THE LIFE OF BRIAN is being re-released as a DVD, with a deleted scene re-inserted:

Monty Python's Life of Brian continues to inspire an almost religious devotion among fans: at least three times this century it has been voted the funniest film ever made. But the controversy refuses to go away, and earlier this year - three decades after the film's release - there were headlines when a vicar in Newcastle screened it in his church.

In an age when the Hammer horror Dracula is downgraded from its original, blood-curdling X certificate to an anaemic, kid-friendly 12A, it is extraordinary how Life of Brian - the first and only Biblical comedy - retains its power to shock. Yet it came perilously close to being much more offensive to many more people.

A new DVD edition of the film includes the deleted "Otto" scene, which features a radical, first-century Jewish revolutionary who has the same dreams as the young Adolf Hitler. Otto sports a toothbrush moustache, and, in case we still haven't got the message, his disciples all wear a symbol that combines the Star of David with a swastika. These are "Nazi Jews".

Jones insists he didn't make the cut to avoid giving offence.

"It was a very funny scene," he says, "but it wasn't relevant; it wasn't part of the story. When I took it out, the film just flowed so much better."

He regretted having to cut the scene at the time and regrets it even more so now.

"I think what it addressed is extremely relevant today," he says, "with what's going on in Israel. Eric [who wrote the scene] put his finger on something; it was quite prophetic."

This Telegraph article also reports a lot of background to the making of the film, and is worth a read.