After Monty Python finished its original run on UK television, Innes joined Eric Idle on the series Rutland Weekend Television.
This was a Pythonesque sketch show based in a fictional low-budget regional television station, which ran for two series in 1975–76.
Songs and sketches from the series appeared on a 1976 BBC LP, The Rutland Weekend Songbook.
One short sketch on the show spawned the Rutles (the "prefab four"), which was an affectionate pastiche of the Beatles.
In the sketch Innes portrayed the character of Ron Nasty, a character based on John Lennon, while Idle portrayed Dirk McQuickly (a character based on Paul McCartney), and the fictional group briefly performed 'I Must Be In Love', a suitably Beatlesque pastiche written by Innes.

Eric Idle later played a videotape of the Rutles sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1976 during an appearance as guest host, and the favourable response led to a 1978 American-made spin-off TV movie, All You Need Is Cash, with Innes and Idle again playing Nasty and  McQuickly.
 While Idle and Innes co-created the original Rutles sketch concept, Idle wrote the screenplay for the film on his own, and Innes composed all of the songs for the project without any input from Idle ('Dirk McQuickly's musical contributions on the soundtrack were performed by guitarist/singer Ollie Halsall while Idle lip-synched them in the film).
Innes' songs consequently appeared on the soundtrack album The Rutles, released by Warner Bros on 1978.

The songs written by Innes so closely pastiched the original source material that he was consequently taken to court by the owners of the Beatles' catalogue.
Innes had to testify under oath that he had not listened to the songs at all while composing the Rutles' songs, but had created them completely originally based on what he remembered various songs by the Beatles sounding like at different times.
Many years later, Innes' own music publisher would demand a co-writing credit for Innes, from Beatles-influenced band Oasis for their 1994 song "Whatever", as it directly lifted parts of its melody from Innes' 1973 song "How Sweet to Be an Idiot".
This event was subsequently referenced in the Rutles' song "Shangri-La" on their 1996 re-union album The Rutles Archaeology, which was itself a parody of The Beatles Anthology.

After Rutland Weekend Television, Innes went on to make a solo series in 1979 on BBC television, The Innes Book of Records, which ran for three series until 1981.
The series offered an early example of music video presentation, albeit on a shoestring BBC budget, centred around new recordings of many of Innes' older compositions along with new material written specially for the show.
In keeping with Innes' usual whimsically surreal style, each episode would be linked by a loose and often absurdist theme and would also feature an eccentric guest performer (such as Stanley Unwin or Percy Edwards) or musician (such as Ivor Cutler or Jake Thackray).
Innes' former bandmate Vivian Stanshall also appeared in one episode, reciting his own surrealist monologue about the English seaside.
After Monty Python finished its original run on UK television, Innes joined Eric Idle on the series Rutland Weekend Television. This was a Pythonesque sketch show based in a fictional low-budget regional television station, which ran for two series in 1975–76. Songs and sketches from the series appeared on a 1976 BBC LP, The Rutland Weekend Songbook. One short sketch on the show spawned the Rutles (the "prefab four"), which was an affectionate pastiche of the Beatles. In the sketch Innes portrayed the character of Ron Nasty, a character based on John Lennon, while Idle portrayed Dirk McQuickly (a character based on Paul McCartney), and the fictional group briefly performed 'I Must Be In Love', a suitably Beatlesque pastiche written by Innes. 
Eric Idle later played a videotape of the Rutles sketch on Saturday Night Live in 1976 during an appearance as guest host, and the favourable response led to a 1978 American-made spin-off TV movie, All You Need Is Cash, with Innes and Idle again playing Nasty and  McQuickly.  While Idle and Innes co-created the original Rutles sketch concept, Idle wrote the screenplay for the film on his own, and Innes composed all of the songs for the project without any input from Idle ('Dirk McQuickly's musical contributions on the soundtrack were performed by guitarist/singer Ollie Halsall while Idle lip-synched them in the film). Innes' songs consequently appeared on the soundtrack album The Rutles, released by Warner Bros on 1978.
The songs written by Innes so closely pastiched the original source material that he was consequently taken to court by the owners of the Beatles' catalogue. Innes had to testify under oath that he had not listened to the songs at all while composing the Rutles' songs, but had created them completely originally based on what he remembered various songs by the Beatles sounding like at different times. Many years later, Innes' own music publisher would demand a co-writing credit for Innes, from Beatles-influenced band Oasis for their 1994 song "Whatever", as it directly lifted parts of its melody from Innes' 1973 song "How Sweet to Be an Idiot". This event was subsequently referenced in the Rutles' song "Shangri-La" on their 1996 re-union album The Rutles Archaeology, which was itself a parody of The Beatles Anthology.
After Rutland Weekend Television, Innes went on to make a solo series in 1979 on BBC television, The Innes Book of Records, which ran for three series until 1981. The series offered an early example of music video presentation, albeit on a shoestring BBC budget, centred around new recordings of many of Innes' older compositions along with new material written specially for the show. In keeping with Innes' usual whimsically surreal style, each episode would be linked by a loose and often absurdist theme and would also feature an eccentric guest performer (such as Stanley Unwin or Percy Edwards) or musician (such as Ivor Cutler or Jake Thackray). Innes' former bandmate Vivian Stanshall also appeared in one episode, reciting his own surrealist monologue about the English seaside.
Neil Innes