Forty years have passed since the release of Monty Python's Meaning of Life (1983). It proved to be the last film made by the original six members of a team that had transformed comedy since joining forces on a BBC sketch show in 1969. But Cinema Paradiso asks, what happened next?
Having covered the pre-history and glory days of Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969-74) in And Now For Something Completely Python, we move on to the solo careers of John Cleese, Graham Chapman, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, while also paying fond tribute to such stalwarts as Neil Innes, Carol Cleveland, and Connie Booth.
Post-Python Cleese
Like The Beatles before them, the members of Monty Python have all enjoyed successful solo careers. Frustratingly, a proportion of their ventures are not available on disc and are unlikely ever to be so. However, with over 100,000 titles in its catalogue, Cinema Paradiso is more likely than most to have what you'e looking for.
The busiest solo Python has been John Cleese, who was already appearing in features like Kevin Billington's Interlude (1968) and The Rise and Rise of Michael Rimmer (1970), Joseph McGrath's The Bliss of Mrs Blossom and The Magic Christian, and Philip Saville's The Best House in London (all 1969) before the Pythons took off. During the run of the series, he also formed an unlikely 18-episode partnership with the incomparable Les Dawson from Series 8 of Sez Les (1969-76), which is well worth renting in its own right.
Cleese and Chapman bunked off to appear opposite David Niven in Rod Amateau's romp, The Statue (1971), while Cleese guested as a sex therapist in Ralph Thomas's The Love Ban (1973) before teaming with Connie Booth on Robert Young's short adaptation of Anton Chekhov's Romance With a Double Bass (1974), which might have included To Norway, Home of Giants (1979) among its DVD extras.
It's also surprising that no one has released business training shorts like Meetings, Bloody Meetings (1976), which Cleese made for his Video Arts company with onetime Ealing director Charles Crichton. Another odd miss is the TV-movie The Strange Case of the End of Civilization As We Know It (1977), in which Cleese plays Arthur Sherlock Holmes four years after he had essayed 221B Baker Street's finest in the Comedy Playhouse entry, 'Elementary, My Dear Watson'. However, his standout turn on The Muppet Show (1977) is available to rent and proved such a hit that he was invited back to cameo in Jim Henson's The Great Muppet Caper (1981). His appearances in benefit gigs for Amnesty International can also be seen on The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Early Years and The Secret Policeman's Ball: The Middle Years (both 2004), which also feature other Pythons.
In 1975, Cleese returned to the BBC as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers (1975-79). Helping and hindering in the running of a Torquay hotel were Prunella Scales as Sybil Fawlty, Connie Booth as Polly Sherman, and Andrew Sachs, as the Spanish waiter, Manuel. Based on a hotelier Cleese had encountered during his Python days, the series ran for 12 episodes and the media had a field day in early 2023 when he announced that he was working on a reboot with his writer daughter, Camilla. Amusingly his character in Jerry Zucker's Rat Race (2001) was named Donald Sinclair after Basil's inspiration.
Having popped up at an art gallery in the 'City of Death' episode of Doctor Who (1979) and demonstrated his straight acting talent as Petruchio in the BBC Television Shakespeare version of The Taming of the Shrew (1980), Cleese hooked up with Terry Gilliam to play Robin Hood in Time Bandits (1981) and with Chapman as Harvey 'Blind' Pew in Mel Damski's Yellowbeard (1983). He next donned uniform for Michael Blakemore's Privates on Parade (1982) and a ten-gallon hat for Lawrence Kasdan's underrated Western, Silverado (1985).
Thus far, Cleese had contented himself with supporting roles, as well as TV guest spots in The Goodies (1982), Whoops Apocalypse (1986), and Last of the Summer Wine (1993). But he took the lead of obsessively punctual headmaster Brian Stimpson in Christopher Morahan's take on the Michael Frayn farce, Clockwise (1986). He so enjoyed the experience that he created the role of Archie Leach in Charles Crichton's A Fish Called Wanda (1988), which brought a strait-laced lawyer into contact with American crooks Otto West (Kevin Kline) and Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis), and their animal-loving sidekick, Ken Pile (Michael Palin). While Kline won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, Cleese was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, while he and Palin took the acting honours at the BAFTAs.
