BAFTA to Honor Michael Palin with Career Retrospective

LONDON: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is to host a special career retrospective for actor/writer/presenter Michael Palin, with the BAFTA: A Life in Television event to take place March 17.

BAFTA: A Life in Television is a new strand of live onstage events that celebrates leading figures from the world of television, recognizing their talent and their contribution to British television and culture.

Palin's career spans five decades and features work on TV, film and stage, having served as a writer and performer. Palin started out as a writer for The Frost Report and The Late Show, before Monty Python’s Flying Circus firmly established his reputation in the comedy genre. His dramatic roles on TV have included GBH. He has also written and presented a number of travel docs, including Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole, Michael Palin’s Hemingway Adventure and Sahara. Palin has most recently been seen on British TV in the lead role of BBC three-part drama Remember Me.

Andrew Newman, the chair of the BAFTA Television Committee, said: “From Monty Python to Ripping Yarns to GBH to Around the World in 80 Days and beyond, Michael Palin has been a comedian, a writer, an actor and a factual presenter and has excelled at every one of them. We’re excited to celebrate his remarkable career at this second event in our new BAFTA: A Life in Television strand. BAFTA: A Life in Television offers the chance to hear directly from unique talents and explore what makes them so special to British television.”