Biggles Flies North (1981) by W.E. Johns, read by Michael Palin

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First broadcast as part of the Storytime Strand in 1981 (contrary to what my on-screen caption says), this serialisation of an adventure featuring the legendary flying ace James 'Biggles' Bigglesworth is read by one of the series's most famous fans, Michael Palin...
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[@gothcartergroup]

Loving Michael Palin's reading of Biggles Flies North. A little disappointed The Lumberjack Song didn't make an appearance.

[@tomcarberry4445]

When I was much younger I used to read the books/comic books about Biggles adventures during WWI. Michael Palin, late of Monty Python, did a great job with the narration.

[@MysticalMagpie-wo5fn]

As I understand it, Palin is himself a big fan of Biggles, which I dare say helped his narration...

[@tomcarberry4445]

@@MysticalMagpie-wo5fn most of us from that era, I’m in my 70s born in the UK loved Biggles and such characters as Wilson the Wonder Ahtlete and the Wolf of Kabul. Great memories. Too bad most kids today have their heads in phones or Tablets, they don’t know what they’re missing.

[@caroldixon3952]

I learned most of my geography knowledge in the 1950s from Biggles books. Brilliant stories and Michael Palin is a great reader.

[@tomservo75]

So the Biggles Monty Python sketch was based on the cartoons and so was the movie? That was 1986, after Monty Python

[@MysticalMagpie-wo5fn]

@@tomservo75 Biggles was primarily a series of novels that started back in the 1930s, written by W.E. Johns. The books were hugely popular for a long time, and theyre still in print today, Obviously by the 60s the Pythons thought the character was ripe for parody, including the way the stories were very much a boy's club, almost as if the characters were totally uninterested in women. Michael Palin in particular has always stayed true to his love for the character even while parodying it though, hence this reading... though I guess you could also say that his TV show 'Ripping Yarns' parodies the whole era of British Empire storytelling of which Biggles was originally a part...

[@Nobody_Here_Except-Us_Ghosts]

Timeless Ty :)

[@skylongskylong1982]

Superb . Will you doing anymore Biggles books. Such as Biggles in Spain ?

[@MysticalMagpie-wo5fn]

I'm afraid this is the only one that I have - almost everything I've got in my personal archive is taken from a BBC broadcast, and for some reason there hasn't been a lot of Biggles on the BBC... but if I find I'm able to upload more, be assured that I will.

[@skylongskylong1982]

@@MysticalMagpie-wo5fn Thank you .

[@vernonharvey5657]

I wonder why they use fictitious aircraft types? I recall in most (all?) of the books they used actual aircraft types. Kind of makes it more real for the avgeek.

[@feralbluee]

1:12:22 I know this is going to turn out ok, but I hate these penultimate bits where it looks like the good guys are in for it and the bad guys think they’ve won!!! It’s really scary :p

[@harryflash5202]

A real ripping yarn

[@suzannahjames5264]

Spiffing!

[@neilprocter]

What was Algy doing in Biggles' flat at breakfast time?

[@MysticalMagpie-wo5fn]

Chaps stay up all night playing Backgammon and making aeroplanes sometimes you know...

[@caroldixon3952]

They shared a flat as a lot of single people did in those days.

[@feralbluee]

What a fabulous adventure - the time when flying was wild and free when great flying men and women ruled the skies. When you and your plane were one flying machine whizzing through the clouds, through barns, and under bridges. :) 🌬️🛫✈️🛬⛅️ Great reader! Thanks soo much 🌷🌱 (Yes, there were quite a number of women including two Black women, one from, I think, France. It’s been a while since I found out about all of them. They were all intrepid pioneers :)