Do Not Adjust Your Set

Do Not Adjust Your Set
Starring	Denise Coffey Eric Idle David Jason Terry Jones Michael Palin Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	29
Production
Executive producers	Humphrey Barclay (series 1) Ian Davidson (series 2)
Producers	Rediffusion London (Series 1) Thames Television (Series 2)
Production locations	Wembley Studios (Series 1) Teddington Studios (Series 2)
Running time	c. 25 minutes (excluding commercials)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	26 December 1967 (1967-12-26) – 14 May 1969 (1969-05-14)
Related
At Last the 1948 Show (1967)
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Do Not Adjust Your Set (DNAYS) is a British television series produced originally by Rediffusion, London, then, by the fledgling Thames Television for British commercial television channel ITV from 26 December 1967 to 14 May 1969. The show took its name from the message (frequently seen on the TV screen in those days) that was displayed when there was a problem with transmission or technical difficulties.

It helped launch the careers of Denise Coffey, David Jason, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin; the last three became members of the Monty Python comedy troupe soon afterward. Although originally conceived as a children's programme, it quickly acquired a fandom amongst adults,^[1] including future Python members John Cleese and Graham Chapman.

The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, a satirical comedy/art/pop group, also performed songs in each programme and frequently appeared as extras in sketches. The programme itself comprised a series of satirical sketches, often presented in a surreal, absurd and discontinuous style – anticipating Monty Python's Flying Circus, which began five months after the last episode of DNAYS. Several surreal animations between sketches were crafted for the second series by Terry Gilliam, who soon graduated to Python along with Palin, Jones and Idle.

One recurring feature of the show was Captain Fantastic, a superhero parody featuring David Jason in farcical and morbid adventures against villainess Mrs. Black (Coffey). These segments were shot entirely on location in London. The feature was so popular with the young audience that after DNAYS itself ended, Captain Fantastic briefly continued in its own capacity in the children's magazine show Magpie.

Only 14 of the original 29 episodes currently exist.