'He couldn't have done without me!' Michael Palin hits back at John Cleese after 'boring' swipe

Michael Palin has insisted John Cleese "couldn't have done without" him in Monty Python, as he hit back at being branded "slightly boring" by his co-star.

The 81-year-old actor and comedian has insisted he "really enjoys" portraying "boring characters" in productions, and believes the comedy troupe - which was made up of Michael, John, Graham Chapman, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, and Terry Jones - wouldn't have worked as well without him.

When asked what he made of the 'Fawlty Towers' star recently describing him as "slightly boring", Michael said on 'This Morning': "John is scintillating. We all know that. It's in his passport.

"I really enjoy playing boring characters, and I've done a few, including the most boring man in Yorkshire, Eric Olthwaite [in comedy series 'Ripping Yarns'].

"But you know, you just talk about rainfall all the time, and shovels. And putting a shovel next to the other one.

"It really irritates people who think they're interesting.

"You go back to Python, and I always played the boring character, but John couldn't have done without me.

"You had to have someone selling the parrot, or someone in the argument sketch to play off.

"So I think I'm going to continue to bask in John's compliment that I'm boring. The more boring I can be the better."

Michael's comments come after John's light-hearted swipe at his pal, which occurred after he and Gilliam had reunited for Michael's 81st birthday earlier this month.

When asked about the occasion on Zoe Ball's BBC Radio 2 Breakfast Show, John said: "It was lovely.

"When we get together we just laugh a lot and we're very, very silly, which I think is lovely, when you see three 80-year-old men just being thoroughly silly and reprehensible.

"And people love it, of course, because they think, 'It doesn't matter because they haven't got long [left].' "

Asked how Michael is, John replied: "Michael is just the same, sweet, kind, slightly boring man.

"And Gilliam, of course, is completely mad, but he thinks I'm mad so it doesn't matter.

"It just completely cancels out and we just had an absolutely lovely time.

"We often go to the same restaurant which is an Austrian restaurant. There wasn't much to talk about really, just to be silly."