COUNTY Durham actor, author and presenter Mark Gatiss and the well-travelled comedian Michael Palin are the two star names of York Literature Festival with appearances at the city's Grand Opera House on Saturday, March 18.

The festival promotes the arts in York, with an emphasis on literature, spoken word and poetry. It also features music, comedy, cinema and theatre in the programme.

Mark Gatiss in Conversation, 3pm to 5.30pm , £15 + transaction fee. Sedgefield-born Gatiss first came to prominence as one of the writer/performers of the award-winning comedy troupe The League of Gentlemen. As well as appearing in Doctor Who, Gatiss has written television scripts for four Doctors, and co-created the international hit Sherlock, in which he also plays Mycroft Holmes.

Other television credits include Wolf Hall, Nighty Night, Game of Thrones and writing and directing the revived A Ghost Story for Christmas. His fictional adventurer Lucifier Box has featured in three best-selling novels.

Michael Palin in Conversation, 7pm to 9.30pm, £22.50 + transaction fee. Michael Palin CBE is a founding member of the internationally renowned Monty Python team, revelling in the fish-slapping dance, the lumberjack song, and performing the Dead Parrot sketch more times than is good for anyone. He went on to co-write and star in Ripping Yarns with Terry Jones, before becoming the nation’s favourite travelling companion with Around the World in 80 Days, Pole to Pole and Full Circle. His big screen credits have included many collaborations with Terry Gilliam, including Jabberwocky, Time Bandits, Brazil and, most recently, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote.

He starred opposite John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda and its equal Fierce Creatures. His many publications include the West End play The Weekend, a collection of limericks, the novel Hemingway’s Chair, Bert Fegg’s Nasty Book for Boys and Girls, and three best-selling volumes of diaries. Palin was made a Bafta Fellow in 2013. He will be in conversation with Robert Ross.

Both will be in conversation with Robert Ross, who has written a library of books on the history and stars of British comedy,

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