In between, Cleese won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series as Dr Simon Finch-Royce in Cheers (1987). But, while he was being hailed as a sex symbol in certain quarters, he didn't let success turn his head, although he would later admit to having regretted turning down the roles played by mentor Peter Cook, Anthony Hopkins, and Robin Williams in Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride (1987), James Ivory's The Remains of the Day (1993), and Mike Nichols's The Birdcage (1996).
Always loyal to his fellow Pythons, Cleese took roles in Terry Jones's Erik the Viking (1989) and The Wind in the Willows (1996). He also accepted cameos in Christopher Guest's The Big Picture (1989) and Michael Winner's Bullseye! (1990) before playing Professor Waldman in Kenneth Branagh's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Dr Julius Plumford in Stephen Sommers's The Jungle Book (both 1994).
Things didn't quite work out when Cleese took the lead again in Fierce Creatures (1997), a zoo comedy that reunited Wanda co-stars Kline, Curtis, and Palin. Unhappy with the first cut, he had to hire Fred Schepisi for reshoots because original director Robert Young was unavailable. However, the reviews were still not enthusiastic and Cleese hasn't been the prime mover in any movie projects since.
When not being Emmy nomination for playing Dr Liam Neesam in four episodes of 3rd Rock From the Sun (1998-2001) and Lyle Finster in six episodes of Will & Grace (2003-04), Cleese was taking on the role of Q's assistant, R, opposite Pierce Brosnan's 007 in Michael Apted's The World Is Not Enough (1999) before being promoted to quartermaster in Lee Tamahori's Die Another Day (2002). Moreover, he was cast as Nearly Headless Nick in Chris Columbus's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002).
Among his other assignments around the turn of the millennium were Michael Winner's Parting Shots, Sam Weisman's The Out-of-Towners (both 1999), Andrew Bergman's Isn't She Great (2000), Ron Underwood's The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002), McG's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Gavin Grazer's Scorched (both 2003), Frank Coraci's Around the World in 80 Days (2004). Mike Binder's Man About Town (2006), Scott Derrickson's The Day the Earth Stood Still, and Harald Zwart's The Pink Panther 2 (both 2009), in which Cleese played Chief-Inspector Charles Dreyfus to Steve Martin's Inspector Jacques Clouseau.
If only we had access to The Art of Soccer With John Cleese (2006) or In the Wild: Operation Lemur (1998) and Here's Looking at You: The Evolution of the Human Face (2001), which Cleese narrated. However, his voice can be heard in a raft of animated offerings that includes An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991), The Swan Princess (1994), George of the Jungle (1997), The Magic Pudding (2000), Pinocchio (English dub, 2002), George of the Jungle 2 (2003), Valiant (2005), Charlotte's Web (2006), Igor (2008), Planet 51 (2009), Beethoven's Christmas Adventure, The Big Year, Winnie the Pooh (all 2011), Planes (2013), Get Squirrely (2015), Trolls (2016), The Littlest Reindeer, Charming (both 2018), Polar Squad (aka Arctic Dogs, 2019), and Rally Road Racers (2023). He's at his vocal best as King Harold opposite Julie Andrews's Queen Lillian in Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010), although he also amusingly helps out old mucker Terry Jones by voicing the chief alien in Absolutely Anything (2015).
