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76-492: Wadi Halfa has a hot desert climate ( Köppen climate classification BWh ) typical of the Nubian Desert . Wadi Halfa receives each year the highest mean amount of bright sunshine, with an extreme value of 4,300 h, which is equal to 97–98 % of possible sunshine. In addition to this, the town receives a mean annual amount of rainfall of 0.5 millimetres or 0.020 inches. Many years usually pass without any rain falling on

152-657: 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

228-659: 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

304-618: 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

380-400: 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

456-542: 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

532-404: 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

608-773: A few instances), dry summers, though summers are not typically as hot as hot desert climates. Unlike hot desert climates, cold desert climates tend to feature cold, dry winters. Snow tends to be rare in regions with this climate. The Gobi Desert in northern China and Mongolia is one example of a cold desert. Though hot in the summer, it shares the freezing winters of the rest of Inner Asia . Summers in South America's Atacama Desert are mild, with only slight temperature variations between seasons. Cold desert climates are typically found at higher altitudes than hot desert climates and are usually drier than hot desert climates. Cold desert climates are typically located in temperate zones in

684-536: 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

760-565: 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

836-664: A period of turmoil after falling under the Mahdist War regime. Conflicts frequently broke out on the border, and in 1889, Abd al-Rahman al-Mahdi 's army entered the town on the way to the Battle of Tushki . Wadi Halfa was briefly the headquarters of the British -led Egyptian and British forces under Kitchener seeking to defeat the forces of Muhammad Ahmad , the Mahdi proclaimed by his disciples, from 1881 to 1885. The rail line up

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912-681: 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

988-575: 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

1064-403: 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

1140-410: A total of just 16 mm (0.63 in) of rainfall was measured. To determine whether a location has an arid climate, the precipitation threshold is determined. The precipitation threshold (in millimetres) involves first multiplying the average annual temperature in °C by 20, then adding 280 if 70% or more of the total precipitation is in the high-sun summer half of the year (April through September in

1216-599: 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

1292-610: 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

1368-832: 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

1444-655: 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

1520-502: Is classified as "hot arid subtype" ( BW h ), and a location with the appropriate temperature below the isotherm is classified as "cold arid subtype" ( BW k ). Most desert/arid climates receive between 25 and 200 mm (1 and 8 in) of rainfall annually, although some of the most consistently hot areas of Central Australia , the Sahel and Guajira Peninsula can be, due to extreme potential evapotranspiration , classed as arid with

1596-488: Is seen in sections of Africa and Arabia . During colder periods of the year, night-time temperatures can drop to freezing or below due to the exceptional radiation loss under the clear skies. However, temperatures rarely drop far below freezing under the hot subtype. Hot desert climates can be found in the deserts of North Africa such as the wide Sahara Desert , the Libyan Desert or the Nubian Desert ; deserts of

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1672-472: 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

1748-543: The Cairo-Cape Town Highway passes through Wadi Halfa. In 2012 agreement was achieved between Sudan and Egypt to complete a Standard gauge link Aswan and Wadi Halfa, whose progress was stalled by civil unrest in Sudan in 2023. 21°47′N 31°22′E  /  21.783°N 31.367°E  / 21.783; 31.367 Hot desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in

1824-640: 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

1900-953: The Horn of Africa such as the Danakil Desert or the Grand Bara Desert ; deserts of Southern Africa such as the Namib Desert or the Kalahari Desert ; deserts of West Asia such as the Arabian Desert , or the Syrian Desert ; deserts of South Asia such as Dasht-e Lut and Dasht-e Kavir of Iran or the Thar Desert of India and Pakistan; deserts of the United States and Mexico such as

1976-472: The Köppen climate classification BWh and BWk ) is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation . The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert climates are dry and hold little moisture, quickly evaporating the already little rainfall they receive. Covering 14.2% of Earth's land area, hot deserts are the second-most common type of climate on Earth after

2052-594: 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

2128-804: The Mojave Desert , the Sonoran Desert or the Chihuahuan Desert ; deserts of Australia such as the Simpson Desert or the Great Victoria Desert and many other regions. In Europe , the hot desert climate can only be found on southeastern coast of Spain as well as small inland parts of southeastern, especially parts of the Tabernas Desert . Hot deserts are lands of extremes: most of them are among

