When author Jeremy Novick embarked on a book about "that nice Michael Palin" he was hoping to find at least a hint of Mr Nasty about him.

But, despite exhaustive research, the former Monty Python star emerged with his genial reputation intact.

Jeremy, of Arundel Road, Brighton, said: "The truth is, Michael is 90 per cent the person you see on television. He's very nice, very bright, warm and witty. It sounds terrible but I really didn't discover anything rotten about him."

The writer had already penned biographies about comic duo Morecambe and Wise, Tommy Cooper and Benny Hill when he approached Palin.

He said: "I'm not sure why he agreed to do my book when he had turned other people down. I wrote the kind of informal letter you might send to a mate, rather than one you'd send to a business manager, and I think it struck a chord with him.

"He said I sounded nice and he thought we'd have fun, which we did."

Jeremy spoke to countless friends and colleagues of Palin's and only found one already well-documented display of his nasty side.

It happened when two Oxford undergraduates suggested his sense of humour was dated.

Palin told them what he thought of them and stormed out of his own house but not before stopping to say: "Right, I'm off. Cheerio."

Palin invited Jeremy to his office for two interviews and spoke openly about his public and private life, including his sister Angela's suicide.

Palin told him: "It's ironic that my sister looked sane and I appeared mad because I was one of the Python team."

Jeremy, a TV and music critic for a national newspaper, said interviewing Palin was like having a conversation with a mate you had not seen for a long time.

He said: "Michael has done so much, you can easily get dragged off on a tangent. There were no taboo subjects but I was always aware that it was a professional meeting.

"I came away hoping he'd invite me on his next trip to the Sahara. Of course he didn't.

However, we've kept up a written relationship."

Jeremy, 43, originally from Hackney, in London, moved to Brighton four years ago with partner Gilly Smith and daughters Elly, six, and Loulou, three.

His book, called Life Of Michael, follows Palin's work from its beginnings at Oxford University to his globe-trotting adventures.

Jeremy said the most provocative thing about Palin was his competitive streak. He likes things to be perfect and he loves to win.

The book reveals Palin's passion for art and for Ernest Hemingway. It also lets us in on how the TV star copes with the stresses of travel adventures.

Life Of Michael, published by Headline, is £16.99.