By now needing cash to cope with an expensive divorce settlement, Cleese set off on The Alimony Tour (2011), which was recorded for posterity by Julia Knowles. He also played The Guv in Donovan Marsh's Spud (2010), Spud 2: The Madness Continues (2013), and Spud 3: Learning to Fly (2014). Having appeared in Yannis Smaragdis's The Pirate (aka God Loves Caviar, 2012), heart trouble caused him to be replaced by Patrick Stewart in Reshef Levi's Hunting Elephants (2013). However, Cleese received a story credit on Kirk DeMicco's The Croods (2013) before paying respective tribute to Michael White and George Harrison in Gracie Otto's The Last Impresario (2013) and Bill Jones, Kim Leggatt, and Bill Timlett's An Accidental Studio (2019), which told the story of HandMade.
Sadly, John Walker's Assholes: A Theory (2019) is currently off limits. But Cinema Paradiso users can catch Cleese as himself in Entourage (2010), as Minnie Driver's father in Speechless (2016), and Alison Steadman's husband in the BBC sitcom, Hold the Sunset (2018-19). More elusive are The Naked Wanderer (2019), Father Christmas Is Back (2021), and Daddy Daughter Trip (2022), but we can bring you Castille Landon's Albion: The Enchanted Stallion (2016), Dean Murphy's The Very Excellent Mr Dundee (2020), and Walt Becker's Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021). All being well, we shall also hope to offer Stephen Wallis's The Martini Shot and Roman Polanski's contentious New Year's Eve romp, The Palace (both 2023), as Cleese completes his 60th year in comedy.
Chapman & Idle
Ill health dogged Graham Chapman's post-Python career. Despite his alcoholism, he continued to write, notably teaming with Eric Idle and Barry Cryer in creating No, That's Me Over Here (1967-70) for Ronnie Corbett, who would also benefit from Chapman and Cryer's wit in The Prince of Denmark (1974). Turning to features, Chapman contributed the 'Wrath' and 'Gluttony' segments to Graham Stark's The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins and adopted the pen name of Jim Viles for Jim Clark's Rentadick (both 1971).
As an actor, he cropped up in Ralph Thomas's Doctor in Trouble (1970), Peter Medak's The Odd Job (1978), which he also co-wrote, Paul Krasny's teleplay Still Crazy Like a Fox (1987), and Hal Ashby's Pythonesque short, Jake's Journey (1988); He also created Yellowbeard because Keith Moon, the drummer of The Who, had always wanted to play Long John Silver. When he died, Chapman took over the role and enlisted Peter Cook and life partner David Sherlock to help with the script.
This proved to be the last film for Marty Feldman and Spike Milligan and is well worth a Cinema Paradiso click, as is Richard S. Miller's Looks Like a Brown Trouser Job (2005), which touches on Chapman's friendship with Moon in recalling his stint in the early 1980s as a public speaker. Another posthumous triumph, after Chapman succumbed to cancer at the age of just 48, was Bill Jones, Jeff Simpson, and Ben Timlett's A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman (2012), an animated treat that made use of an audio recording of Chapman's memoir and also featured the voices of Cleese, Jones, Palin, Gilliam, and Cleveland, as well as Cameron Diaz as Sigmund Freud.
Missing was Eric Idle, who was possibly off being godfather to David Bowie's son, Zowie, who is now the respected film-maker, Duncan Jones of Moon (2009) and Source Code (2011) fame. However, Idle never lived down to his name in the post-Python era. In addition to hosting the Radio One spoof Radio Five (1973-74), he also contributed sketches to The Two Ronnies (1971-78). His masterpiece in this period, however, was Rutland Weekend Television (1975-76), which really should be on disc, as it's consistently on a par with Python. Fortunately, Cinema Paradiso users can order his inspired Beatles parody, The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978), which features several brilliant pastiche songs by Neil Innes and spawned a surprisingly little-seen sequel,
The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch (2002).
Between Python films, Idle took a guest slot as an accident-prone cyclist in Amy Heckerling's National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) and voiced Wreck-Gar, the leader of the Junkions, in The Transformers: The Movie (1986). Having played Ko-Ko in the English National Opera's version of Gilbert and Sullivan The Mikado (1987), he was cast as French manservant, Jean Passepartout, alongside Pierce Brosnan's Phileas Fogg in Buzz Kulik's mini-series, Around the World in 80 Days (1989).
