before playing the role of Kilmartin Dalrymple in all 30 episodes of the British sitcom Tell It to the Marines. The comedy revolved around the antics of a tough, boisterous Royal Marine squadron who find themselves billeted with some Royal Navy personnel. Thereafter, he had a succession of small roles including the television series Silent Evidence in 1962, in which he played the character of Angus MacCrae. In the same year he also played the character of Michael George Hartley in Lawrence of Arabia. Director and producer While appearing in the BBC drama series Silent Evidence, MacNaughton answered an ad for a BBC training course in television directing, for which he was accepted. In 1963 and 1964 he directed two episodes of Teletale and in 1965 an episode of Z-Cars. MacNaughton continued to act in numerous small roles for television and film, including Dr. Finlay's Casebook and Redcap in 1964 and The Avengers in 1965. In 1966 and 1967 he directed all 52 episodes of a BBC series called This Man Craig, which was set in a large comprehensive school in the fictional Scottish village of Strathaird. The series revolved around the daily life of schoolmaster Ian Craig, who as one of six housemasters had to keep an eye on the problems of over 300 pupils. Between 1967 and 1968, he also directed eight episodes of Dr. Finlay's Casebook. In 1969 MacNaughton directed and produced the first series of Spike Milligan's Q, a surreal British comedy television sketch show consisting of seven episodes. The show had a big influence on the Monty Python team. In The Python Autobiography by the Pythons, Michael Palin mentions meeting their directors. "One was Ian MacNaughton, director of the Spike Milligan Q5 series which we all thought was one of the best comedy shows on TV and certainly the most far ahead..." (p. 218). He describes himself and Terry Jones as being so impressed with the Q... show that they specifically sought out MacNaughton to direct their own series." Between 1969 and 1974 MacNaughton would produce and direct all but four of the 45 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Having accepted the job of director and producer, MacNaughton announced to the Pythons' dismay that he had to take a holiday and would be unavailable for the first four shows, which were consequently directed by John Howard Davies. Initially, there was some friction between MacNaughton