Michael Palin: I can be very sulky, angry and impulsive

Hes never been keen on the label Britains nicest man but the accidental globetrotter proves to be just that as he reminisces about Monty Python, burnt toast and dads sherry

Michael Palin has chosen a Spanish-influenced restaurant for our rendezvous. I tell him Im grateful as it means I can make a pun about no one expecting it, in much the same way as no one ever expected the Spanish Inquisition in the Monty Python sketch he co-wrote.

Well its not a pun, its a play on words, he says with professorial firmness as he takes a seat at his favourite window table in Moro on Londons Exmouth Market. He gives a benign smile and the crinkles spread across the planes of his face like contour lines. Hes right, of course. It isnt technically a pun.