Michael Palin Python", Palin played various roles, which ranged from manic enthusiasm (such as the lumberjack of the Lumberjack Song, or Herbert Anchovy, host of the game show "Blackmail") to unflappable calmness (such as the Dead parrot vendor or Cheese Shop proprietor). As a straight man he was often a foil to the rising ire of characters portrayed by John Cleese. He also played timid, socially inept characters such as Arthur Putey, the man who sits quietly as a marriage counsellor (Eric Idle) makes love to his wife (Carol Cleveland), and Mr. Anchovy, a chartered accountant who wants to become a lion
Michael Palin life" at a time the government was reviewing the corporation's size and activities. Palin's first travel documentary was segment 4 of the 1980 BBC Television series "Great Railway Journeys of the World", entitled "Confessions of a Trainspotter". Throughout the hour long show, Palin humorously reminisces about his childhood hobby of train spotting, while he travels throughout the UK by train, from London to the Kyle of Lochalsh, via Manchester, York, Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh and Inverness. He rides vintage train lines and trains including "Flying Scotsman". At the Kyle of Lochalsh, Palin bought the station's long metal platform sign and