Famous and important people have companies. Lots of them use lawyers and accountants to handle their business affairs. But occasionally they have to sign their own paperwork.

I've spent a bit of lockdown sperlunking through some of the old and interesting documents. Here's what I found, feel free to add your own curios in the comments box.

The Beatles

I'm a big Beatles fan. You can read the documents related to "The Beatles Ltd" going back to 1967.

And there, nestled in a document changing The Beatles Ltd to Apple Music Ltd is George Harrison's signature.

Monty Python

All the documents I could find were signed by lawyers - but this one has a nice titbit.

James Bond

Sir Sean Connery was briefly a director of Independent News And Media Ltd

Science Fiction (Double Feature)

The British Science Fiction Association has a long and turbulent history.

Right at its incorporation are signatures from Brian Aldiss, E.C. Tubb, H. Kenneth Bulmer, and others.

Spies like us

Former head of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington became a Director of Refuge.

Of course, that's probably not her real signature!

Amy Winehouse

The troubled singer was the Director of several companies.

Steve Jobs

Is there a point to any of this?

Well, it's not exactly like I can leave the house to go autograph hunting. Right?

REG: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies when he can't have babies?!
FRANCIS: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
REG: Symbolic of his struggle against reality.

It feels a bit... Well... Grim. In 2020 it kinda reeks of transphobia. Lots of people on the Internet agree it's mean spirited and - if you're daft enough to read the comments under the video - lots of people agree with Reg's assessment that Stan cannot be Loretta.

Except... That's not what happens. I hate to ruin things by, y'know, actually watching the film - but to say Reg is a bigot simply isn't true. It ignores the fact that Python didn't often go for a single joke at the expense of a marginalised person.

Witness what happens a few scenes later, when the PFJ think that Brian has died.

REG: I now propose that all seven of these ex-brothers be now entered in the minutes as probationary martyrs to the cause.
LORETTA: I second that, Reg.
REG: Thank you, Loretta. On the nod. Siblings!

How about that! Reg has fully accepted Loretta, doesn't deadname her, and has moved to a more gender-neutral term for his comrades.

Reg may be a pompous arse, but he's an inclusive pompous arse!

By the end of the film - just before the big song and dance - we see how Reg has evolved.

BRIAN: Reg!
REG: Hello, sibling Brian.
BRIAN: Thank God you've come, Reg.
REG: 'We, the People's Front of Judea, brackets, officials, end brackets, do hereby convey our sincere fraternal and sisterly greetings to you, Brian, on this, the occasion of your martyrdom.
BRIAN: What?
REG: Your death will stand as a landmark in the continuing struggle to liberate the parent land from the hands of the Roman Imperialist aggressors, excluding those concerned with drainage, medicine, roads, housing, education, viniculture, and any other Romans contributing to the welfare of Jews of both sexes and hermaphrodites.

Is Reg perfect? No. He makes a series of cruel and insensitive remarks to his friend when she confides in him. Yes, it's played for laughs and - if you're not paying attention - the joke's on Loretta. But look closer.

If Reg can do it, so can you.