Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch causes emergency evacuation in UK

The discovery of a Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch in a manhole has caused drama in East London, including office buildings and a pub being evacuated while the bomb squad x-rayed the evil looking device.

For those who aren’t Monty Python fans, let me explain: the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch appeared in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Before throwing the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch at the foul tempered rabbit, Eric Idle recites the following lines

“And the Lord spake, saying, “First shalt thou take out the Holy Pin, then shalt thou count to three, no more, no less.

‘”Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou two, excepting that thou then proceed to three. Five is right out.

‘”Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch towards thy foe, who being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it. Amen.”‘

The short version: the grenade was not a real grenade, but a film prop, as you can pretty much guess from the picture above. According to The Daily Mail, you can buy them online for £14.

Here’s the full skit, the references to the grenade start at 2:50.