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Michael Palin career celebrated in BBC2 special

Michael Palin’s life and career are to be celebrated in a BBC television special.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts said the hour-long Michael Palin: A Life On Screen will be broadcast on BBC2 in the new year.

The programme will reflect on Palin’s career as a Bafta-winning actor, writer and presenter.

It will include contributions from some of the 74-year-old Monty Python star’s closest colleagues and friends, including John Cleese, David Jason and Connie Booth, who share their fond memories and candid stories of working with Palin.

Bafta director of production Clare Brown said: “Michael is hugely talented and his work has inspired so many people to discover their own love of comedy and travel throughout the past five decades.

“Following the BBC2 broadcast of Sir Lenny Henry: A Life On Screen last December, Bafta Productions is proud to be continuing to profile incredible talent, and to make unmissable content for audiences around the world.”

Kate Phillips, controller of entertainment commissioning at the BBC, said it was “a terrific programme paying tribute to one of the country’s most versatile talents”.

“Whether he’s making us laugh, making us cry or showing us the world through new eyes he is, and will always be, at the top of his game,” she said.

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