Michael Palin

In David Frost: Hello, Good Evening and Farewell, a tribute to the late presenter and interviewer, we learned that there was far more to the man than a memorable greeting. He was, said Michael Grade, the first real television creation. By which he meant that Frost didn't start in another medium and migrate to television. He went pretty much straight from Cambridge University to television fame. There was no gap year.

He instinctively grasped what made watchable television. He interviewed everyone in the days when everyone could be interviewed: Muhammad Ali, Enoch Powell, Idi Amin, the Beatles and, of course, Richard Nixon. It's hard to believe that anyone else could have landed the exclusive Nixon interview and also fronted Through the Keyhole. It's hard enough to believe that Frost did it. Alas, he never managed to fuse these two achievements into a Through the Keyhole on Nixon - Loyd Grossman: "There's an orful lort of yellow damarsk. A sheik, perhaps, or a master criminawl."

For a time there were rumours that Frost wasn't well liked by some of his contemporaries. Peter Cook once called him the "bubonic plagiarist" for muscling in on his satirical territory. But everyone here was emphatic that Frost was one of nature's nice blokes. Michael Palin, the nicest man in the world, even said he was very nice. And what of the tribute itself, which was presented by Jonathan Ross? In a word, nice.

Ian Hislop, Michael Palin and the 'Wipers Times'

Ahead of a TV comedy series about the satirical Wipers Times, we pay tribute to the bravery of its irreverent editors.

Michael Palin to star in new TV drama by Ian Hislop

Monty Python actor to star in BBC Two show charting how first world war soldiers published a newspaper from Ypres battlefield.

Taking a lead from 2010's Frost On Satire, Sir David takes a look at another endangered comedy format, the sketch show. Charting the last 50 years of wanton skittery, Frost speaks to masters of shows past such as Stephen Fry, Ronnie Corbett and Michael Palin, taking in the highs and lows of the format. No preview tapes were available, so whether we'll be treated to the notoriously barbed "Timmy Williams Coffee Time" sketch from Moty Python's Flying Circus, a barely disguised pop at imperial-phase Frost himself, we have yet to find out.

The best contacts book in entertainment gets dusted off once more as David Frost recruits Michael Palin, Stephen Fry, Michael Grade et al to look at the rise - and perhaps fall - of the sketch show. The question posed at the outset - has the sketch show had its day? - is a pertinent one, although not answered in the 15-minute taster we were able to see.

Still, we can promise plenty of clips, both unfamiliar (some lovely corpsing from the early days of live variety shows) and over-familiar (Andre Preview, The Frost Report's class sketch). With any luck, a very watchable primer to a comedy format that should ideally be as easy to watch as it apparently is hard to master.

Is Michael Palin best at comedy or travel presenting?

As Michael Palin prepares to receive a prestigious Bafta Fellowship tonight, Michael Hogan considers what his strongest suit is.

Michael Palin interview

The actor and presenter on winning a Bafta lifetime achievement award, life after Monty Python and why he's not finished yet.

Michael Palin to receive Bafta fellowship

Presenter, writer and Monty Python star Michael Palin will be awarded a Bafta fellowship at its TV awards on 12 May.

Modern British farce - anything post-Carry On - is tricky to pull off: witness the dire remake of Run For Your Wife, released in cinemas last month, which quite rightly took less than £700 on its opening weekend. But John Cleese's 1988 heist comedy caper is a multi-award-winning classic. Cleese stars as married uptight barrister Archie Leach (the sort of part Colin Firth would play today) who falls for a sexy jewel thief called Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis). However, it's Kevin Kline's Oscar-winning turn as Wanda's psychotic, armpit-sniffing, Neitzsche-reading 'brother', Otto, who steals the film while Michael Palin puts in adorable comedy support as an animal-loving stutterer called Ken. Simply Wandaful.

Monty Python stars reunite for film Absolutely Anything

The original stars of cult comedy Monty Python look set to reunite once more for a new movie. John Cleese, Terry Gilliam and Michael Palin are all said to be voicing characters of a group of aliens in the film who grant wishes to humans for laughs.