Michael Palin Saved my Life (sort of)

24 April 2025

I had a fairly difficult time growing up, and there were many things that I didn’t have or have access to, but thankfully, comedy was not one of them. I was born in Wolverhampton during the mid-1970s and all of my holidays were generally spent either at the end of a motorway or an A road. My entertainment consisted mostly of three or four terrestrial television channels, plus cassette tapes from the local library and records from second hand record shops. When I was quite young, I was lucky to get access to a Betamax video player and the cartoon version of Jasper Carrott’s monologue entitled ‘The Mole’ (some kind soul has since uploaded a version to YouTube). I adored this cartoon and played it until the videotape withered perished: I was also capable of (much to everyone else’s annoyance) reciting it word for word, action for action.

I was also encouraged to watch Monty Python’s Flying Circus as a youngster, which was (when viewed in retrospect) probably less child-friendly for me than my parent’s memory allowed for. Bearing in mind that my parents watched it as adults at the end of the 1960s / beginning of the 1970s and I did not see it until the early 1980s, some of the content is not particularly suitable for a very young child. However, as a bonus, I found a direct connection to one member of the group, in that Eric Idle went to a school that was near to where I grew up and I can remember him opining that his one ambition when he was young was to ‘escape from Wolverhampton’.

By the time that I was able to determine my own interests and direction, I had gathered a formidable collection of comedy: The Secret Policeman’s Other Ball/s, The Goodies, Pete and Dud, the Goons, Mike Harding, plus The Young Ones, Not the Nine O’Clock News, The Comic Strip, Blackadder and latterly moving onto the delights of Absolutely at the end of the 80s / early 1990s. Many of these shows had music, or musical interludes, in particular, I can remember when I first got hold of a copy of the ‘Monty Python Sings’ on vinyl and being amazed that there were so many songs from the shows and films. Even now, I can recite large chunks of their lyrics, and I have been known to sing ‘Oliver Cromwell’ to myself to remember dates and facts about the subject. Whilst my musical ability is very limited, I can read (and sight read) music, play a little piano, mandolin and violin (same strings) and would often try to work out how to play some of the tunes for myself.

Anyway, in 1988, Michael Palin decided to shift away from his comedy writing and acting roots, and he started the first of his travelogues entitled ‘Around the World in 80 Days’. This was of great interest to me at the time, not only because I was allowed to watch (he was seen as ‘acceptable’ viewing), but because he kept his easy-going demeanour when dealing with these new and interesting situations, so I followed his exploits with interest. It was the epitome of Reithian values, but what that show also did was to plant a very important idea in my head: Michael Palin had shown me a world that was literally just waiting for me to go and explore. So, my first step was to go and meet the chap himself, and I discovered that he was doing a book signing in Sheffield. I found the address (the rather lovely sounding ‘Meadow Hall shopping Centre’) bought a return ticket and bimbled off for a day trip. I managed to get there in time and because I had pre-bought my book, I ended up at the head of the queue for the signing… I told him that I admired his work and that I was planning to go abroad myself soon, so he signed my book and wished me happy travels.