Idle was wasted as a ghost in the US sitcom, Nearly Departed (1989), which was based on the Roland Young trio of Norman Z. McLeod's Topper (1937) and Topper Takes a Trip (1938), and Roy Del Ruth's Topper Returns (1941). Moreover, starring vehicles like Jonathan Lynn's Nuns on the Run (1990), Leonard B. Stern's Missing Pieces (1992), and Robert Young's Splitting Heirs (1993) failed to live up to expectations, despite the latter featuring John Cleese. Even more dispiriting was An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998), a Tinseltown spoof in which Idle played the eponymous hack that tanked so badly that director Arthur Hiller removed his name from the credits.
Nevertheless, Idle became a familiar voice on British television thanks to his theme tune for the Richard Wilson sitcom, One Foot in the Grave (1990-2000). Settling into supporting roles, he graced Robert Downey's Too Much Sun (1990), Greg Beeman's Mom and Dad Save the World (1992), Brad Silberling's Casper (1995), and Hugh Wilson's Dudley Do-Right (1999). He also played the speedy Berthold in Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1989) and Mr Rat in Terry Jones's The Wind in the Willows.
Idle also began amassing voice credits in projects as different as Bruce Robinson's How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989), Frasier (1993-2004), Casper: Bumper (1995), The Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue, The Magic Sword: Quest For Camelot, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie (all 1998), Trey Parker's South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), Kevin Lima's 102 Dalmatians (2000), The Nutcracker and the Mouse King (2004), Shrek the Third, and Delgo (2008). Perhaps most notably, he appeared four times as documentarist Declan Desmond in The Simpsons (1989-).
Away from the screen, Idle won a Tony Award for Spamalot (2005), the musical based on Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) that he co-wrote with John Du Prez. A filmed record of the show has never been released, but a movie version has long been in the works. He reunited with DuPrez on Not the Messiah (2007), a one-off musical extravaganza at the Royal Albert Hall that reunited him with Jones, Palin, Gilliam, Cleveland, and Innes. Another all-star cast was assembled for What About Dick?, a 2007 stage read-through of a riotous farce that was filmed in 2012 without being released to disc. Come on, someone!!
Idle reached a global audience when singing 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' during the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympics, which can be relived in Caroline Rowland's First: The Official Film of the London 2012 Olympics. In addition to an airplane cameo in Nick Marck's National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation 2: Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure, he also sang 'The Lumberjack Song' at The Concert For George (both 2003), a tribute to George Harrison, who had guested in All You Need Is Cash (along with Michael Palin) and performed 'The Pirate Song' on Rutland Weekend Television. Eight years later, Idle contributed to Martin Scorsese's Harrison documentary, Living in the Material World (2011), and the aforementioned HandMade study, An Accidental Studio.
Since headlining the tour video, Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python (2002), and cameoing in Hollywood Homicide (2003), Idle has narrated Tommy O'Haver's Ella Enchanted (2004), appeared as himself in Paul Provenza's documentary, The Aristocrats (2005), composed 'Really Nice Day' for Steve 'Spaz' Williams's The Wild (2006) and the title song for Graham Annabale's The Boxtrolls (2014). Having voiced Salubrious Gat in Jones's Absolutely Anything, Idle coaxed Stephen Hawking and Brian Cox into guesting on his BBC2 science lecture, The Entire Universe (2016). And if you still aren't convinced, check out his best bits on Comedy Greats: Eric Idle (2008).
Gilliam, Etc.
