Michael Palin

And now for something completely different … we’re delighted to present everyone’s favourite travel addict, Michael Palin. (And we’re getting the Monty Python jokes out of the way before he gets here.)

Michael Palin was first famous as ‘the nice one’ in the Monty Python team (despite fraudulently selling John Cleese a dead parrot), then as an actor in films from Brazil to A Fish Called Wanda. He’s now best known – and loved – as the BBC’s resident world traveller, a role that’s been recognised with a stint as president of the Royal Geographical Society.

But the multi-talented star says his favourite thing to do is writing – whether it’s keeping a diary (his have been published), writing sketches or television scripts, or even writing fiction. His second novel, The Truth, about an ageing, cash-strapped environmental journalist given the chance to profile his hero, was published this year.

As well as details of his colourful life on and off screen, Michael will be talking about his new BBC book, Brazil, which explores the rare country he hadn’t yet visited, from the Amazon rainforests to the shanty towns of Rio and the beaches of Copacabana. Discover a country the size of a continent, a contradiction of bustling modern cities and unexplored wilderness – and one of the four new global superpowers.

Chaired by Michael Williams.