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The title Monty Python's Flying Circus was partly the result of the group's reputation at the BBC. Michael Mills, BBC's Head of Comedy, wanted their name to include the word "circus" because the BBC referred to the six members wandering around the building as a circus, in particular "Baron Von Took's Flying Circus", after Barry Took, who had brought them to the BBC. The group added "flying" to make it sound less like an actual circus and more like something from World War I. The words "Monty Python" were added because they claimed it sounded like a really bad theatrical agent, the sort of person who would have brought them together, with Eric Idle suggesting Monty and John Cleese suggesting Python.
The BBC had rejected some other names put forward by the group including "Whither Canada?", "The Nose Show", "Ow! It's Colin Plint!", "A Horse, a Spoon and a Basin", "The Toad Elevating Moment" and "Owl Stretching Time". Several of these titles were later used for individual episodes.
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