5 December 2024

Michael Palin Q&A: “When was I happiest? On stage with Monty Python”

The comedian on HMS Erebus and life as an octogenarian.

Michael Palin was born in 1943 in Sheffield. He is an actor, comedian, writer and TV presenter. He is best known as a member of Monty Python and for his travel documentaries.

What’s your earliest memory?

I have a very early memory of collecting some government-supplied orange juice when I was about five with my mum on Leopold Street in Sheffield.

Who are your heroes?

My childhood hero was the Australian cricketer called Keith Miller. To me he represented athleticism, good looks and carefree enjoyment of the game. My adult hero would possibly be David Attenborough – he’s the personification of how best to live a life – but also Johnny Cash. He had that sort of moody, alienated air.

What book last changed your thinking?

I read a book called Wifedom: Mrs Orwell’s Invisible Life by Anna Funder about George Orwell’s wife. Throughout his life, she wasn’t really mentioned much. The book thoroughly and successfully showed how important an influence she was and how she stuck by him even in the most difficult times. The idea of the power behind the throne is a very good subject and something which affected many more people. It made me think differently.

What would be your Mastermind specialist subject?

I think the only one I’d be any good at would be the voyages of HMS Erebus. I wrote a book called Erebus: The Story of a Ship about this ship that had gone further south to Antarctica than anyone ever travelled in human history. It was then used to take Sir John Franklin to the Northwest Passage and got trapped in the ice: the whole expedition perished. It was discovered about four years ago underneath the North Canadian sea. I could probably answer most questions about HMS Erebus.

In which time and place, other than your own, would you like to live?

Paris in the 1920s. Just after the First World War a lot of artists were gathering in Paris – Picasso, Matisse, Hemingway – taking advantage of the peace after all the horrors of the war. I’m always fascinated by how people live through dark times, or recover from them.

What’s currently bugging you?

I’m over 80 – things bug me all the time, like the postal service. But also the erosion of language. The use of words has gone in public life; not in books, but in public life. Words have been reduced to a set of numbers so they can fit on to algorithms.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

“Follow your heart and let your head catch up.” It is counter to what most people would say: “Work it out in your head first, and then your heart will follow.”

What single thing would make your life better?

The reversal of Brexit. I am somebody who much prefers a world without self-inflicted barriers.

When were you happiest?

The first night of Monty Python at the O2 Arena in 2014. All of us in our seventies put on a Python show and none of us were sure how it was going to work. But when we stepped out on that stage, the warmth of the audience was absolutely terrific and it carried on throughout the show. It was a wonderfully happy surprise.