2204-593: The Northern Hemisphere , or October through March in the Southern), or 140 if 30–70% of the total precipitation is received during the applicable period, or 0 if less than 30% of the total precipitation is so received there. If the area's annual precipitation is less than half the threshold (50%), it is classified as a BW (desert climate), while 50–100% of the threshold results in a semi-arid climate. Hot desert climates ( BWh ) are typically found under

2280-475: The Polar climate . There are two variations of a desert climate according to the Köppen climate classification : a hot desert climate ( BWh ), and a cold desert climate ( BWk ). To delineate "hot desert climates" from "cold desert climates", a mean annual temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) is used as an isotherm so that a location with a BW type climate with the appropriate temperature above this isotherm

2356-583: The Southwestern United States , northern Mexico , sections of southeastern Spain , the coast of Peru , and Chile . This makes hot deserts present in every continent except Antarctica. At the time of high sun (summer), scorching, desiccating heat prevails. Hot-month average temperatures are normally between 29 and 35 °C (84 and 95 °F), and midday readings of 43–46 °C (109–115 °F) are common. The world's absolute heat records, over 50 °C (122 °F), are generally in

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2432-501: The subtropical ridge in the lower middle latitudes or the subtropics , often between 20° and 33° north and south latitudes. In these locations, stable descending air and high pressure aloft clear clouds and create hot, arid conditions with intense sunshine. Hot desert climates are found across vast areas of North Africa , West Asia , northwestern parts of the Indian Subcontinent , southwestern Africa, interior Australia,

2508-472: 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

2584-502: 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

2660-652: The 30s and 40s latitudes, usually in the leeward rain shadow of high mountains, restricting precipitation from the westerly winds. An example of this is the Patagonian Desert in Argentina, bounded by the Andes ranges to its west. In the case of Central Asia, mountains restrict precipitation from the eastern monsoon . The Kyzyl Kum , Taklamakan and Katpana Desert deserts of Central Asia are other significant examples of BWk climates. The Ladakh region and

2736-969: The Arctic and Antarctic regions receive very little precipitation during the year owing to the cold, dry air freezing most precipitation. Polar desert climates have desert-like features that occur in cold desert climates, including intermittent streams, hypersaline lakes, and extremely barren terrain in unglaciated areas such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica. These areas are generally classified as having polar climates because they have average summer temperatures below 10 °C (50 °F) even if they have some characteristics of extreme non-polar deserts. Michael Palin Sir Michael Edward Palin KCMG , CBE , FRGS , FRSGS , FRSL ( / ˈ p eɪ l ɪ n / ; born 5 May 1943 )

2812-685: 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

2888-617: 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 ,

2964-571: The Nile was originally begun in 1897 to support this military buildup. It extends, via Atbara , to El Obeid and beyond into southern and western Sudan. A river monitoring station functioned in Wadi Halfa between 1911 and 1931, to monitor changes associated with the Aswan reservoir, but from 1931 to 1962 it was moved to Kajnarty , 47 kilometres to the north of the town. A railroad hotel was built in

3040-813: 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

3116-558: 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

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3192-638: 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

3268-488: 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

3344-714: The annual rainfall as high as 430 millimetres or 17 inches. Although no part of Earth is known for certain to be rainless, in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, the average annual rainfall over 17 years was only 5 millimetres (0.20 in). Some locations in the Sahara Desert such as Kufra , Libya , record an even drier 0.86 mm (0.034 in) of rainfall annually. The official weather station in Death Valley , United States reports 60 mm (2.4 in) annually, but in 40 months between 1931 and 1934

3420-770: The area since ancient times, and during the Middle Kingdom period, the Egyptian colony of Buhen across the river existed until the Roman period . The modern town of Wadi Halfa was founded in the 19th century, when it became a port on the Nile for steamers from Aswan, such as the Nubia . During the Turko-Egyptian conquest of 1820 , Wadi Halfa was used as a stopping point for troops headed south. Communications developed in

