61-497: HMF may refer to: HandMade Films , a British film company Hannah Montana Forever ( Hannah Montana season 4) His or Her Majesty's Frigate, a ship prefix; see Her Majesty's Ship Hmong Don language , spoken in Vietnam Human milk fortifier Hydroxymethylfurfural , an organic compound derived from dehydration of certain sugars Hypergol Maintenance Facility , at
122-657: A First World War drama titled The Wipers Times written by Ian Hislop and Nick Newman . At the Cannes Film Festival in 2016, it was announced that Palin was set to star alongside Adam Driver in Terry Gilliam 's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote . Palin, however, dropped out of the film after it ran into a financial problem. While speaking at the Edinburgh International Film Festival , Palin announced that he
183-659: A penis transplant . After the Monty Python television series ended in 1974, the Palin/Jones team worked on Ripping Yarns , an intermittent television comedy series broadcast over three years from 1976. They had earlier collaborated on the play Secrets from the BBC series Black and Blue in 1973. He played the lead role of the peasant Dennis in Terry Gilliam's 1977 film Jabberwocky . (He had earlier played
244-591: A reverse takeover agreement with Hand Made Holdings Ltd announced on 15 May 2006. The Equator Group reincorporated as HandMade Plc on 8 June 2006 and the new company was traded on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) stock exchange (changing its ticker symbol from EQG to HMF). Trading of HandMade plc shares was suspended several times, notably June to October 2009, after the company failed to provide 2008 audit results to shareholders. On 29 April 2010, Almorah Services Ltd tendered
305-618: A travel writer and travel documentarian in programmes broadcast on the BBC . His journeys have taken him across the world, including the North and South Poles , the Sahara , the Himalayas , Eastern Europe, and Brazil ; in 2018, he visited North Korea , documenting his visit to the isolated country in a series broadcast on Channel 5 . Palin visited Nigeria in 2023 to make a travel documentary that
366-400: A 2018 poll for Yorkshire Day he was named the greatest Yorkshireman ever, ahead of Sean Bean and Patrick Stewart . In September 2013, Moorlands School, Leeds, named one of their school houses "Palin" after him. The University of St Andrews awarded Palin an honorary Doctor of Science degree during their June 2017 graduation ceremonies, with the degree recognising his contribution to
427-542: A book about his travels, providing information and insights not included in the TV programme. Each book is illustrated with photographs by Basil Pao , the stills photographer who was on the team. (Exception: the first book, Around the World in 80 Days , contains some pictures by Pao but most are by other photographers.) All seven of these books were also made available as audiobooks, and all of them are read by Palin himself. Around
488-404: A chartered accountant who wants to become a lion tamer. He appeared as the "It's" man (a Robinson Crusoe -type castaway with torn clothes and a long, unkempt beard) at the beginning of most episodes. He also frequently played a Gumby , a character Palin said: "had these moronic views that were expressed with extraordinary force." Palin frequently co-wrote sketches with Terry Jones , including
549-413: A few rolls, and they had this watermark 'British Handmade Paper' ... So we said ... we'll call it Handmade Films." The first film distributed by HandMade Films was The Long Good Friday (1980), and the first it produced was Time Bandits (1981), a co-scripted project by Monty Python ' s Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin . The film featured a new song by Harrison, " Dream Away ", in
610-536: A film, American Friends , he wrote based upon a real event in the life of his great-grandfather, a fellow at St John's College, Oxford . In that same year he also played the part of a headmaster in Alan Bleasdale 's Channel 4 drama series GBH . In 1994, Palin narrated the English language audiobook version of Esio Trot by children's author Roald Dahl . In 1997, Palin had a small cameo role in
671-641: A friend and fan of the Pythons, mortgaged his home in order to finance the feature. Eric Idle of the Pythons later called it "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history". Life of Brian grossed $ 21 million at the box office in the US. Harrison explained: "The name of the company came about as a bit of a joke. I'd been to Wookey Hole in Somerset ... [near] an old paper mill where they show you how to make old underpants into paper. So I bought
