[1976, working on Life of Brian]

High standard from John and Graham, Eric average and Terry’s and my first offering frankly bad. A poor rewrite of a poorly written original is never going to stand much chance before this audience — and it bombs embarrassingly.

A second very encouraging piece from John and Graham — about the crowd outside Brian’s home being talked to sharply by Brian’s mother.

My personal gloom finally lifted by the reading of our piece about Brian and Ben in the prison and the Centurion who can’t pronounce his ‘r’s. This five- or six-minute piece, read right at the end of the meeting, with both GC and JC poised to leave, really brings the house down. It could be pre-breaking-up hysteria, but it’s a good note to end this six-week writing stint.

— Michael Palin, Diaries 1969 – 1979: The Python Years