Michael Palin to bring stage show to York Grand Opera House

HERE’S an announcement that will delight Sir Michael Palin’s legions of fans: “I don't think I'm ever going to stop.”

The enormously popular presenter, comedy legend, bestselling author and actor is 81 years old, but he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. He is still twice as busy as people half his age.

The indefatigable star’s latest project is a new stage show. There and Back - The Diary Tour 2024 brings to life Michael’s forthcoming diary. Also called There and Back, it will be published by Weidenfeld & Nicolson on September 26.

The tour starts on 15 September 15, with a date at the Grand Opera House in York on October 3.

Like Michael himself, it is captivating, compelling, charismatic, charming and comic. Talking to me in the run-up to the tour, he calls it, “70 per cent comedy and 30 per cent tragedy – much like life!”

The show is based on the fourth instalment of Michael’s acclaimed diaries, covering the years 1999 to 2009. As one millennium rolls over into the next and Michael moves into middle age, his schedule is fuller than ever. Drawing on rarely seen photos and video, he relives the landmark moments from the decade.

Michael takes us behind-the-scenes of his most productive period, at the same time as highlighting a wider world which is replete with infinite possibilities and new, unexpected perils.

Over two mesmerising hours, Michael recollects how the world was rocked by the successive seismic shocks of 9/11, 7/7 and the global financial crash. Employing the magnetism and warmth that have made him a beloved figure the world over, Michael recounts the minutiae of living in a world battered by such potent winds of change. 

And yet amid all the tumult, there is one constant: Michael’s unquenchable inquisitiveness and endless thirst for adventure. The show tracks his life as he films four blockbuster travel documentaries – Hemingway Adventure, Sahara, Himalaya and New Europe – and reaches the height of his fame as a much-loved TV traveller.

Michael Palin who is heading to York this autumn for a show at the Grand Opera House. Photo: Denise Bradley.

The presenter also hones in on his domestic life and recounts how five years after the last of his children flew the nest, he began his most affecting journey yet – as a devoted grandfather. 

Michael, who still writes a daily diary, gives his own précis of the show. “It covers how my career panned out during that decade. I actually had no plans to carry on travelling at all. I wanted to go back to acting and writing. I was in fact writing a novel at the time. But I ended up being tempted back to globetrotting and in the end made a number of TV journeys that turned out to be among the best.

“There were all these other things going on in the background. We think it was quiet time. But of course, there was 9/11, 7/7, the CJD crisis, when cattle were burnt in enormous numbers, and the war in Iraq.”

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On a happier note: “I was gathering a number of very good friends around me. There are people like David Attenborough, Barry Cryer, and Alan Bennett, who feature a lot in the diaries. I always benefited from their wise words, and I feel very privileged to have spent so much time with them.”

Michael will also be talking about his enduring friendship with his fellow members of the Monty Python team. He says: “The best thing is, when we do get together, we still make each other laugh. That's the basic thing which holds us together, our humour and our delight in laughter and the same kind of jokes.”

He adds: “John Cleese does a very good satire of my travel shows. He always says: ‘Who's seen one of Michael's travel programmes? All he asks is: Where did you get that hat?’!”

Assessing the cultural legacy of Monty Python – who have bequeathed to the world such timeless comedy moments as the “Dead Parrot” sketch - Michael recalls: “ In the early noughties we were persuaded into creating a lot of Python collectibles. One of them was a wine called the Norwegian Blue Red. We actually printed a label with that on it.”

The Pythons: Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam and John Cleese

With a laugh, he adds: “I realize my contribution to the world as it is today is as a parrot salesman. I never forget that!”

Another major topic in the show is Michael’s family life. “I think a good diary includes whatever is happening to you at the time, and a lot of my diaries are about being at home and how we all get on and how we are.

“So in these diaries, our last child leaves home, so it's just my wife and I together. I turned 60 in 2003, and we discussed whether I would retire. Of course, I didn’t, but that was part of the family debate at the time.”

Palin's new stage show bound for York Grand Opera House in October

Is there an overarching theme to “There and Back - The Diary Tour 2024”? “One thing I talk about a lot is learning new things. I discuss what sort of longevity my work might have and whether I can keep going. There is lots of worrying about where I am going and making mistakes along the way.

“So it's a holistic look at 11 years of my life when I was going from youthful exuberance into middle age. But the thing is, although I was middle aged, I didn’t stop. There seemed to be an awful lot going on. And I know that's how it's always going to be. I think I’ll die in harness!”