Editing Graham Chapman (section)

=== Pre-Python career ===
Following their Footlights success, Chapman and Cleese began to write professionally for the [[BBC]],<ref name="tribute">{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-51209197 |title=Monty Python stars pay tribute to Terry Jones |date=22 January 2020 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=25 February 2020 |language=en-GB}}</ref> initially for [[David Frost]] but also for [[Marty Feldman]]. Frost had recruited Cleese, and in turn Cleese decided he needed Chapman as a sounding board.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=56}} Chapman also contributed sketches to the radio series ''[[I'm Sorry, I'll Read That Again]]'' and wrote material on his own and with [[Bill Oddie]].{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=57}} He wrote for ''[[The Illustrated Weekly Hudd]]'' (starring [[Roy Hudd]]), ''[[Cilla Black]]'', ''[[This Is Petula Clark]]'' and ''[[This Is Tom Jones]]''.{{sfn|Chapman|1980|p=136}} Chapman, Cleese and [[Tim Brooke-Taylor]] later joined Feldman in the television comedy series ''[[At Last the 1948 Show]]''.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=67}} It was Chapman's first significant role as a performer as well as a writer{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=67}} and he displayed a gift for [[deadpan]] comedy (such as in the sketch "[[The Minister Who Falls to Pieces]]") and imitating various British [[dialects]].{{sfn|Wilmut|1980|p=148}} The series was the first to feature Chapman's sketch of wrestling with himself.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=67}}

Despite the series' success, Chapman was still unsure about abandoning his medical career. In between the two series of ''At Last The 1948 Show'', he completed his studies at St Bartholomew's and became professionally registered as a doctor.{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=68}} Chapman and Cleese also wrote for the long-running television comedy series ''[[Doctor in the House (TV series)|Doctor in the House]]'',{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=88}} and both appeared on a one-off television special, ''[[How to Irritate People]]'' alongside Brooke-Taylor and future Python member [[Michael Palin]].{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=89}} One of Cleese's and Chapman's sketches, featuring a used car salesman refusing to believe a customer's model had broken down, became the inspiration for the [[Dead Parrot sketch]].{{sfn|McCabe|2005|p=90}} Chapman also co-wrote several episodes of ''Doctor in the House''{{'s}} follow up, ''[[Doctor in Charge]]'', with [[Bernard McKenna (writer)|Bernard McKenna]].{{sfn|McCall|2013|p=15}}