Michael Palin pays tribute to Terry Jones: 'He was the 'spirit of Monty Python' | ITV News

a tough day yeah we knew it wasn't very well we knew this day was coming but there is still incredible shock amongst people like yourself yes yes it is it's such a now so very close to Terry so you know such a sort of major loss of it it certainly left a gap in my life all right for the last three years terry has not been very communicative because of the particular type of dimension that he was suffering which closed down ironically the one thing it was really well one of the many things is a really good at which was using words and all that so I haven't been able to talk to him and yet the fact of him now not being there so I shall be able to talk to him even if he doesn't even if he's not listening that I won't be able to do that anymore is sad but in a way I'm quite relieved for him and for the family around he wasn't he wasn't happy ready towards the end one of the things that's really come out today and you listed in your statement he was a writer [Music] the crazy map Terry which I really respected and was inspired by was his enthusiasm he's a terrific enthusiast not always the things that you know I was enthusiastic about but everything he approached us how do we do this how do you get the best out of this he worked very hard he was always a marvelous writing companion because you'd always get something done you know even if I had a bad day he had a better we get something done because he had that sort of feeling of you know duty to get to to do out do I work get that money you know that sort of thing but then he was a wonderful wonderful person just to relax with it wasn't just work absolutely not and he did get as enthusiastic about the maker of the beer and he would about you know the sort of writing a sketch for for David Frost probably more enthusiastic about the you ever sit down sort of all these years later and talk about being you know the founders of something that has changed television it's changed the world of television and it's also changed our concepts of humor we've influenced so many people afterwards it feels like it happened very organically with the two of you the moment when you sat with very good friends and thought yes I there were there were moments I think it generally speaking it was just a feeling that we were always working under pressure that was the great thing you know the BBC didn't particularly want Monty Python to stop it didn't understand it or anything like that but we've always tried to prove that we could do this we could do that so once I was always on the next thing not the last thing and I think was only when we broke in America in 1974 and we went over there realized there are actual fans screaming fans saying we'd love Python over in America that Terry and I realized this was something a bit different from you know we actually sat back for a moment and thought and felt the enthusiasm the rest of the time we were always feeling oh let's write another thing that's right something new what are we going to do next we never saw that and rested on our laurels and Terry wouldn't want that Toby was always wanted to do something new and he always had ideas he was always yeah this great sense of wonder to which i think is so important do you think life of brian honestly directing role acting iconic line do you think that would have been amongst achievements I think I think probably the like directing Life of Brian and as you say appearing and writing in it was probably Terry's greatest achievement because he he directed that on his own he was a marvelous director of comedy and we realized that when we're out in Tunisia that he knew just how to shoot comedy which wasn't always you know close-ups and and camera work camera shots from all different angles it was just letting people in a certain inner frame do their stuff for as long as it worked because comedy worked Omni had one personally and the reaction the other person you didn't want to be cutting away to the other person he just wanted to have them then Toby was very very good at at making sure that the comedy worked on screen and I think we all absolutely loved him for that and and yes he was even just he was so wonderfully committed to the whole thing I remember one day he was playing the characters to go and say he's the prophets a hermit that's right and the juniper bushes and all that and Terry decided play it start make it apart for very long gray beard which was tucked under his and it was fine it was wonderful in character but then there were moments when Terry was directing and saying look no no no no it's not that no what I want is the camera away I'll track in stop the track there then bring in a lap and there's a man you know start Meg's department long gray beard jetting the crew what to do it's just joyful really pleased of course we know Terry Jones but perhaps yeah I think that's possibly true but part of the thing about Terry what he really was interested in lots of different things he was not one thing he wasn't particularly interested in was publicity himself publicity he didn't really want to talk about things just for the sake of advertising them he wanted to talk to people so he could have another idea you know sometimes you've just got to take time to tell people what you're doing that people suing me Terry wouldn't yeah I rarely saw him interviewed I don't think he went on Parkinson the producers things all the little hacks like ourselves used to do he didn't do much of that he was always interested in the next project and the next and sometimes it was a bit of comedy sometimes it might be he was writing a book on Chaucer which is one of the one of the authoritative books on Chaucer teri is well-known amongst the academic community they give seminars and all that sort of thing so he had so many you know arrows to his bow if that's the word that I think this probably meant that you didn't get the particular focus of attention that others got it was during that that reunion on stage when youth you noticed perhaps that his memory wasn't what it was because he was really brilliant and remembering lines and things wasn't yes it was quite a shock that because for a while I mean with Terry and Terry had been less slightly less focused than he normally was you know just would forget the odd thing here and then seem to have slowed down a bit but anyway we did the Oh two together the hustles weren't absolutely fine but on one or two of the sketches he did have trouble with the lines and and that never happened before Terry was complete nutter professional you really expect people to know their lines he would set the example himself so that was kind of an indication but on two or three of the sketches we did especially with you know when he was in drag with John watching the penguin top of the television explode he never got that wrong at all absolutely terrific it brought the house down so it was so sort of yeah you know you weren't quite sure what was going on but clearly something was happening and that's when I realized it first Terry was very very open and he wanted other people to be open as well and he I think he says I've got dementia he probably when it was finally diagnosed he was saying that I've got dementia you know I can't remember anything he would say that quite openly he was a great one for sharing experience so he didn't want to stop you know tuck things away he was very open very happy to talk very and he felt it was very important that people were absolutely totally honest with each other and I think that's the way he that's the way he dealt with it but the particular severity of the decline you know that took his voice away from him I mean that was very very hard to watch and that was really difficult because Terry being generous being warm being somebody who enveloped other people with his love and affection you know suddenly couldn't say what he wanted to say anymore and and that that that I think was quite quite cruel I don't know yeah how he dealt with it after that I can't see him a lot and I wasn't sure when he was taking it in some days I wasn't sure if he recognized me but I'd always chat away um and once I took him a book map this is less than a year ago took him a book wished Taryn I'd written together a very silly book called dr. Feng's encyclopedia of all world knowledge and I wrote it I just read a few bits to Terry we just together I said you remember this Terry did this and that and suddenly he he laughed I mean you know he didn't say anything but there's a laugh that I remember so well and what I thought was particularly interesting was that he only laughed at the bits that he'd written and I thought well he's got dementia under control there but it was sad not to be able to talk to him about what he was going through that was a you know he was really robbed of that communication as we all were robbed of his talent I just think you know that Terry was at the center of an awful lot of wonderful work he created things serious books children's books marvelous comedy that would not have happened if if Terry hadn't been around you know Terry was an instigator Terry started things Terry was the spirit of pikemen he kept them moving on when I think by thing you know we've had enough now Jerry would say no let's do another series let's go up to Scotland and film instead of just filming in West twelve and all that you know he was he had his energy I think so fuses that whole period of python omlette really sad for yourself I mean because you were a friend we all thought we knew him so it's hmm you know your your response to this is there's a deeper one then we will know I suppose because you knew him so well yes I mean everybody has their own sort of memories I just spent an awful lot of time with Terry downtime working time thinking of ideas he was enormous ly supportive of me even my me split up and did separate things like I did film the missionary if Terry wasn't involved in but he was yeah I talked to him about it and he'd say let me have a look at the script he was always there to help wherever he could it was most unselfish man I think yeah I think he was really you

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Length: 12min 19sec (739 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 22 2020