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#1732797150958732-565: A one-man stage show at the Torch Theatre, Milford Haven , Wales, about the loss of HMS Erebus during the third Franklin expedition , which is recounted in his book Erebus: The Story of a Ship . Palin's first travel documentary was episode 4 of the 1980 BBC Television series Great Railway Journeys of the World , entitled "Confessions of a Trainspotter". Throughout the hour-long show, Palin humorously reminisces about his childhood hobby of train spotting while he travels throughout
793-681: A presenter on a comedy pop show called Now! for the television contractor Television Wales and the West . At the same time, Palin was contacted by Jones, who had left university a year earlier, to help with writing a theatrical documentary about sex through the ages. Although this project was eventually abandoned, it brought Palin and Jones together as a writing duo and led them to write comedy for various BBC programmes, such as The Ken Dodd Show , The Billy Cotton Bandshow , and The Illustrated Weekly Hudd . They collaborated in writing lyrics for an album by Barry Booth called Diversions . They were also in
854-575: A quest for family roots, he attempted to trace his great-grandmother – Brita Gallagher – who had set sail from Ireland 150 years earlier during the Great Famine (1845–1849) , bound for a new life in Burlington , New Jersey. The series is a trip along the Palin family line. Between 1989 and 2012, Palin appeared as a presenter in a series of travel programmes made for the BBC. It was after
915-774: A role as a nightclub singer in Shanghai Surprise , for which he recorded five new songs. According to Ian Inglis, Harrison's "executive role in HandMade Films helped to sustain British cinema at a time of crisis, producing some of the country's most memorable movies of the 1980s." In 1987, HandMade Films made an agreement with independent motion picture distributor Island Pictures to distribute four films for limited theatrical release from 1987 to mid-1988: The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne , Track 29 , The Raggedy Rawney and Bellman and True . Following
976-403: A school performance of A Christmas Carol . At the age of 10, Palin, still interested in acting, made a comedy monologue and read a Shakespeare play to his mother while playing all the parts. After leaving Shrewsbury in 1962, he went on to read Modern History at Brasenose College, Oxford . With fellow student Robert Hewison he performed and wrote, for the first time, comedy material at
1037-506: A series of box office bombs in the late 1980s and excessive debt incurred by O'Brien, which was guaranteed by Harrison, HandMade's financial situation became precarious. The company ceased operations in 1991 and was sold three years later to Paragon Entertainment Corporation of Toronto, Canada. Afterward, Harrison sued O'Brien for $ 25 million for fraud and negligence, resulting in an $ 11.6 million judgment in 1996. New owner Paragon Entertainment Corporation restarted production under
1098-558: A takeover bid, priced at £0.01 per share in cash and HMF was delisted from the AIM on 29 June 2010. HandMade plc was re-registered as HandMade Limited, a private company, on 2 February 2011. Handmade Limited entered administration on 11 July 2012, liquidation on 24 April 2013, and was dissolved on 22 February 2018. In 2016, Park Circus purchased distribution rights to the HandMade film library. In 2017, following an investigation by
1159-599: A university Christmas party. Terry Jones , also a student at Oxford, saw that performance and began writing with Hewison and Palin. That year Palin joined the Brightside and Carbrook Co-operative Society Players and first gained fame when he won an acting award at a Co-op drama festival. He also performed and wrote in the Oxford Revue (called the Et ceteras) with Jones. After finishing university in 1965, Palin became
1220-610: Is Asteroid 9621 Michaelpalin . In 2003, inside the Globe a commemorative stone was placed – Palin has his own stone, to mark donors to the theatre, but it is misspelt as "Michael Pallin". The story goes that John Cleese paid for the stone, and mischievously insisted on misspelling his name. In honour of his achievements as a traveller, especially rail travel, Palin has two British trains named after him. In 2002, Virgin Trains' new £5 million high-speed Super Voyager train number 221130
1281-832: Is a BBC TV director, whose work includes MasterChef: The Professionals . William is Director of Conservation at the Old Royal Naval College , Greenwich, London, and oversaw the 2018–19 restoration of the Painted Hall. A photograph of William as a baby briefly appeared in Monty Python and the Holy Grail as "Sir Not-appearing-in-this-film". The theatre designer Jeremy Herbert is a nephew. Palin describes his religious belief as " agnostic with doubts". He has lived in Gospel Oak , London, since
