MICHAEL Palin might have a lengthy showbiz career under his belt - but there's plenty more to come, the 75-year-old tells Gemma Dunn

MICHAEL PALIN may have travelled around the world in 80 days - but his latest journey is set to be his most "revealing" yet. The comedy actor-turned-presenter - who forged a successful second career touring the world following the 1989 hit - will head to North Korea for his first travelogue since 2012.

The major two-part documentary - his first for Channel 5 - will see him go "beyond the politics" in a bid to discover more about the everyday life of the secretive nation. It was an opportunity Palin, 75, simply couldn't turn down.

"I like places that are off the beaten track, especially places that have a reputation, where you want to find out what it's really like under the surface," says the former Monty Python stalwart, whose previous travel series include Pole To Pole, Hemingway Adventure, Full Circle and Brazil. "You can't condemn a whole nation for the aggression or cruelty of their leaders. People are people, so I wanted to try and find out if that was the same for North Korea."

But gaining unprecedented access was no easy feat for a Western crew - rather the result of two years of complex negotiations. "Before Christmas, I just thought, 'This will never happen' because the political leaders were all calling each other names," Palin recalls. "And then after Kim Jong-un made the new year speech, which was conciliatory towards South Korea, talking about reunification, the whole atmosphere changed. That was when we realised that we were likely to be able to begin - but you just never knew what could happen. One morning there could have been a missile fired; Trump could have said something and we'd all be held hostage or we wouldn't be able to go at all. So the whole thing kept me very apprehensive."

With the 1,300-mile, 13-day trip coinciding with the historic meeting between Kim Jong-un and the South's president Moon Jae-in too, Palin found himself filming at a critical time in the country's history.

"You suddenly realise that they're all Koreans and they've been Koreans for a thousand, two thousand years," he says. "They've only been separated for 70 years, so they see themselves as the same people, with the same interests. It was reunification which excited people because some of them have family who they never see, so this little step towards some kind of peace was hugely important."

It could usher in a new era, he muses: "I get the feeling that North Koreans want to open up to the rest of the world, but they're not quite sure how to do it without losing - I'm talking about the party regime here - control of the country, which they have. We did see sort of tourist resorts and airports being built to deal with the people coming in; they wouldn't have spent that money unless this was a major change of policy."

Can this landmark series enjoy the "Palin effect"? (His previous shows resulted in a spike in tourism for the visited destination.)

"If someone said to me, 'Should I go to North Korea?' I would say, 'Yes! Go'," he says. "All of us in the crew felt quite sad when it came time to leave and none of us expected that. We all thought we were going to race home, get out of this madness, but actually not. But then we were well looked after."

One thing that's sure to keep him on British shores for a while is Monty Python. Are there celebrations under way for 2019 - the 50th anniversary of the sketch show favourite? "Well, there are plans being hatched to flog our wares - you don't miss an opportunity for an anniversary," he teases. "There were only six of us that have ever been Pythons, and Graham's gone, Terry's got dementia, so there's really only four of us that can discuss it at the moment. It's really quite a bond."

In addition, Palin is currently starring as William Makepeace Thackeray in the ITV adaptation of Vanity Fair - and much to his delight, he's also written a book. Erebus: The Story Of A Ship brings to life the world and voyages of HMS Erebus - a project that took him to the Falklands, Tasmania and the Northwest Passage, and importantly, gave him time at home.

Can the "national treasure" see himself putting pen to paper again?

"We'll see, if something else comes along. I like writing and I enjoy discovering and learning new things," he says. "I'm 75 and I'm so ignorant, there are so many things I want to know. It would be terribly sad to feel as though I'd done everything - what is there left in life? I feel I'm just starting out, really."

  • Michael Palin In North Korea starts on Channel 5 on Thursday, September 20.