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The Python Years: Diaries 1969 – 1979, Volume 1

Halfway to Hollywood: Diaries 1980 – 1988, Volume 2

Travelling To Work: Diaries 1988 – 1998, Volume 3

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The Python Years: Diaries 1969 – 1979, Volume 1

At the beginning I’m a lowly-paid writer/actor working on a new and very experimental TV series called Monty Python’s Flying Circus. By the end of this particular decade I’ve recorded 45 TV shows and made three films with the Pythons, and still had time to father three children, take the lead in Terry Gilliam’s first film Jabberwocky, and produce, with Terry Jones, nine Ripping Yarns.

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The Python Years September 30th, 1977

'Discover for the first time the full story of my great-grandfather, Edward Palin, who married Brita Gallagher, an orphan of the Irish potato famines of the 1840s.'

The Python Years September 30th, 1977

The Python Years April 15th, 1975

'Sorted through an old chestful of Grandfather's papers... In the Shrewsbury and India days much evidence that he was quite a character: "always looks as though he has done something wicked but never has" - school report from Shrewsbury.'

The Python Years April 15th, 1975

The Python Years

'In 1966 my parents, Edward "Ted" and Mary Palin, retired to a village just outside Southwold in Suffolk.'

The Python Years

The Python Years, 1970

With Ian Davidson at a Python rehearsal in the tank-top days.

The Python Years, 1970

The Python Years, 1970

Charity football and experimental beard.

The Python Years, 1970

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1971

Pythons at play, Germany.

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1971

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1971

Filming 'Kamikaze Scotsmen' at Norwich Castle. With Eric Idle and Hazel Pethig.

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1971

The Python Years, 1971

Helen and our friend Ranji, Amsterdam.

The Python Years, 1971

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1972

With 'Auntie' Eric. 'The Cycling Tour', Python.

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, 1972

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, April 6th, 1972

'Almost two years and nine months to the day since we shot our first feet of Python film, we were at Windsor to shoot what is probably our last: With Ian MacNaughton.

The Python Years, Monty Python's Flying Circus, April 6th, 1972

The Python Years, 1972

Helen attempts a circumcision, local fete.

The Python Years, 1972

The Python Years, 1972

Helen's mother and her grandsons, Willy and Tom, Abbotsley.

The Python Years, 1972

The Python Years, 1972

Helen's sister, Cathy, with Tarquin at Abbotsley.

The Python Years, 1972

The Python Years, 1973

Heyday of the flares. With Tom at home.

The Python Years, 1973

The Python Years, Monty Python's First Farewell Tour, May 5th, 1973

'John turned to me and said "No".' The unconventional end of the 'Dead Parrot' sketch on my thirtieth birthday.

The Python Years, Monty Python's First Farewell Tour, May 5th, 1973

The Python Years, August 14th, 1973

'The first TV play written by Terry and myself... had been given a blaze of pre-publicity.' The launch of Secrets.

The Python Years, August 14th, 1973

The Python Years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1974

'How do you know he's a producer? He's the only one who hasn't got shit all over him.' Eric, myself (as Mud Eater) and Mark Forstater, Holy Grail.

The Python Years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 1974

The Python Years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, May 11th, 1974

How can you react without laughing to a broad Glaswegian accent saying "Of course I'm French, why do you think I am using this outrageous accent?"

The Python Years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, May 11th, 1974

The Python Years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, April 30th, 1974

'First day of filming. Graham got vertigo... and Eric and I and John sat around listening to stories from the mountain rescue boys about how many people perish on the mountains each year.'

The Python Years, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, April 30th, 1974

The Python Years, June 21st, 1975

'The longest day and my father's three-quarter century: My mother had baked him a cake in his house colours from Shrewsbury School.

The Python Years, June 21st, 1975

The Python Years, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour (repeat), 1974

Graham as the lecturer, Terry G, Terry J and myself take up positions for the 'Custard Pie' sketch.

The Python Years, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour (repeat), 1974

The Python Years, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour (repeat), 1974

'The Surprise Pie.' Terry and me at Drury Lane.

The Python Years, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour (repeat), 1974

The Python Years, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour (repeat), 1974

'John is, on a good night, one of the world's greatest corpsers.' And I am not far behind. 'Silly Walks' at Drury Lane.

The Python Years, Monty Python’s First Farewell Tour (repeat), 1974

The Python Years, 1975

Passport photo, 1975: big collars and mad, staring eyes. Why did anyone allow me in their country?

The Python Years, 1975

The Python Years, 1975

On Central Park South, first New York publicity trip, March 1975. I am reading from the guidebook, which always used to annoy Graham.

The Python Years, 1975

The Python Years, 1975

Fans in America. Graham lights up behind me.

The Python Years, 1975

The Python Years, 1975

Terry, Ma, Jeremy Herbert, Al and me, Carnberwell.

The Python Years, 1975

The Python Years, 1975

Helen, Rachel, Will and Tom with friends Diana and Sean Duncan on their boat, Pilcomayo, on the River Dee.

The Python Years, 1975

The Python Years, Three Men in a Boat, June 1975

Summer of '75, Three Men in a Boat. Stephen Moore, me, Tim Curry and Montmorency the dog.