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#17327971509581342-655: Is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He was a member of the Monty Python comedy group . He received the BAFTA Fellowship in 2013 and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2019 . Palin started in television working on programmes including the Ken Dodd Show , The Frost Report , and Do Not Adjust Your Set . Palin joined Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) alongside John Cleese , Eric Idle , Terry Gilliam , Terry Jones , and Graham Chapman . He acted in some of
1403-464: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages HandMade Films HandMade Films was an English film production and distribution company. Notable films from the studio include Monty Python's Life of Brian , Time Bandits , The Long Good Friday and Withnail and I . HandMade Films was formed by former Beatle George Harrison and business partner Denis O'Brien in 1978 to finance
1464-472: The BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role . Other notable films include Jabberwocky (1977), Time Bandits (1981), The Missionary (1982), A Private Function (1984), Brazil (1985), Fierce Creatures (1997), and The Death of Stalin (2017). Since 1980, Palin has made numerous television travel documentaries and is a widely recognised writer and presenter. He has acted as
1525-640: The Dongria Kondh tribe of India , who were resisting mining on their land by the company Vedanta Resources . Palin said, "I've been to the Nyamgiri Hills in Orissa and seen the forces of money and power that Vedanta Resources have arrayed against a people who have occupied their land for thousands of years, who husband the forest sustainably and make no great demands on the state or the government. The tribe I visited simply want to carry on living in
1586-706: The Insolvency Service , three HandMade Limited directors were disqualified from acting as a director of a company: Patrick Anthony Meehan for 13 years, David Bernard Ravden for five-and-a-half years, and Peter William Parkinson for four years. The directors misused funds to "pay off relatives" and "on matters undisclosed to advisers, shareholder or potential investors". Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin KCMG , CBE , FRGS , FRSGS , FRSL ( / ˈ p eɪ l ɪ n / ; born 5 May 1943 )
1647-657: The Matisse programme. In 2013, he travelled to the United States and filmed in both Maine and Pennsylvania, to write and present "Michael Palin in Wyeth World", which is about the American painter Andrew Wyeth and the people who inspired his paintings. In November 2008, Palin presented a First World War documentary about Armistice Day , 11 November 1918, when thousands of soldiers lost their lives in battle after
1708-472: The " Spanish Inquisition sketch ", which featured the catchphrase "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition !". He also composed songs with Jones including "The Lumberjack Song", " Every Sperm Is Sacred " and " Spam ". His solo musical compositions included " Decomposing Composers " and " Finland ". In 1971, he co-wrote, with Hugh Leonard and Terence Feely , the film Percy , which depicts
1769-502: The 1960s. Palin is most notably a supporter of Sheffield Wednesday , famously holding aloft a trophy and shouting the club's name while in Venice shooting Around the World in 80 Days . He has also followed the fortunes of Sheffield United and Stenhousemuir F.C. Palin assisted Campaign for Better Transport and others with campaigns on sustainable transport, particularly those relating to urban areas, and has been president of
1830-685: The Australian soap opera Home and Away . He played an English surfer with a fear of sharks , who interrupts a conversation between two main characters to ask whether there were any sharks in the sea. This was filmed while he was in Australia for the Full Circle series, with a segment about the filming of the role featuring in the series. In November 2005, he appeared in the John Peel's Record Box documentary. In 2013, Palin appeared in
1891-432: The HandMade name in 1996–1997. The company's most notable release of that era was Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). In 1999, Patrick Meehan and Cartier Investments acquired HandMade from Paragon. In June 1999, The Equator Group plc became the exclusive distributor and manager of the HandMade Films library, and attempted to purchase the company from Cartier outright, but negotiations were unsuccessful until
