Note: Many sketches in this episode are ended prematurely by Chapman's army character ("The Colonel"), who protests rip-offs of the British Army's slogan, "It's a Man's Life in the Modern Army"

Note: Owl Stretching Time was a proposed name for the series itself.

Note: BBC1 officially began broadcasting in colour on 15 November 1969; but for the previous two months, they had been broadcasting colour programmes "unofficially", so while the whole of the first series was broadcast in colour, this episode was the first to be advertised as being in colour (source: notes taken from BBC videotape operators and transmission managers made at the time). This was also the first episode where Cleese says the title in a silly voice rather than calmly in his normal voice.

Note: This episode repeats several running gags from Episode 4: a female cast member delivers a terrible joke, and upon protest from fellow cast members, wails 'But it's my only line!'; the use of the song "Jerusalem", and the Colonel preempting sketches–this time protesting that they are 'too silly'.

Note: This is the first episode not to show an episode title at the beginning of the closing credits.

Note: The introductory music of Ethel the Frog/Piranha Brothers: from the Karelia Suite by Jean Sibelius

The Spanish Inquisitors (Palin, Jones, and Gilliam) appear seven times throughout this episode.

This episode introduces a running gag that is used for the next two episodes: a character says, 'Walk this way.' The character told this responds, 'If I could walk that way...' only to be stopped when the first character warns them about finishing the punchline, by raising a finger.

Note: The 'walk this way' gag is used for the last time, except the words 'I' and 'walk' are replaced with 'we' (since it is a group of people) and 'run', respectively.

Note: Features an uncredited cameo by News at Ten presenter Reginald Bosanquet, recorded at the studios of ITN

Note: Shown after the closing credits. Lulu and Ringo Starr appear as themselves. This is one of the few times you can hear the man say something besides 'It's'.

Note: Anagrams appear throughout this episode: 'Tony M. Nyphot's Flying Risccu' for the programme itself; 'Chamran Knebt' for Merchant Bank, and 'Mary Recruitment Office' for Army Recruitment Office. The end credits are all in anagrams.

Note: Richard Baker also does gestures to indicate pauses in the news.

Note: A running gag throughout this episode is that whenever anyone answers the phone, they take off their shoe as if the person on the other end had asked their shoe size.

Note: This episode is the first Flying Circus to feature a full-length story. It is also the first that does not have a formal opening sequence; instead, a simple caption ("The Cycling Tour") appears at the beginning.

Note: Chapman's adopted son, John Tomiczek, makes a brief non-speaking appearance as an autograph seeker.

Note: The episode was written by Palin and Jones with the exception of the last third which was re-written by Cleese and Chapman.^[10] Palin and Jones play only one character each throughout the whole episode (although Jones, suffering from amnesia, imagines himself as Clodagh Rogers, Leon Trotsky, Eartha Kitt and Edward Heath).

Note: The music to which Mr. Pither cycles is the Waltz from Act II of Faust by Charles Gounod.

Note: Most sketches are interrupted by Mr. Badger (Idle) right from the first sketch onwards. In addition, Palin's Compère and Gilliam's Knight both made one-time reappearances since Series 1 in this episode (there is also a reference to Episode 3 in this scene, in which there are two people carrying a donkey).

Note: The BBC censored this episode probably more than any other, cutting three sketches (Big Nosed Sculptor, Revolting Cocktails, Wee-Wee Wine Cellar) as well as much of Gilliam's animation.

Note: "Party Political Broadcast (Choreographed)" and "Dad's Doctors, Dad's Pooves and Other Interesting Stories" have been cut from many versions of this episode.^[31] A clip of "Party Political Broadcast (Choreographed)" has surfaced on YouTube,^[32] while "Dad's Doctors" has been restored to the iTunes and the Blu-ray versions of the series, as well as added to the Netflix streaming video version.

Note: During the Light Entertainment Awards, Richard Baker briefly re-appears, saying 'Lemon Curry?'

Note: This is the second episode without a formal opening sequence.

Note: Edited versions of the "Little Red Riding Hood" and "Silly Olympics" sketches were dubbed into English for use in the Python stage shows. The "Flashers' Love Story" animated segment was also used.^[33] The Stake Your Claim sketch was included on the English language record Another Monty Python Record.

Note: Both parts of "The Philosophers' Football Match" were included in the Python stage shows.^[33] An abridged version of "The Tale of Happy Valley" was recorded for the English language record Monty Python's Previous Record. "Colin 'Bomber' Harris vs Colin 'Bomber' Harris" and "I Want a Hearing Aid" were both originally performed on At Last the 1948 Show, which predated Monty Python.

This is the third episode without a formal opening sequence. Almost the entire episode was written by Palin himself.

Note: This is the second episode to feature a full-length story (the other being "The Cycling Tour" from Series 3). It was mainly written by Cleese and Chapman with some help from Palin and Neil Innes.^[10]

Note: The end credits appear immediately after the opening sequence.

Note: The Nude Organist and the 'It's Man' appear for the last time, in footage taken from the episode with "Dennis Moore".

Note: Most of the sketches of the episode have a shared theme (World War II) yet no apparent narrative.

Note: This is the third episode to feature a full-length story ("The Cycling Tour" and "Michael Ellis" being the earlier two).

Note: With the exception of "Post-Box Ceremony", nearly the entire episode was co-written by Palin and Jones.

As the episode opens and closes, there are announcements relating to the "Party Political Broadcast on Behalf of the Liberal Party".