Michael Palin CBE

Michael Palin CBE is an actor, writer and broadcaster. Whilst at University he met his future Monty Python co-star Terry Jones. Palin and Jones went on to work as part of a comedy writing team for the BBC on programmes, such as The Ken Dodd Show and The Frost Report. Other members of the team included Barry Cryer, Ronnie Barker, Ronnie Corbett, and future Monty Python members Graham Chapman, John Cleese and Eric Idle.

During this period Cleese contacted Palin about doing the show that would ultimately become Monty Python's Flying Circus. Palin's biggest international role in a movie outside of Python was as stuttering would-be assassin Ken Pile in A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.

In recent years, Palin has appeared as presenter in a series of travel programmes made for the BBC e.g. Michael Palin: Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Full Circle. These programmes have been broadcast around the world.