COMEDY classic Monty Python would be shunned by the BBC today because it's "too white" and "too Oxbridge", a former chief has admitted.

Stars John Cleese and Eric Idle began their successful TV careers while studying at Cambridge in the university's theatre group Footlights.

2 Former head of BBC comedy Shane Allen said shows like Monty Python wouldn't be commissioned today Credit: Rex Features

The club also helped forge the careers of Tim Brooke-Taylor, Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, who went on to form The Goodies, and Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

But Shane Allen, former head of comedy at the BBC, claims shows like Monty Python wouldn't be commissioned today as viewers crave sitcoms with a “sense of place”, The Times reports.

He said: "If we’re going to assemble a team now it’s not going to be six Oxbridge white blokes, it’s going to be a diverse range of people who reflect the modern world and have got something to say that’s different and we haven’t seen before."

The ex-chief flagged up recent BBC Three sketch show Famalam, which has an all-black cast as an example of the corporation changing.

2 John Cleese and Eric Idle began their successful TV careers while studying at Cambridge in the university's theatre group Footlights Credit: Kobal Collection - Shutterstock

But he insisted there is no ban on "posh people" appearing on TV.

Mr Allen also suggested comedies like Channel 4's Peep Show, which starred Footlights members David Mitchell and Robert Webb, were not a priority for the BBC.

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He said: "It’s about telling stories that haven’t been told. When you look at the ones [recent comedies] that have done well they’ve got a really specific sense of place.

"If a sitcom comes in about three guys who move to London in a flatshare, the jokes feel quite familiar and it feels like you’re not breaking any new ground or telling or a new story, then that’s not interesting.

"It’s about how original the voice you have, rather than what school you went to.”

It comes as the BBC unveiled a string of new comedy programmes fronted by female and ethic minority comedians.

Classic 'He's not the Messiah he's a very naughty boy' scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian

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