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1952-655: The Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States Norrlandsflyg , a Swedish helicopter operator Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title HMF . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=HMF&oldid=1204351423 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
2013-617: The Machu Picchu) his "favourite place in the world". Palin notes in his book of Around the World in 80 Days that the final leg of his journey could originally have taken him and his crew on one of the trains involved in the Clapham Junction rail crash , but they arrived ahead of schedule and caught an earlier train. In recent years, Palin has written and presented occasional documentary programmes about artists who interest him. The first, on Scottish painter Anne Redpath ,
2074-813: The Palin/Jones team worked both as actors and writers on the show Twice a Fortnight with Graeme Garden , Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn , and the successful children's comedy show Do Not Adjust Your Set with Idle and David Jason . The show also featured musical numbers by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band , including future Monty Python musical collaborator Neil Innes . The animations for Do Not Adjust Your Set were made by Terry Gilliam. Eager to work with Palin sans Jones, Cleese later asked him to perform in How to Irritate People together with Chapman and Tim Brooke-Taylor . The Palin/Jones team were reunited for The Complete and Utter History of Britain . On
2135-558: The Reverend Charles Fortescue, who is recalled from Africa to aid prostitutes. He co-starred with Maggie Smith again in the 1984 comedy film A Private Function . In 1984, he reunited with Terry Gilliam to appear in Brazil . He appeared in the comedy film A Fish Called Wanda , which co-starred and was co-written by John Cleese, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role . Cleese reunited
2196-638: The UK by train from London to the Kyle of Lochalsh , via Manchester , York , Newcastle upon Tyne , Edinburgh and Inverness . He rides vintage railway lines and trains including the Flying Scotsman . At the Kyle of Lochalsh, Palin bought the station's long metal platform sign and is seen lugging it back to London with him. In 1994, Palin travelled through Ireland for the same series, entitled "Derry to Kerry". In
2257-488: The World in 80 Days and Hemingway Adventure are unabridged, while the other four books were made in both abridged and unabridged versions. For four of the trips, a photography book was made by Pao, each with an introduction written by Palin. These are large coffee-table-style books with pictures printed on glossy paper. The majority of the pictures are of various people encountered on the trip, as informal portraits or showing them engaged in some interesting activity. Some of
2318-668: The cameo role of "Dennis the Peasant" in Monty Python and the Holy Grail , also directed by Gilliam.) Palin also appeared in All You Need Is Cash (1978) as Eric Manchester (based on Derek Taylor ), the press agent for the Rutles . In 1980, Palin co-wrote Time Bandits with Terry Gilliam. He also acted in the film. In 1982, Palin wrote and starred in The Missionary , co-starring Maggie Smith . In it, he plays
2379-472: The campaign since 1986. On 2 January 2011, he became the first person to sign the UK-based Campaign for Better Transport's Fair Fares Now campaign. In July 2015, he signed an open letter and gave an interview to support "a strong BBC at the centre of British life" at a time when the government was reviewing the corporation's size and activities. In July 2010, Palin sent a message of support for
2440-497: The closing credits. Time Bandits became one of HandMade's most successful and acclaimed efforts; with a budget of $ 5 million, it earned $ 35 million in the US within ten weeks of its release. Harrison served as executive producer for 23 films with HandMade, including the Oscar-nominated Mona Lisa , Shanghai Surprise and Withnail and I . He made several cameo appearances in these films, including
2501-436: The controversial Monty Python film Life of Brian . Harrison had been introduced to O'Brien by actor Peter Sellers in 1973. Soon afterward the two went into business together. The HandMade logo was drawn by Python's animator Terry Gilliam . When the original financiers of Brian , EMI Films , pulled out of the project less than a week before filming was to commence, the creators had to find other financing. Harrison,