The Python Years, Three Men in a Boat, June 1975

The Python Years, Three Men in a Boat, June 1975

Prelude to disaster. The photograph sequence (followed by the boat getting trapped in the lock gate). Three Men in a Boat, June 1975.

The Python Years, Three Men in a Boat, June 1975

The Python Years, 1975

Python publicity photo with Neil Innes selflessly standing in for Terry Jones.

The Python Years, 1975

The Python Years, A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick), March 31st, 1976

'Peter Cook, who apologised for his slightly glazed state saying he was recovering from a long night... discussing Lenny Bruce's drug problem - steadfastly refuses to learn the words of the Condemned Man in our "Court Sketch".' Amnesty show at Her Majesty's.

The Python Years, A Poke in the Eye (With a Sharp Stick), March 31st, 1976

The Python Years, Monty Python Live at City Center, 1976

My vocal nemesis, 'Gumby Flower Arranging' at full blast. City Center, New York.

The Python Years, Monty Python Live at City Center, 1976

The Python Years, April 20th, 1976

'You're Pythons. Do something funny for me.' An unpleasant little episode at the Bronx Zoo, New York.

The Python Years, April 20th, 1976

The Python Years, 1976

Next generation. Miles Innes and Tom Palin became good friends during Live at City Center, New York.

The Python Years, 1976

The Python Years, 1976

Rachel, Helen and the back garden, Gospel Oak, London.

The Python Years, 1976

The Python Years, 1976

With Ma and sister Angela at Dulwich.

The Python Years, 1976

The Python Years, Jabberwocky, September 16th, 1976

'Really quite enjoy flashing a naughty part of the body in a public place - and getting paid rather than arrested for it.' Jabberwocky filming at Chepstow Castle.

The Python Years, Jabberwocky, September 16th, 1976

The Python Years, Jabberwocky, July 14th, 1976

'I like my gear. At least it's going to be a deal more comfortable than the armour of Holy Grail.' As Dennis Cooper in Jabberwocky.

The Python Years, Jabberwocky, July 14th, 1976

The Python Years, 1978

Perks of being a director of Shepperton studios; submarine cannon from the film The Land That Time Forgot is saved from the rubbish tip and ends up in my back garden.

The Python Years, 1978

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

Worlds collide, restoration drama meets John Belushi.

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

'The Chilites dance routine does not please Lorne and is cut just before dress rehearsal. "You'll thank me in years to come;' says Lorne. I'm thanking him now.' Garrett Morris (left), Bill Murray, myself and Dan Aykroyd.

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

'An awful, monumentally awful moment.' Dancing with live cats down my trousers, Saturday Night Live, New York.

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

'An awful, monumentally awful moment.' Dancing with live cats down my trousers, Saturday Night Live, New York.

The Python Years, Saturday Night Live, April 8th, 1978

The Python Years, 1978

Eric and Carey, me and Rachel, Life of Brian, Tunisia.

The Python Years, 1978

The Python Years, The Life of Brian, October 22nd, 1978

'Tom decided he would like to appear in the afternoon's filming... It was one of the less comfortable scenes but graced by the presence of the visiting George Harrison. So at least he can say he was in a scene with Pythons and Beatles.'

The Python Years, The Life of Brian, October 22nd, 1978

The Python Years, 1978

Holidays at Roques. Helen and me, Tom, Anthea, Ian Davidson and Edward Burd.

The Python Years, 1978

The Python Years, 1979

Happy Family. Coach House, Sag Harbour, NY.

The Python Years, 1979

The Python Years, 1979

'1979 comes in cold. Very cold.' On the pond at Abbotsley.

The Python Years, 1979

The Python Years, 1979

My childhood friend Graham Stuart-Harris.

The Python Years, 1979

The Python Years, May 19th, 1979

'I have to open a fete at William Ellis School... I smile and sparkle and fail to hit anything with seven balls.'

The Python Years, May 19th, 1979

The Python Years, 1979

Mary and Edward Burd, Roques.

The Python Years, 1979

The Python Years, 1979

Saturday Night Live. Lorne Michaels hypnotises me before the show.

The Python Years, 1979

The Python Years, June 12th, 1979

'Mikoto comes to cook us a Japanese meal. The preparation is a painstaking and delicate business - as indeed is communication with Mikota.'

The Python Years, June 12th, 1979

The Python Years, July 1979

Al Levinson, my American friend, with Rachel, Sag Harbor, NY.

The Python Years, July 1979

The Python Years, October 25th, 1979

'They gave us grapefruit segments, beef in a brown and unexciting sauce... and a trifle which looked like the remains of an unsuccessful heart-swap operation.' With Donald Carroll (left), Jilly Cooper, Steve Race and Katharine Whitehorn at a Yorkshire Post literary lunch.

The Python Years, October 25th, 1979

The Python Years, 1979

Gospel Oak, with Will, Rachel and Tom.

The Python Years, 1979

While every effort has been made to trace copyright holders of content included within this gallery, if any have inadvertently been overlooked, themichaelpalin.com will be pleased to acknowledge them.

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