Michael Palin established his reputation with Monty Python's Flying Circus and Ripping Yarns. His work also includes several films with Monty Python, as well as The Missionary, A Private Function, an award-winning performance as the hapless Ken in A Fish Called Wanda and, more recently, American Friends and Fierce Creatures. His television credits include two films for the BBC's Great Railway Journeys, the plays East of Ipswitch and Number 27 and Alan Bleasdale's GBH. The books he wrote to accompany his TV travels have all been bestsellers, as was the first volume of his diaries.