very Eric Idle the whole thing, big production numbers taking up more time than the actual sketches. I gather it was all his idea. The Hawking bit was the only brilliant new gag.
I was there on the 19th (which wasn't the night broadcast live on Gold, but was being filmed as we had an e-mail beforehand about it).
There wasn't a lot they could do wrong for me, being honest. I saw it with my best friend - both he and I are in our 20s so missed the originals, but spent a big part of our childhood quoting the Pythons at each other. It felt really special to me.
(and I agree - the Stephen Hawking bit was wonderful).
And I also thought the big production numbers embellished on the original material very well - e.g. the sperm song and penis song. (although the penis cannons were a bit disappointing. I wanted those things to really fire off but they just let out some snow and then buggered off.)