Sir Michael Palin has opened up about his exit from the BBC, explaining the corporation “wanted to interfere” with his shows before he decided to move to Channel 5.
The former Monty Python star, 81, fronted several travel shows for the broadcaster from the 1980s until 2012, with his later shows airing on Channel 5 instead. The presenter opened up as to why, admitting the BBC “was going in a different direction”.
“There was the feeling that the BBC wanted to interfere a little more,” he told Radio Times.
“They wanted to control it a little more. And they had this new way of presenting shows – which I would get absolutely, desperately frustrated with – where they would show, in the first five minutes, all the great moments of what was to come.
“Because this captured viewers. Otherwise, as soon as they see Michael Palin, they’ll switch off.
“The BBC was going in a different direction, and presentation was going in a different direction.”
When asked if he plans to keep travelling, Palin told the publication: “Well, I’m now 81, and I’m planning another series.”
He went on to confess he’d been asked to take part in Strictly Come Dancing but turned the opportunity down as he sees himself more as “a loner” than a “much-loved celebrity”.
The actor and comedian has been candid about the loss of his wife Helen Gibbins, who died last year, and recently stated he will likely die “sometime soon”.
“I hear people say Euston station works are going to be finished in 2033 and think, ‘Oh, I won’t be around then.’
“But I’ve got so many interests — either books I’m researching or future travel series — which make me forget about mortality.”
Speaking to The Times, he continued by talking about his late wife. The pair got married in 1966, and Palin explained how he loved the “sort of undramatic steadiness” of their relationship.
“It’s very odd, not having her here,” he stated. “But that’s not just about travel. It’s about coming back from a night at the theatre or dinner and the first thing I want is to tell Helen, ‘That was c**p,’ or, ‘That was wonderful.’
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“I still feel quite bereft, because it’s the little things. The people we knew over such a long period whom I can’t talk about now to her. I still find that very difficult. But there we are.”
The couple celebrated their wedding anniversary just two-and-a-half weeks before Helen’s death in May last year. They share three children and four grandchildren.
Palin also reflected on the emotions that come up whenever comedy troupe Monty Python reunite.
The comedians often end up being “rather tearful” when they gather following the fame they found after forming in 1969.
