There’s a lot of classic film locations around Kings Cross, but it was news to me that the famous Monty Python Dead Parrot sketch was filmed in Cally Pets at 345 Caledonian Road. The first version of the sketch was shot in the TV studio, then, for the 1971 And Now For Something Completely Different film they went on location to a real petshop, what is now Cally Pets.

To double check I went in and asked the shop keeper, who had worked there for ten years and he confirmed to his immense surprise that this was definitely the shop, recognising its old layout as in the stills. There’s been a petshop there for donkey’s years apparently.

In Michael Palin’s diary he says

The shop remains proudly cluttered today with an excellent range of small animals and accessories.

I stumbled across this gem when googling for a new cat toy, one of the film location sites had it as Cally Pets and this discussion beneath the video clip on YouTube nailed it some years ago.

Given that this is arguably the most famous British comedy sketch, should there be a blue or brown plaque?