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2562-454: The game show "Blackmail") to unflappable calmness (such as the Dead parrot vendor or Cheese Shop proprietor). As a straight man he was often a foil to the rising ire of characters portrayed by Cleese. He also played timid, socially inept characters such as Arthur Putey, the man who sits quietly as a marriage counsellor ( Eric Idle ) makes love to his wife ( Carol Cleveland ), and Mr Anchovy,
2623-551: The landscape photos are displayed as two-page spreads. Palin's travel programmes are responsible for a phenomenon called the "Palin effect", referring to areas of the world that he has visited suddenly become popular tourist attractions – for example, the significant increase in the number of tourists interested in Peru after Palin visited Machu Picchu . In a 2006 survey of "15 of the world's top travel writers" by The Observer , Palin named Peru's Pongo de Mainique (canyon below
2684-520: The main cast almost a decade later to make Fierce Creatures . After filming for Fierce Creatures finished, Palin went on a travel journey for a BBC documentary and, returning a year later, found that the end of Fierce Creatures had failed at test screenings and had to be reshot. After Fierce Creatures and a small part in The Wind in the Willows , a film directed by and starring Terry Jones, it
2745-484: The most famous Python sketches, including " Argument Clinic ", " Dead Parrot sketch ", " The Lumberjack Song ", " The Spanish Inquisition ", " Bicycle Repair Man " and " The Fish-Slapping Dance ". Palin continued to work with Jones away from Python, co-writing Ripping Yarns . Palin co-wrote and starred in Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). For his performance in A Fish Called Wanda (1988) he received
2806-1010: The promotion of geography, Palin was awarded the Livingstone Medal of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society in March 2009, along with a Fellowship of this Society (FRGS). In June 2013, he was similarly honoured in Canada with a gold medal for achievements in geography by the Royal Canadian Geographical Society . In June 2009, Palin was elected for a three-year term as President of the Royal Geographical Society . Because of his self-described "amenable, conciliatory character" Michael Palin has been referred to as unofficially "Britain's Nicest Man". In
2867-455: The public's understanding of contemporary geography. He joins his fellow Pythons John Cleese and Terry Jones in receiving an honorary degree from the Fife institution. In October 2018, the Royal Canadian Geographical Society awarded Palin the first Louie Kamookak Medal for advances in geography, for his book on the history of the polar exploration vessel HMS Erebus . Palin was appointed
2928-508: The strength of their work on The Frost Report and other programmes, Cleese and Chapman had been offered a show by the BBC, but Cleese was reluctant to do a two-man show for various reasons, among them Chapman's reputedly difficult personality. During this period Cleese contacted Palin about doing the show that ultimately became Monty Python's Flying Circus . At the same time the success of Do Not Adjust Your Set had led Palin, Jones, Idle and Gilliam to be offered their own series and, while it
2989-467: The team of writers working for The Frost Report , whose other members included Frank Muir , Barry Cryer , Marty Feldman , Ronnie Barker , Ronnie Corbett , Dick Vosburgh and future Monty Python members Graham Chapman , John Cleese and Eric Idle . Although the members of Monty Python had already encountered each other over the years, The Frost Report was the first time all the British members of Monty Python (its sixth member, Terry Gilliam ,
3050-445: The veteran TV globetrotter Alan Whicker and journalist Miles Kington turned down presenting the first of these, Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin , that gave Palin the opportunity to present his first and subsequent travel shows. In 2018, he was hired by ITN Productions to present travel documentaries commissioned by Channel 5, with journeys to North Korea and Iraq completed by 2022. Following each trip, Palin wrote
3111-543: The villages that they and their ancestors have always lived in." Palin is a longstanding Vice President of the National Churches Trust . Palin is a co-founder of The Michael Palin Centre for Stammering. When it opened in 1993 Palin became Vice President of Action for Stammering Children. Palin's awareness and understanding of stammering stemmed from his father’s experience as a person who stammers. Over
