GREAT-UNCLE HARRY: A TALE OF WAR AND EMPIRE

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS

Actor Michael Palin follows the steps of Phineas Fogg to achieve the journey of Around the World in 80 Days for TV.

BRAZIL

Brazil is one of the four new global superpowers with its vast natural resources and burgeoning industries. Half a continent in size and a potent mix of races, religions and cultures, of unexplored wildernesses and bustling modern cities, it is also one of the few countries Michael Palin has never fully travelled - until now.

EREBUS: THE STORY OF A SHIP

In September 2014 the wreck of a sailing vessel was discovered at the bottom of the sea in the Canadian Arctic. Its whereabouts had been a mystery for over a century. Its name was HMS Erebus. Here, Michael Palin travels to various locations across the world – Tasmania, the Falklands, the Canadian Arctic – to search for local information, and to experience at first hand the terrain and the conditions that would have confronted the Erebus and her crew.

FULL CIRCLE

The intrepid traveller journeys from Alaska to Russia, Japan and eventually through South America and back to Alaska as he circles the Pacific Rim.

HEMINGWAY'S CHAIR

When an Assistant Postmaster finds his Post Office under threat of privatisation, should he fight for his beliefs like his hero, Ernest Hemingway?

HIMALAYA

In his most challenging journey, Michael Palin explores many countries of the Himalaya region which are little known to the West. This record of his journey contains the customary catalogue of disasters, misunderstandings and colourful characters encountered on the way.

INTO IRAQ

In March 2022, Michael Palin travelled the length of the River Tigris through Iraq to get a sense of what life is like in a region of the world that once formed the cradle of civilisation, but that in recent times has witnessed turmoil and appalling bloodshed. It was a journey of sharp, often brutal contrasts. At one moment he would be exploring the old streets of Baghdad or the ancient ruins of Babylon. At the next he would be visiting the war-torn city of Mosul, or learning about the horrific Speicher massacre in Tikrit. Now he shares the journal he meticulously kept during his trip, in which he describes the very varied places he visited, the people he met and the impressions he formed of a country that few outsiders now venture to see. Permeated with his warmth and humour, this is a vivid and varied portrait of a complex country.

MICHAEL PALIN DIARIES 1969-1979: THE PYTHON YEARS

Michael Palin has kept a diary since he got married in the late 1960s, when he was beginning to make a name for himself as a TV scriptwriter. But Monty Python was just around the corner. In this volume he tells for the first time how Python emerged and triumphed.

NORTH KOREA JOURNAL

In 2018, Michael Palin spent two weeks in the notoriously secretive Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, where the countryside has barely moved beyond a centuries-old peasant economy but where the cities have gleaming skyscrapers and luxurious underground train stations. He shares his day-by-day diary of his visit offering a rare insight into the North Korea behind the headlines.