Outside Python, Terry Gilliam's acting opportunities have been confined to John Landis's Spies Like Us (1985); Robert 'Rosto' Stoces's short, The Monster of Nix (2011); Federico Sfascia's I rec u (2012); and the Wachowskis' Jupiter Ascending (2015), as well as Albert Dupontel's Locked Out (2006), 9 Month Stretch (2013), and Bye Bye Morons (2020). Cinema Paradiso users can also see him in such documentaries as Gilles Penso's Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan (2011) and Charlie Paul's Ralph Steadman profile, For No Good Reason (2012), although it's a shame that nobody has seen fit to release Kuba Mikurda's Love Express: The Disappearance of Walerian Borowczyk (2020), as he's a fascinating film-maker (see our New Waves in Polish Cinema article for more information).
Gilliam has, however, taken the odd part in the 13 features he's directed, along with the lesser seen shorts, Miracle of Flight (1975) and The Wholly Family (2011). We regret we can't linger in more detail over Jabberwocky (1977), Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), 12 Monkeys (1995), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Brothers Grimm, Tideland (both 2005), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), and The Zero Theorem (2013), but such is la vie.
Four years before he became a British citizen, Gilliam was personally selected by J.K. Rowling to direct Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2002). But the studio, spooked by Gilliam's reputation for indulging his vision, plumped for the more risk averse Chris Columbus. Before we move on, we sincerely hope that The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018) isn't Gilliam's last outing. However, the fact the project started in 1999 - as Keith Fulton and Luis Pepe reveal in Lost in La Mancha (2002) and He Dreams of Giants (2019) - stands as testimony to his artistic tenacity.
First seen in Roger Graef's short, The Flying Alberts (1965), which can be rented from Cinema Paradiso on The Lacey Rituals: Films By Bruce Lacey (2012), Neil Innes hit the big time with an uncredited bit in The Beatles road movie, The Magical Mystery Tour (1967), an experience he recalled in Dave Lambert's Magical Mystery Tour Memories (2008). Ensconced in the counterculture through his membership of The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, he joined the Python touring troupe, often playing 'I'm the Urban Spaceman', which had earned him an Ivor Novello Award.
His musical talents led to the BBC entrusting him with The Innes Book of Records (1979-81) - another title loooong overdue a DVD release - after his exceptional contributions to Rutland Weekend Television and All You Need Is Cash. Innes further helped out Eric Idle by doing the whistling on 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' in Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979). No wonder Burt Kearns called his documentary The Seventh Python (2008).
A regular on such cherished programmes as The Book Tower (1979-89) and Away With Words (1998), Innes was also involved with Tiswas (1974-2007), as well as such other children's classics as Puddle Lane (1985-88) and The Raggy Dolls (1986-94). He got to relive his heyday in The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band: 40th Anniversary Celebrations (2006) and kept touring and recording before his death from a heart attack on 29 December 2019.
Born in East Sheen, but raised in the United States, Carol Cleveland trained at RADA and landed roles in such shows as Dixon of Dock Green, The Avengers, The Saint, The Man in Room 17, Man in a Suitcase, Father, Dear Father, The Liver Birds, The Lotus Eaters, The Persuaders, Are You Being Served?, and Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) before becoming and while remaining a mainstay in 30 of the 45 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. She was mostly seen in single episodes, so non-Cleveland completists might prefer to seek her out in such features as Peter Graham Scott's The Cracksman (1963) and Mister Ten Per Cent (1967), Gerry O'Hara's The Pleasure Girls (1965), Charles Chaplin's A Countess From Hong Kong (1967), Jim Clark's Every Home Should Have One (1970), and Clive Donner's Vampira (1974).
In 1971, Cleveland joined Cleese, Chapman, Jones, and Palin in Mike Wooller's short, Who's There?, before reuniting with the latter pair in Digby Turpin's Guinness training film, 'Henry Cleans Up' (1974), which can be had from Cinema Paradiso through the BFI compilation, Roll Out the Barrel: The British Pub on Film (2012). In addition to small-screen spots in Only Fools and Horses and Toast of London, minor feature roles also followed in Blake Edwards's The Return of the Pink Panther (1975), Gerry O'Hara's The Brute (1977), Bob Swaim's Half Moon Street (1986), Ian Toynton's Annie 2: A Royal Adventure! (1995), and Martin Gooch's The Search For Simon (2013). Cleveland even played Queen Elizabeth II in Adam Donen's post-Brexit satire, Alice, Through the Looking (2021) before turning 80, appearing on First Dates, and retiring from acting in the same week in 2022.