3496-452: The area who would have to be resettled over a four-year period from 1960. Worst affected were the Nubians who demonstrated in Wadi Halfa on 23–24 October 1960 against being resettled. Subsequently, on 26 October demonstrations took place in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum , which had to be dispersed by police using tear gas. The government was quick to suppress the agitation, placing Wadi Halfa under martial law and terminating communications with

3572-428: 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

3648-404: 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

3724-534: The city of Leh in the Great Himalayas in India also have a cold desert climate. In North America, the cold desert climate occurs in the drier parts of the Great Basin Desert and the Bighorn Basin in Big Horn and Washakie County in Wyoming . The Hautes Plaines , located in the northeastern section of Morocco and in Algeria , is another prominent example of a cold desert climate. In Europe , this climate only occurs in some inland parts of southeastern Spain, such as in Lorca . Polar climate desert areas in

3800-404: 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,

3876-456: The ground. Wadi Halfa experiences long, hot summers and short, warm winters. The annual mean temperature is about 27 °C or 80.6 °F. From May to September, inclusively, the averages highs exceed 40 °C or 104 °F. The annual mean rate of potential evaporation is also among the highest found throughout the world, totalling as much as 5,930 millimetres or 230 inches. Archaeological evidence indicates that settlements have existed in

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3952-547: The hot deserts, where the heat potential can be the highest on the planet. This includes the record of 56.7 °C (134.1 °F) in Death Valley , which is currently considered the highest temperature recorded on Earth . Some deserts in the tropics consistently experience very high temperatures all year long, even during wintertime. These locations feature some of the highest annual average temperatures recorded on Earth, exceeding 30 °C (86 °F), up to nearly 35 °C (95 °F) in Dallol, Ethiopia . This last feature

4028-444: The hottest, the driest, and the sunniest places on Earth because of nearly constant high pressure; the almost permanent removal of low-pressure systems, dynamic fronts, and atmospheric disturbances; sinking air motion; dry atmosphere near the surface and aloft; the exacerbated exposure to the sun where solar angles are always high makes this desert inhospitable to most species. Cold desert climates ( BWk ) usually feature hot (or warm in

4104-501: 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

4180-399: The latter half of the 19th century, with a telegraph line to Egypt connected in 1866 and ill-fated attempts to build a railway to Kerma in 1873 and 1877. The eventual establishment of the Sudanese rail head at Wadi Halfa—connected via steamer to the Egyptian network via a port just south of Asyut —caused the site to eclipse the former caravan site at Korosko . In 1885, Wadi Halfa entered

4256-411: 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

4332-484: 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

4408-577: 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

4484-404: 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

4560-490: The rest of the country. Protests in Khartoum, mainly by students, led to the temporary closure of the Khartoum campus of Cairo University and about 50 arrests. The old town was completely destroyed after the construction of the Aswan High Dam due to flooding in 1964. Most of the town was relocated, and by 1965 the population of New Halfa was just 3,200. During the 1970s, the area was under intense scrutiny by archaeologists working to protect ancient Nubian monuments. Wadi Halfa

4636-508: 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

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4712-467: 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 ,

4788-423: The town during the 20th century, and during World War II , Wadi Halfa was a communications post for Allied forces in Africa . By 1956, the town had grown to a population of 11,000. On 8 November 1959, the signing of the Sudanese-UAR Nile Water Agreement brought the area into much debate. This was because the agreement to flood the area upon the creation of the Aswan Dam would directly affect some 52,000 people in

4864-445: 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

4940-415: 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

5016-675: 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

5092-469: 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

5168-492: 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

5244-493: 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

5320-426: 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 ,

5396-400: 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

5472-441: Was featured in part four, entitled "Shifting Sands", of the eight part Michael Palin television documentary series Pole to Pole released by the BBC in 1992. In 2005, a museum and interactive Nubian village were planned for Wadi Halfa, but by 2014 nothing had been done. Agriculture plays an important role in local economy. The Chinese have invested in a fish processing plant in the town. The trans-African automobile route —

5548-627: 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

5624-663: 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

5700-525: 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

5776-501: 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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