Michael Palin speaks...

Monty Python’s success was a fluke of timing, Michael Palin has said.

The 71-year-old attributed the troupe’s legacy to the fact the show came out just as the BBC stopped routinely wiping shows from its archive, so it could reuse the tapes.

‘They destroyed a lot of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and Spike Milligan in Q5, which greatly influenced us,’ he said.

‘We were terribly lucky to be on air at a time when the BBC decided to keep the tapes, and even then we weren’t convinced. Terry Jones had these great big machines, like Stonehenge, in his garage, convinced he would have to be the keeper of our legacy.’

‘At the time we were just trying to survive, and hope the show didn’t get cancelled. There was no ancillary medium, no videos or downloads, if you didn’t see it the night the BBC decided to show it, that was it.’

Keeping the tapes proved especially fortuitous as the show was subsequently sold to a Dallas public service broadcaster in 1974, on the whim of its owner. From there its popularity spread – especially among college students – making the team stars in America. ‘But by then we had split up,‘ Palin said wryly.

Speaking at a National Theatre event in London to launch his new book, Monty Python At Work, Palin re-confirmed that the comeback gigs at the O2 Arena next month were driven primarily by a need for for money. He said the team decided they wanted the cash following a costly legal dispute over income from Spamalot merchandising and because John Cleese need to fund his alimony payments.

‘There was nothing much going on,’ with the Python finances he said. ‘And John wanted money for his divorce.’

‘Is he on wife No 4?’ host Edith Bowman asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Palin replied. ‘I haven’s seen him for two weeks so he may well have got married again.’

But he said that all the surviving Pythons said yes to the idea of a reunion ‘with not much debate’.

‘When we’re working together, making jokes and making each other laugh, there was never any problem. All the other things, lifestyles and so on, we have differences over. But when we’re working on comedy it’s great.’

He also offered an insight on the differences between the humour of the Cambridge-educated members of the team, including Cleese and the late Graham Chapman, and Oxford alumni such as himself. Stephen Fry has previously noted that the Cambridge side was more cerebral, and the Oxford side more wacky.

‘It’s because all the people from Cambridge, with the exception of Bill Oddie, are over 6ft,’ Palin suggested. ‘So their style tends to be lofty and declamatory. The little ones at Oxford are more relaxed, more silly. It was the same for Peter Cook who was at Cambridge and Dudley Moore who was at Oxford.’

He also revealed hat animator Terry Gilliam used to hate appearing on screen in the Python shows and films, protesting that he was no actor. ‘We used to tell him, “All you have to do is put on suit of armour and carry a chicken around.”’

Palin also admitted there were concerns about returning to the stage 24 years after their last gig at the Hollywood Bowl: ‘We were a bit apprehensive as we hadn’t done anything together for a while,’ he said. ‘But we did a read-through last November to check the material and it did make us laugh a lot. In fact it is a bit embarrassing that we find this childish stuff amusing. We’ve got to enjoy it like that on stage, that’s the key.’

However, there is also trepidation about the lack of a full rehearsal in the 16,000-capacity arena. ‘When we get to the O2 on the day of the first concert it will be the first time we’ve ever done it in that space.’

Palin gave some hints to the contents of the gigs, by revealing he had one sketch in drag and another dressed as a cardinal – for the Spanish Inquisition sketch that has never been performed on stage before. ‘That will be fun,’ he said. ‘I love the costume.’

But he said: ‘Once you’re over 70 the costume changes take time, so in the meantime there will be dances and songs – Eric’s written some good new numbers.’

He also promised ‘different takes on old sketches - like the Blackmail sketch which has been made up to date... and there will be some new material, but we have enough difficulty learning the old stuff.’

But in response to audience questions, he confirmed the O2 shows would be the last ever.

‘There are lots of other things to do,’ he said. ‘I don’t want to be doing Python for the rest of my life. Ten shows is quite enough.’

And when pressed on whether the show might add dates in America or elsewhere in the future, he insisted the answer was a definite no. ‘We should keep the door firmly shut,’ he said. ‘ Sorry that sounded a bit UKIP...’

In his words...

Career high: The Python fish dance. ‘I would like people to remember me for that,’ he said. ‘When we rehearsed it, Teddington Lock was full. For the take it was empty, and there was a 15ft drop. I should have said no, but I bravely still fell in. I’m so proud of that.’

Favourite character he played: The centurion in Life Of Brian who was checking out the prisoners en route to crucifixion, who was called Nisus Wetticus. ‘He was a child of liberal Roman parents who read the Guardinium and didn’t want to be there but wanted to do the best for the people,’ he said, recalling the exchange with Eric Idle’s chirpy character who said he was to be released, before revealing he was just joking and that it was the cross for him...

What makes him laugh now: ‘The Harry Enfield and Paul Whitehouse spoof of BBC Two was absolutely brilliant. Harry’s Simon Schama was a delight. There’s nothing quite like a good impression – or even a bad one. I also liked Twenty Twelve and W1A, they were brilliantly written.’

• Monty Python At Work – a collection of behind-the-scenes stories about the troupe taken from Palin’s previously published diaries, is published today by Nick Hern Books, priced £9.99. Click here to buy it.

Published: 2 Jun 2014