It's an all-time classic with a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes that's been repeatedly called "the funniest film ever made". But when it was released it was the subject of intense debate and controversy.

Monty Python's Life of Brian was released in 1979 and has since become one of the all-time iconic comedy films — as well as one of the most iconic British films.

It tells the story of Brian, who is born in the next stable to Jesus on the same day and, later in life, is mistaken for the messiah. Despite its hilarious and absurd nature, it was slammed as "blasphemous" by religious leaders and banned from cinemas across the USA and UK. Many accused it of mocking the life of Jesus, which Monty Python members repeatedly had to explain was not the case, even if it had once been an early motivation.

"It was quite obvious that there was very little to ridicule in Jesus’s life, and therefore we were onto a loser,” said Monty Python's Michael Palin in 1979.

"Jesus was a very straight, direct man making good sense, so we decided it would be a very shallow film if it was just about [him]."

Instead, they made the film about Brian, an ordinary man who happened to live in Roman-occupied Judea at the same time as Jesus and who, as an adult, was mistaken for the messiah by fanatical masses. And while they did not target Jesus or what he said, they did insted mock political militants, hordes of people all keen to believe the same thing without giving it any thought, as well as those who think that stoning people to death is an acceptable thing to do to other human beings.

The film created characters and lines that are still as funny today as they were more than 40 years ago, as well as the famous song, Always Look On The Bright Side of Life, which brings the film to a close and became a part of the British collective consciousness — you may well still hear it whistled in the street today, nearly 50 years on.

Life of Brian starred Graham Chapman as Brian, and his fellow Pythons John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and Eric Idle in several different roles throughout the film. Terry Jones also directed the film, which was Python's second of three and came four years after the equally hilarious Monthy Python and the Holy Grail.

In 2000, Life of Brian beat Airplane! to be named the funniest film ever by magazine Total Film. Critic Tom Huddleston writing for Time Out said: "It’s still extremely funny, as quotable now as it ever was, and as searingly, eye-openingly intelligent."

Kevin Maher in The Times said: "It’s a relentless onslaught of consummate comedy that’s so flawlessly crafted, it’s easy to overlook how impeccably the scenes are played."

Legendary American film critic Roger Ebert said Monty Python was "sometimes so British, so sly and so old-school that jokes are being made we can’t quite understand".

Viewers love it too. One viewer called it "the funniest movie ever made" while another said "I found it absolutely hysterical from beginning to end". Another added that it "may be the best comedy film of all time" while a fourth said "Surely one of the best films ever made, and it's still funny when you've seen it dozens of times."

Monty Python were about to start filming Life of Brian in Tunisia when the then-chief executive of EMI finally got around to reading the script and said his company could fund it because of its content. Incredibly, the ex-Beatle George Harrison stepped in to fund it, despite having himself dealt with the controversy caused by The Beatles when John Lennon declared in 1966 that the band was "more popular than Jesus now".

When released, it was banned immediately in countries including Ireland and Norway, while cinemas in the USA and councils in the UK also refused to screen it. People picketed cinemas showing it and others described Monty Python as "Satan".

One of the most famous television clips from the era showed John Cleese and Michael Palin appearing on a popular British talk show to discuss the film with Malcolm Muggeridge, an evangelical journalist and satirist, and Mervyn Stockwood, the Bishop of Southwark.

Evidently, the controversy didn't slow down Monty Python whose next film, 1983's The Meaning of Life, squarely takes aim at subjects including Catholics and their attitude to contraception. Oddly, that film didn't generate anywhere near as much opposition.

Reg: "Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?"

Brian's mother: "He's not the Messiah. He's a very naughty boy!"

Brian: "Will you please listen? I'm not the Messiah! Do you understand? Honestly!"
Woman: "Only the true Messiah denies his divinity!"
Brian: "What? Well, what sort of chance does that give me? All right, I am the Messiah!"
Crowd: "He is! He is the Messiah!"

Centurion: "You know the penalty laid down by Roman law for harbouring a known offender?"
Matthias: "No."
Centurion: "Crucifixion!"
Matthias: "Oh."
Centurion: "Nasty, eh?"
Matthias: "Could be worse."
Centurion: "What you mean could be worse?"
Matthias: "Well, you could be stabbed."
Centurion: "Stabbed? Takes a second. Crucifixion lasts hours. It's a slow, horrible end."
Matthias: "Well, at least it gets you out in the open air."

Gregory: "What was that?"
Man: "I think it was 'Blessed are the cheesemakers'"
Gregory's wife: "What's so special about the cheesemakers?"
Gregory: "Well, obviously it's not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturer of dairy products."

Life of Brian is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, YouTube and Google Play Movie for £3.49. It is not currently available on Netflix, iPlayer or ITVX in the UK.