Profiles

:: February 2007

The star of the big and small screen has joined the likes of Helen Sharman, Gordon Banks, Def Leppard, Sean Bean and Jarvis Cocker in the City's Hall of Fame.

"To be called a legend always worries me a bit, 'cause they think you may have passed away [laughs] and people are not sure whether you quite existed or not.

"I do appreciate the honour because I was born and raised in Sheffield, and really this city made me. I've lived in London for much longer than I've lived in Sheffield.

"But it was growing up here, and learning about life in Sheffield that's really made me what I am. So I'm very touched at this award. This means as much as anything I've been given.

"Sheffield has a very strong character. When I was growing up we were always looking at Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool and places like that.

Palin speaking to BBC Radio Sheffield

"They were always getting the initiatives, the roads, the improvements were going there. But Sheffield had a certain dogged character it developed, and people felt very strongly about being from Sheffield, and having to make a mark in some way.

"There is a strong independent character in the people here. They're not like people anywhere else, they're very open and they're very frank and say what they feel and that probably helps as well.

As Palin explains, you can take a person out of Sheffield, but not Sheffield out of the individual:

"I think I'm still a provincial boy even though I'm in London... London is just a conglomeration of people, Sheffield's a real city, so I still have an outsiders' view on London.

"Persuade me the South East is the best place to live. It hasn't got hills, it hasn't got stone walls, it hasn't got the beautiful countryside just outside which Sheffield has. I make sure I'm honest and straight forward with people.

We asked how his city of birth has changed since his childhood:

Major success: Around The World in 80 Days

"You can see across the road for a start, Sheffield in the '50s and '60s was very hazy. Smoke was blowing over the east side of the city, and it was a big, rather impressive industrial base.

"Now like a lot of their cities it's smartening up. I regret that some of the developing in the city that was done in the '80s I thought was not wonderful, and made a real mess of some fine buildings, especially down towards the station.

"But on the whole it's a very comfortable city now, and they seem to have sorted out the centre so you can walk around a bit. The traffic doesn't dominate, I like that, and there are some wonderful additions like the Millennium Galleries and the Winter Garden."

Current TV project

"We're doing a series called New Europe. Basically going around Eastern Europe as far as Turkey and the Ukraine. We've just about finished the filming on that, just writing the book to go with it and hopefully we'll have a series in October.

"After that I just don't know, might do a lot of sitting around."

Python reunion?

"I don't thinks so... not at the moment certainly. We are very much off on our own separate projects. Eric's got Spamalot which is going to open in Las Vegas, Australia and all around the world.

Monty Pythons Flying Circus pictured in 1970

"Terry Jones is doing his historical books, also a musical of his is opening in Portugal later in the year, John is in California, so we've all got other things to do.

"Although we do see each other quite a lot, I do keep in touch with the guys, I don't see a chance of a reunion in the foreseeable future."