Michael Palin Small Prophets: Sheffield Monty Python legend returns to comedy after years as top travel writer

Eric Idle, who also starred in Monty Python, told The Times last year that Sir Michel was ‘always the funniest’ and, that after he forged a successful career as a travel writer, he thought there was part of him that missed ‘that twinkly naughtiness that's inside him.’

Now, after years of being best known for his travelogues, taking him all over the world and even into the closed world of North Korea, he is back in comedy with a role in a sitcom which starts on Monday.

Sir Michael was raised in Sheffield, growing up on Whitworth Road, near Ranmoor, before becoming internationally famous in comedy with Monty Python, and then other series including Ripping Yarns, and films including A Fish Called Wanda.

Now he is back in the sitcom Small Prophets, written by Mackenzie Crook, from The Office.

Sir Michael plays a character called Brian, who shares an old recipe involving rainwater and horse manure with his son, with his son then setting out to create Homunculi - magical prophesying spirits that can predict the future.

You can sign up to The Star’s daily Sheffield and South Yorkshire briefing to get the key headlines, travel and sport in one quick email.

Sir Michael admitted he had not done any acting for a while.

He said: “You just know when you read a script if it has the things that you really want which, for me, are truth and honesty, and real characters that you can understand.

“If it’s funny as well, that’s terrific, but there’s a nice mixture of the sad and tragic and funny in Mackenzie’s work which not many people can do well. That’s what attracted me.

“I hadn’t done a great deal of acting for a while, and you’ve got to ask yourself, can I get this right? He may have written something which is really wonderful, but the last thing I’d want is to let him down. So I read it, and re-read it, and asked myself, I can do this, but can I do it well?

“We had the big read-through in in Manchester and I think Mackenzie has this ability to gather people who think like him and respect him. It’s lovely and friendly but quite low-key. I felt then that this was a great group of people to be working with, and that was indeed true throughout the shoot.

“The problem with my character is that he talks a lot in quite complex language, describing the homunculi, and it’s not that easy. You’ve got to keep it in your head, and not just get the words right, but get his passion for the words right.

“But it was good from the first day and it accelerated as the days went on. I think it’s good work, and I was very pleased by the end of it.”

Small Prophets broadcasts on BBC Two and iPlayer on Monday nights from February 9 for six weeks.

• RELATED: “It was like a dissertation”: Council told to help communities crippled by paperwork
• RELATED: Sheffield artist launches fundraiser to replace stolen equipment
• RELATED: Families 'locked out' of security deposit boxes after landlords repossess premises