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