Michael Palin

John Wilson talks to actor, comedian, broadcaster and writer Sir Michael Palin. A founding member of the hugely influential comedy troupe Monty Python’s Flying Circus, he wrote and performed in its five television series and three feature films including The Life Of Brian. Other big screen credits include A Fish Called Wanda, Brazil, The Missionary and The Death of Stalin. Michael is also a globetrotting documentary presenter and bestselling author.

Michael recalls the early influence of listening to radio comedy as a child, especially the absurdist humour of The Goon Show devised by Spike Milligan. Meeting Terry Jones at Oxford University in 1962 proved to be a life-changing event as the two soon started working on sketches together and after graduating were hired for David Frost's satirical television show The Frost Report. It was on this programme that the duo first worked with future Python members John Cleese, Graham Chapman and Eric Idle.

Starring in Alan Bleasdale's 1991 ground breaking television drama GBH allowed Michael a departure from comedy but also set the bar high for future acting roles which he increasingly forwent in favour of writing and presenting documentaries, including a particular favourite about the Danish Painter Vilhelm Hammershøi.

Producer: Edwina Pitman

Archive :

A Fish Called Wanda, Charles Crichton, 1988
Take It From Here, BBC Light Programme, 1954
The Goon Show, The Man Who Never Was, BBC Light Programme, 1958
Comic Roots, BBC1, 1983
That Was The Week That Was, BBC, 1963
The Frost Report, BBC1, 1966
Do Not Adjust Your Set, ITV, 1967
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, BBC1, 1969-1970
The Meaning of Life, Terry Jones, 1983
Friday Night, Saturday Morning, BBC2, 1979
The Life of Brian, Terry Jones, 1979
GBH, Alan Bleasdale, Channel 4, 1991
The Death of Stalin, Armando Iannucci, 2017
Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershøi, BBC4, 2008