miffed that we're not going over there. But they get everything. Too bad. They'll have to come here."

An earlier statement from their promoters said the 20 July show would "probably" be their last performance together.

"The Pythons had hoped to take up some of the many offers to perform at arenas all over the world, but individual commitments to other projects over the next three years has made this impossible," it said.

"The septuagenarian Pythons are well aware of what these shows mean to their fans. The shows at the O2 promise to be a spectacular celebration of Britain's most iconic and influential comedians."