Monty Python's Graham Chapman’s tragic final hours as co-star watched him die

Graham Chapman was one of the six original members of the Monty Python comedy troupe and was in the presence of two of his co-stars when he died aged just 48. After a routine visit to the dentist in 1988, Chapman was diagnosed with throat cancer, which later spread to his spinal column. Despite undergoing chemotherapy and surgeries, the cancer was deemed inoperable. Although he was terminally ill, Chapman managed to film for the Monty Python 20th-anniversary television special in September 1989.

Just one month later, Chapman died in hospital. At the time, he was being visited by family members, as well as his fellow Pythons Michael Palin and John Cleese . As documented in his published diaries, Palin joined Cleese at the hospital when Chapman was in his final hours. But it was Pali