It’s so hard to watch my fellow Python vanish into the distance
the spirit I’ve lived most of my life.’ And how would he describe that? ‘I’m quite home-based, despite all the travelling I’ve done. Or perhaps because of it. We have strong family ties. All our children and grandchildren live in London. That’s important. The rest of it is just about being in the fortunate position of being asked to do all sorts of different things and being able to indulge all sorts of interests. So it’s a pretty good life.’
Palin has no tricky divorces to pay for, having been married to Helen for half a century. Their three children have grown up. They’ve lived in the same quiet backstreet since 1967. How has he stayed married for so long? ‘Inertia! Well, inertia and humour actually.’
And Helen keeps his feet on the ground. ‘We do have situations my wife particularly cherishes. We’ll be in a cab and the driver will say, “I know you from somewhere, don’t I?”
‘And there’s no point beating around the bush, so I’ll say, “Yeah, I’m Michael Palin.” And he’ll say, “Who?” ’
He laughs, genuinely pleased. And when I ask if he would be brave enough to go to Moscow to promote the new movie, he says: ‘Will they recognise me? I hope not.’
It’s a measure of the man that Michael Palin, the legendary Python about to star in a film about the death of Joseph Stalin, genuinely seems to think they won’t… The Death Of Stalin is in cinemas Oct. 20
‘I still see Terry and he gives me a big hug. I just chat away, but whether he’s taking it in or not, I don’t know. It’s very, very tough’