Connie Booth stopped acting after playing Miss March in a BBC adaptation of Edith Wharton's The Buccaneers (1994) and worked as a psychotherapist before retiring. Having famously collaborated with Cleese on Romance With a Double Bass and Fawlty Towers, she struck out on her own in British TV series like Dickens of London (1976), Little Lord Fauntleroy (1980), Worzel Gummidge (1981), Bergerac (1987), and The Tomorrow People (1994). She came under suspicion as Sylvia Bassington-ffrench in a tele-adaptation of Agatha Christie's Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980) and excelled as the schizophrenic daughter of an abusive father in John Purdie's BBC film, The Story of Ruth (1981), which really should be on disc. As should Tunde Ikoli's Smack and Thistle (1989), an addiction drama in which Booth plays Ms Kane.
Having essayed Laura Lyons in Douglas Hickox's The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983), Booth took character roles in David Jones's 84 Charing Cross Road (1987), Neil Jordan's High Spirits (1988), and Vadim Jean and Gary Sinyor's Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), which was released in the same year she dubbed dialogue in the English version of the anime series, Yu Yu Hakusho. She bade farewell to Pythondom by co-starring with Michael Palin in a period drama we shall discuss below.
Jones & Palin
While still Pythoning, Terry Jones contributed as a writer to 13 episodes of The Two Ronnies (1971-86) before popping up in a very different kind of comedy series, as a drunken vicar in the 'Nasty' episode of The Young Ones (1984). While he continued to work on television - there's no excuse for his BBC film, The Rupert the Bear Story: A Tribute to Alfred Bestall (1982), being unavailable on disc - he focussed on cinema between Python pictures like And Now For Something Completely Different (1971), Monty Python Live At the Hollywood Bowl (1982), and Monty Python's Meaning of Life (1983), the latter of which he directed. That said, Giles Foster got to direct Consuming Passions (1988), which was based on Secrets (1973), a BBC play that Jones had written with Michael Palin
Much of his script for Jim Henson's Labyrinth (1986) was revised, but he did return to the fantasy realm with Blazing Dragons (1996-98), an animated series he co-created with Gavin Scott. Elsewhere, Jones directed Personal Services (1987), Erik the Viking (1989), The Wind in the Willows (1996), and Absolutely Anything (2015), while also lending his voice to Mick Jackson's L.A. Story (1991), Claude Zidi's Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar (1999), Stefan Fjeldmark and Michael Hegner's Help! I'm a Fish (2000), and the kids series, Dinotopia (2002). Like Gilliam, Jones also guested in a couple of films by Albert Dupontel, as God in The Creator (1999) and a homeless man in Locked Out (2006).
He paid homage to comic idols in the live shows Peter Cook: A Posthumous Tribute (2002) and Spike Milligan: I Told You I Was Ill (2009), the tele-doc In Charlie Chaplin's Footsteps (2015), and the stage play, Jeepers Creepers (2016), which was adapted to film by Barnaby Eaton-Jones in 2020, with Wink Taylor as Marty Feldman and Michael Palin as a newsreader. However, Jones increasingly used television to explore his love of history in such acclaimed series as The Ancient World According to Terry Jones (1998), Ancient Rome: Hidden History of Rome, Ancient Egyptians: Hidden History of Egypt (both 2002), Ancient Rome (2007), and Geoffrey Chaucer and the Canterbury Tales (2011). He also teamed with economics professor Theo Kocken for his last work, Boom Bust Boom (2015).
