AND now for something not completely different: Monty Python’s Spamalot will return to the Grand Opera House, York, for a second run from February 20 to 25 2012. Tickets go on sale from 10am today.

Eric Idle and John DuPrez’s joyously silly musical first clip-clopped across the York stage last November when Marcus Brigstocke led the cast as King Arthur alongside Todd Carty in the sidekick role of Patsy.

Carty, who is best known for his 13-year soap stretch as Mark Fowler in EastEnders, will be playing the put-upon Patsy again but the rest of the cast is yet to be confirmed.

Spamalot, winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2005, tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table as they encounter a bevy of beautiful show girls, cows, killer rabbits and French people.

Essentially the show is a “lovingly ripped off” musical twist on the 1974 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail with a book by Idle and an almost entirely new score by Idle and DuPrez.

I say “almost” because nestling among the new songs He Is Not Dead Yet, Knights Of The Round Table and Find Your Grail is an interloper from Monty Python’s Life Of Brian, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life, the nation’s favourite comedy song in a Reader’s Digest poll in 2009.

Tickets for the 7.30pm evening shows and 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees cost £14.50 to £39.50 on 0844 871 3024 and online at grandoperahouseyork.org.uk