Sir Michael Palin never missed filming in 20 years despite his ‘days of despair’
This week, the Monty Python legend will look back on four of his biggest TV trips in BBC2’s Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime
Sir Michael Palin says he has never missed a day’s filming in 20 years of documentary-making – despite many “days of despair”.
This week the Monty Python legend looks back on four of his biggest TV trips in BBC2’s Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime.
And the 77-year-old, who made his first travel series Around The World In 80 Days in 1988, says: “I was determined to see the journeys through.
“But there were days of despair, like when altitude sickness wiped me out on the Anapurna trail, and tainted camel liver had me racing for non-existent toilets across the Sahara Desert.”
Asked about the state of UK comedy, Sir Michael said that banning topics is “dangerous”.
He added: “Everybody, myself included, should be up for being laughed at or joked with.
”Comedy has to reflect the way life is. It is very important, especially in times of crisis. People need laughter more than ever.”
Sir Michael said: “If something is funny and makes people laugh, then I’m afraid that just happens and you can’t say, ‘It shouldn’t be funny, stop making it funny’.”
The star, who was knighted last year, said that “the laughter that Python created was from general silliness. And looking at human behaviour and saying that, ‘we’re all idiots’.”
And he said he would “utterly object to” getting “laughs from bullying and belittling people”.
But he added: “Any attempt by authority to say, ‘No, you’ve got to make sure that we’re portrayed in a serious manner’, is a dangerous thing.
“Everybody, myself included, should be up for being laughed at or joked with. It is the responsibility of the writers what you choose to write about and how you choose to play it. And that I think is up to the individual writer and performer.”
Asked whether “PC culture” can have a stifling effect on comedy, he said: “I think it can do, yes. Anything that says, ‘well, you mustn’t talk about this particular area of life…’ that’s as wrong as saying, ‘If you’re writing a novel, you shouldn’t write a novel about this kind of life’.
“One needs jokes, one needs laughter. But you shouldn’t stifle it by decree.”
“You should stifle it if it’s bad and nasty and it’s something that you don’t want to do yourself, then stop doing it.”
After scoring huge success with Monty Python, by the mid-80s Michael was looking for a new challenge.
Then, out of the blue, a phone call offered him the chance to present Around the World in 80 Days kick-starting a whole new phase of his career. The series was a huge hit, and paved the way for subsequent, even more ambitious journeys.
He said: “In just over 20 years I filmed eight series in every corner of the globe, building up an enormous stack of memories and experiences. They were indeed Travels of a Lifetime and I sometimes think I need another lifetime to take them all in. This series gives me a chance to look back and relive some extraordinary moments with extraordinary people in extraordinary places.”
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