Michael Palin's is a surprising name to find among the co-writers of Ralph Thomas's penis transplant comedy, Percy (1971). But his casting as Harris opposite Tim Curry's Jerome and Stephen Moore's George feels a better fit in Stephen Frears's Three Men in a Boat (1975), which was adapted for television from Jerome K. Jerome's timeless novel by Tom Stoppard. There was something of the same atmosphere about Ripping Yarns (1976-79), a collection of nine tall tales about the British character that was co-scripted with Terry Jones to showcase Palin's comic versatility. Each episode is a corker, but we might nudge Cinema Paradiso users in the direction of 'Tomkinson's Schooldays' and 'The Testing of Eric Olthwaite'.
By the time Palin completed the Gilliam trilogy of Jabberwocky, Time Bandits (which he co-wrote) and Brazil, he had started heading in a new direction when he fronted 'Confessions of a Trainspotter' and 'Derry to Kerry' for Great Railway Journeys of the World (1980). However, he would have excelled in Richard Loncraine's The Missionary (1982), Malcolm Mowbray's A Private Function (1984), and Tristram Powell's East of Ipswich (1987) by the time the wander bug started to bite.
Cinema Paradiso users seeking one of the finest travelling companions in television history, should book their tickets for Around the World in 80 Days (1989), Pole to Pole (1992), Michael Palin's Great Railway Journeys (1994), Full Circle (1997), Hemingway Adventure (1999), Sahara (2002), Himalaya (2004), New Europe (2007), Brazil (2012), North Korea (2018), Michael Palin: Travels of a Lifetime (2020), and Into Iraq (2022).
When Palin returned to the day job, he scooped a BAFTA for playing stuttering Ken Pile in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) and reunited with Cleese on Fierce Creatures (1997). In between times, he guested unnoticed in Nicolas Roeg's The Witches (1990), and revealed a darker side as teacher Jim Nelson in Alan Bleasdale's gripping drama series, GBH. However, he changed tack completely to play the Reverend Francis Ashby, a 19th-century Oxford don based on Palin's great-grandfather, in Tristram Powell's American Friends (both 1991), which co-starred Connie Booth.
Sadly, we're unlikely to see his performance in Nora Ephron's You've Got Mail (1998), as his scenes were cut. He also withdrew from Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, although he did voice the Sun in Terry Jones's The Wind in the Willows, while also speaking for Rat in Dave Unwin's The Wind in the Willows (1995) and The Willows in Winter (1996). Despite spending much time on his adventures, Palin did pause to make the art documentaries Palin on Redpath (1997), 'The Bright Side of Life' (2000), and The Mystery of Hammershøi (2005), which were anthologised on the BBC disc, Palin on Art (2005). However, Auntie has yet to collect The Ladies Who Loved Matisse (2004), Michael Palin in Wyeth World (2013), and Quest For Artemisia (2015) into a second collection. Tish, tish.
Staying in actuality mode, Palin appeared in The Life and Legacy of Spike Milligan, Attenborough in Paradise and Other Personal Voyages (both 2005), 'The Last Days of World War I' (2008), Produced By George Martin (2011), and The Wipers Times (2013), as well as the various Python-related documentaries we have already covered these two article. However, he edged back towards performing by voicing Gariiiiiii in Robbie the Reindeer: Close Encounters of the Herd Kind (2007) and Ernie Clicker in Arthur Christmas (2011).
Between publishing volumes of his diary, Palin sprang another surprise when he played Yorkshire care home resident Tom Parfitt in Remember Me (2014), a supernatural serial that was written by Gwyneth Hughes and directed by Ashley Pearce. Subsequently, having taken over from Oliver Postgate as the new narrator of Clangers (2015-), he has returned to comedy as Vyacheslav Molotov in Armando Iannucci's The Death of Stalin (2017) and played William Makepeace Thackeray in Vanity Fair (2018), The Green Man in Worzel Gummidge (2019), and a museum curator in the 2020 'I Carumbus' episode of The Simpsons. He even turned up in David Tennant and Michael Sheen's Covid-19 comedy, Staged (2021), Whatever next?
