John Cleese thinks money has spoiled the new James Bond films.

Speaking to ShortList magazine, the 'Monty Python' funnyman explained: "I didn't see ['Skyfall'], because I have criticisms of the new Bond movies. Two things went wrong, the plots became so impossibly obscure that even professional writers couldn't figure out what they were about; and the action scenes, which are supposed to make the adrenaline run, go on far too long.

"They discovered these movies were popular in places such as the Philippines and South Korea, and so they dropped the humour because no one there is going to understand jokes about the British class system.

"They're financially incredibly clever, as the take goes up by $100 million every movie, but one of the great things I've learnt in the last few years is just how much money spoils everything."

And John - who's also appeared in the 'Harry Potter' franchise - extended his criticism to TV bosses, who he suggested often lack the foresight to see what will and won't be successful.

He explained: "If you look at the meeting that was held with the heads of department at the BBC when we did 'Python', seven out of nine of them thought the first show was a disaster. These are people who whose living is made out of making television programmes, and they couldn't see anything in a show that was about to influence most of the comics in the English-speaking world... They just couldn't see it."