Sir Michael Palin pays tribute to his "wonderful friend" Terry Jones | 5 News

well I'd known that Terry was ill and I saw him on Sunday nights and he is illness taking a turn for the worst he'd had an infection so I sort of went up there and and I can't say goodbye to him then and he he was some he was lying in bed but I suppose hearing you know the final news that he sees you know you won't really see him again or even attempt to talk to him again that's sad I've known him for so long you know it's been such a part of my life for so long but I come said goodbye I've said goodbye on several occasions now really if this dreadful to make sure has taken taken him down because he lives quite fairly close to my lips but I can walk up to his house and sort of see spend quite a bit of time with him what was it like seeing my dementia take hold well it was very distressing because Terry always had this great energy this great enthusiasm he loved three threw himself into everything he did you know and he was full of solid you had me talk to people about this and that and have ideas about this and that and I noticed around about the time of the o2 concert when monty python did their their last concert ready that Terry was beginning to quieten down a bit I was suspicious of this because Terry was never caught and I always had lots to say and that's when he I noticed then that he was being he'd have trouble remembering his lines and again this was so unlike Terry he was the ultimate professional usually always knew exactly what to do and you know from then on I realized this wasn't just an occasional thing this was something that was going to be with him really for the rest of his life and it was just a question of seeing how it developed and for a year or so it was fine I went to see him we can have a drink together all that then after that his movement became restricted his speech became restricted and that was very very sad so it wouldn't change from you know one week to the next sometimes things were good that mostly things were going downhill I mean what was it like working with him you know you think Terry Jones and you think laughter yeah Salinas yeah yeah yeah now he was terrific I had all these things he was a very funny man he was also very interested in lots of things so we be we just have a wonderful time having a drink and talking about him as anything he as you know he didn't just do comedy he wrote serious academic works on medieval writers like Chaucer hero absolutely wonderful children's books and ichabob anism and the fairy tales so there was always something going on you know with with um with Terry which made him made him a most wonderful companion and he liked dressing up mainly women's clothes he liked well yes not dressing I'm no clothes at all no that's right a stereo is very sort of he was quite he would do anything that he was asked to do however outrageous and it was like that was his attitude to life generally you know be open be honest share things you know and and if there was a scene that required a stuntman Terry you say no no I can do it myself so I've seen him fall out of trees and almost break a bone or two what will be your your fondest memory of him well there there are just so many I mean the one or two things I remember of Terry the physical comedian he was brilliant physically and remember he did in 1964 there was a university revue at Oxford called hang down your head and die which was sort of put the case against capital punishment and Terry played the condemned man and he just had to he was in a Cell and he just had to conjure up this this cell by touch there were nothing there's nothing there just and he was brilliant the way he felt his way around this by the end of it you're convinced you're seeing bars and went on there at all I'm the other great one it's something which I think he's not remembered very much but I thought it's just so pretty little Monty Python you play so he repaid the great escapologists were going to play 1812 while escaping from a sack various bonds ropes and terry did it absolutely brilliantly I can't imagine anyone ever doing that quite as well you haven't rolled up to the piano bong Majesty at the first thought bong hit the second call bong bong got the next out of the sack within about 35 seconds he was out and doing Dada just just I yes terrific evening Terry most of your life since you in 1924 university days he saw him just as recently as Sunday what is life going to be like for you how he copings all of this well I was prepared for it in the sense I knew that Terry was going downhill and we weren't having quite the same relationship but the fact that he's just not there to physically go and see and give a hug to or a kiss or whatever that that's going to be that's going to take some getting used to I knew that the condition he had you know was fatal and we're all prepared for that but I think now I just just like take some time taking all those memories of a very very long period of my life it's like someone anyone you've known for a long long time one of the great things about it is you can talk about so much you know I could talk about anything ever period of 60 years no one else like that apart from my wife really so I shall I'll miss that and I shall miss missing him and hold his hand and remembering just what a wonderful wonderful friend he was Michael Palin thank you so much thank you

Channel: 5 News

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Keywords: Channel 5 News, 5 News, Channel 5, News, Latest News, Breaking News, News Today, Live News, UK News, World News, Current Affairs, ITN, Sir Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Monty python, British comedy, british humour, comedy, sketch comedy, life of brian, Flying Circus, Holy Grail

Id: 3eAz7UW3rcQ

Length: 6min 17sec (377 seconds)

Published: Thu Jan 23 2020