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#17327971509583172-840: The war had officially ended. Palin filmed on the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium for the programme, called the Last Day of World War One , produced for the BBC's Timewatch series. In 1966, Palin married Helen Gibbins (born October 1942), whom he first met in 1959 on holiday in Southwold in Suffolk. This meeting was later fictionalised in Palin's teleplay for the 1987 BBC television drama East of Ipswich . Their marriage lasted for 57 years, until Helen's death from kidney failure on 2 May 2023. The Palins' three children are Thomas (born 1969), William (born 1970), and Rachel (born 1975), and there are four grandchildren. Rachel
3233-604: The years Palin has provided support and connection to young people and families of people who stammer. All but the latest two of his travel books can be read with no charge, complete and unabridged, on Palin's Travels website Archived 1 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine . Palin was instrumental in setting up the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering Children in 1993. Also in 1993, each member of Monty Python had an asteroid named after them. Palin's
3294-611: Was High Sheriff of Oxfordshire in 1927. Palin was educated at Birkdale and Shrewsbury School . His sister Angela was nine years his senior; despite the age gap the two had a close relationship until her suicide in 1987. Palin has ancestral roots in Letterkenny , County Donegal . His great-grandmother fled the Irish Famine and was adopted by a wealthy English family. When he was five years old, Palin had his first acting experience at Birkdale playing Martha Cratchit in
3355-748: Was Palin on Redpath in 1997. In The Bright Side of Life (2000), Palin continued on a Scottish theme, looking at the work of the Scottish Colourists . Two further programmes followed on European painters; Michael Palin and the Ladies Who Loved Matisse (2004) and Michael Palin and the Mystery of Hammershøi (2005), about the French artist Henri Matisse and Danish artist Vilhelm Hammershøi respectively. The DVD Michael Palin on Art contains all these documentaries except for
3416-426: Was aired in spring 2024. From 2009 to 2012 he was President of the Royal Geographical Society . Palin was born in Ranmoor , Sheffield , the second child and only son of Edward Moreton Palin (1900–1977) and Mary Rachel Lockhart (née Ovey; 1903–1990). His father was a Shrewsbury and Cambridge -educated engineer working for a steel firm. His maternal grandfather, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Lockhart Ovey, DSO ,
3477-400: Was at that time an American citizen) worked together. During the run of The Frost Report the Palin/Jones team contributed material to two shows starring John Bird : The Late Show and A Series of Birds . For A Series of Birds the Palin/Jones team had their first experience of writing narrative instead of the short sketches they were accustomed to conceiving. Following The Frost Report
3538-452: Was named Michael Palin – it carries his name externally and a plaque is located adjacent to the onboard shop with information on Palin and his many journeys. Also, National Express East Anglia named a British Rail Class 153 (unit number 153335) after him. (He is a model railway enthusiast. ) In 2008, he received the James Joyce Award of the Literary and Historical Society in Dublin. In recognition of his services to
3599-435: Was presenting the two-part documentary Michael Palin in North Korea to be broadcast on the British television network Channel 5 . The documentary was broadcast in September 2018, in two one-hour segments on Channel 5 in the UK and in a single two-hour programme on National Geographic in the United States. It was broadcast again by Channel 5, in a single two-hour programme in December 2018. In July 2019, Palin performed
3660-464: Was still in production, Palin agreed to Cleese's proposal and brought along Idle, Jones and Gilliam. Thus the formation of the Monty Python troupe has been referred to as a result of Cleese's desire to work with Palin and the chance circumstances that brought the other four members into the fold. Palin played various roles in Monty Python , which ranged from manic enthusiasm (such as the lumberjack of " The Lumberjack Song ", or Herbert Anchovy, host of
3721-445: Was twenty years until Palin's next film role, as Soviet politician Vyacheslav Molotov in the 2017 satirical black comedy The Death of Stalin . Palin also appeared with John Cleese in his documentary, The Human Face . Palin was cast in a supporting role in the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romantic comedy You've Got Mail , but his role was eventually cut entirely. Palin has also appeared in serious drama. In 1991 Palin appeared in
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