"Monty Python" star Michael Palin joins "The Wipers Times" WWI drama

PanARMENIAN.Net - British comedian, actor, writer and presenter Michael Palin will star in TV movie The Wipers Times, a WWI drama to air on BBC2, The Hollywood Reporter said.

The drama details the story of how a squad of British soldiers in the trenches produced and published their own satirical magazine during the first world war.

The movie is co-written by Ian Hislop, a regular on satirical British TV show Have I Got News For You, and also the editor of Private Eye, the U.K.'s coruscating weekly paper which takes a humorous and often barbed look at the political scene and the media.

Palin will join Ben Chaplin, Julian Rhind-Tutt and Emilia Fox in the drama also written by Nick Newman and directed by Andy De Emmony.

The movie is produced by Oscar winning producer David Parfitt through his banner Trademark Films and is backed by BBC, Northern Ireland Screen Fund (supported by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund), Goldcrest Films and Content Media.

The Wipers Times combined dark humor and satirical swipes at allies and enemies and was set up an abandoned printing press discovered in the ruins of Ypres, Belgium.

Palin's more than 40-year career on television and movies includes being a founding member of legendary comedy collective Monty Python, featuring in such classics as Monty Python’s Flying Circus, The Holy Grail and Life of Brian.