The project began after Eric Idle flippantly told journalists the Pythons' next film would be called 'Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory,' which pushed the group to seriously consider a biblical satire similar to how Holy Grail had lampooned Arthurian legend.

After brainstorming, the Pythons decided Jesus himself was 'definitely a good guy' whose actual teachings weren't mockable, so they shifted the concept to a separate character named Brian, born at the same time and place, who is mistaken for the Messiah despite having no wish to be followed.

The first draft of the screenplay, provisionally titled 'The Gospel According to St. Brian,' was completed by Christmas 1976, with the final pre-production draft finished in January 1978 after a concentrated writing session in Barbados.

EMI Films, which had distributed Holy Grail, pulled its funding just days before shooting was due to begin after EMI chief Bernard Delfont got cold feet about the subject matter; former Beatle George Harrison then formed HandMade Films with Denis O'Brien specifically to finance the film, at a cost of about £3 million, in what Terry Jones called 'the world's most expensive cinema ticket.'

George Harrison makes a cameo as Mr. Papadopoulos as a thank-you for saving the production, briefly shaking Brian's hand in a crowd scene; his one line of dialogue had to be dubbed later by Michael Palin.

Graham Chapman, who struggled with alcoholism, was so determined to land the lead role (which John Cleese had also coveted) that he sobered up in time for filming and even acted as the production's on-set doctor.

Comedian Spike Milligan appears briefly as an ignored prophet purely by coincidence, as he happened to be visiting old WWII battlefields in Tunisia during filming and was invited to join the scene that morning, leaving before he could be included in close-ups or publicity shots.

The film was shot on location in Monastir, Tunisia, reusing sets left over from Franco Zeffirelli's 'Jesus of Nazareth,' and many local Tunisian extras who had worked on Zeffirelli's film kept comparing Terry Jones's directing choices to how 'Mr Zeffirelli would have done it.'

The scene where Brian is scooped up by a passing spaceship was created 'in camera' using a hand-built model starship and miniature pyrotechnics, an idea Terry Gilliam came up with on the spot simply to get Brian off a tower, coinciding with the recent release of Star Wars.

A controversial recurring Nazi-styled character named Otto, an extremist Zionist leader with a Hitler-style moustache played by Eric Idle, was cut down to a single scene during editing; the Judean People's Front logo designed by Terry Gilliam was a Star of David altered to resemble a swastika.

A profane line from Reg calling someone a 'stupid, bird-brained, flat-headed... cunt' was overdubbed to 'you klutz' before release, an edit John Cleese approved of because he felt the swearing would distract from the comedy.

'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' later became a life-affirming anthem beyond the film, famously sung by sailors aboard the damaged HMS Sheffield during the Falklands War in 1982, and performed by Eric Idle at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.

The film was banned outright by 11 UK local councils and had its rating raised from AA to X by 28 others, despite some council members admitting on television they had never actually seen it; it was also banned in Ireland and Norway, with Swedish posters cheekily advertising it as 'So funny it was banned in Norway!'

Life of Brian has repeatedly topped 'greatest comedy film' polls, including Channel 4's 2006 list of the 50 Greatest Comedy Films, and its line 'He's not the Messiah, he's a very naughty boy!' has often been voted the funniest line in film history.