It is the smash-hit musical that boasts of how it was "lovingly ripped off" from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. So perhaps it is no surprise that Spamalot should undergo its own reincarnation, albeit one that has dismayed at least one of the Pythons themselves.
The rollout of Monty Python's Spamalot fixed-odds betting terminals (FOBTs) in Ladbrokes betting shops gives punters the chance to win up to £500 at a time, and the opportunity, as the Knights of the Round Table sing in the musical, to "try your luck in Camelot; run amok in Camelot; it doesn't suck in Camelot".
But using the Python-inspired brand to promote fixed-odds terminals – which have been labelled the "crack cocaine" of betting, and are now responsible for 50% of bookmakers' profits – has dismayed gambling awareness charities, who claim punters can lose hundreds of pounds playing them in just minutes.
Following a barrage of criticism on Twitter, John Cleese sought to distance the Python team from the row, saying: "Dear Twits, Please understand that Python has no control over Spamalot activities. They pay us royalties for using the Grail script. That's it."
The stakes that can be waged on FOBTs are sizeable. Certain terminals – those that fall into the B2 licensing category and are often based on roulette or blackjack – allow punters to gamble up to £100 at the press of a button. A Ladbrokes spokesman said punters will "normally" stake only £2 a game playing Spamalot, the maximum wager for a B3 category game. But he admitted the stakes could be increased.
"There is a feature in the game which enables a player to stake higher – up to £30 – at which point they receive a message they are moving to higher stake content, B2, but not at the maximum £100 stake of other B2 games," the Ladbrokes spokesman confirmed.
Gambling awareness experts said the "hybrid" terminals are a cynical attempt to suck players in. "They are driving low-stakes players on to higher stakes, and that is wrong," said Adrian Parkinson, a consultant to the Campaign for Fairer Gambling (CFG), who introduced FOBTs to Britain when he worked for the Tote and later became a whistle-blower, speaking out against the industry. "It is a real shame that any popular entertainment brand, such as Monty Python, should ever be associated with this manipulative type of gambling product," a spokesman for the CFG added.
A version of the Spamalot slot machine game already exists online, sparking concerns that it will attract younger players into betting shops. The CFG claims it is easier for under-18s to play for real money in betting shops on FOBTs, as age verification is "persistently weak" compared to remote gambling. In response, Ladbrokes said research indicated that problem gambling levels were on a downward trend in England and Wales. It pointed to new research by Professor Mark Griffiths of Nottingham Trent University showing that average gaming machine sessions involve stakes of £7 and last 10 minutes.
Marc Etches, chief executive of the industry-funded Responsible Gambling Trust (RGT), said the RGT was investigating FOBTs. "The RGT has commissioned independent research to better understand how people behave when playing on these gaming machines and to help policymakers to make informed decisions in the future." He added: "In the meantime, the RGT has highlighted the need for bookmakers' staff to be trained to understand the nature of problem gambling behaviour."
It is unclear whether the other Pythons – Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle – know about the Ladbrokes deal.
"Python exercises no control over Spamalot decisions or actions," Cleese said in one tweet, adding: "We are not even consulted." In another Cleese said: "I would not have endorsed the decision to use Spamalot to promote gambling if I had been asked."
A company called Space Enterprises says on its website that it is the licensing agent for Spamalot. Emails to its chief executive requesting comment were not returned.
A spokesman for the Gambling Commission said steps were being taken to clarify the role of hybrid fixed-odds machines.
"The industry are currently in the process of introducing additional measures in respect to hybrid type games to ensure that the player is in no doubt as to what category of game they are playing following intervention by the commission."