GRAND Opera House and York Archaeological Trust staff look on the bright side ahead of the arrival of Monty Python's Spamalot on Monday, as two monarchs, King Arthur and Richard III, come into focus in York.

The staff members gathered outside the Richard III Experience, the revamped Richard III Museum in Monk Bar, which opened last April in a year when the decision was taken on the final resting place of the last of the Plantagenet kings, whose remains had been found beneath a car park in Leicester.

York Minster lost out to Leicester Cathedral, but the life of the much-maligned monarch, and in particular his impact on York and Yorkshire, is recorded in the visitor attraction presented by the Jorvik Group at Monk Bar, as York bounces back from a grave error of judgement.

While one monarch is being taken very seriously at the Richard III Experience, King Arthur will be undergoing a rather different, indeed irreverent, experience at the Grand Opera House from February 16 to 21 in the Eric Idle and John DuPrez's musical spin on the 1975 film Monty Python And The Holy Grail.

Spamalot tells the legendary tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table as they seek the Holy Grail, encountering beautiful show girls, cancelled witch burnings, flying cows, killer rabbits and French people en route.

Comedian Joe Pasquale and former EastEnders soap star Todd Carty will lead the cast as King Arthur and his stooge, Patsy, while the songs will include Idle's Python classic, Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life. Look out too for Idle, making a filmed appearance as God.

Tickets are on sale on 0844 871 3024 and at atgtickets.com/york. Meanwhile, the Jorvik Group is turning its attention to the 2015 Jorvik Viking  Festival, which it will be running from Saturday.