Michael Palin in the context of "John Cleese"

Neal's Yard is a small alley in London's Covent Garden between Shorts Gardens and Monmouth Street which opens into a courtyard. It is named after the 17th-century developer Thomas Neale.

In 1976, Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam bought offices at 11 Neal's Yard, and alternative activist and entrepreneur Nicholas Saunders established the bulk Whole Food Warehouse; he had bought 2 Neal's Yard, a derelict warehouse previously used by the former Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market, for £7,000 a few years earlier. From this success, grew other enterprises in other buildings such as Neal's Yard Apothecary (now known as Neal's Yard Remedies), Neal's Yard Bakery, Monmouth Coffee Company and Neal's Yard Dairy,

Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group initially came to prominence in the UK for the sketch comedy television series Monty Python's Flying Circus, which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy".

Monty Python's Flying Circus was loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream of consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, the Pythons had creative control that allowed them to experiment with form and content, discarding rules of television comedy. They followed their television work by making the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975), Life of Brian (1979), and The Meaning of Life (1983). Their influence on British comedy has been apparent for years, while it has coloured the work of the early editions of Saturday Night Live through to absurdist trends in television comedy.

Terrence Vance Gilliam (/ˈɡɪliəm/ GIL-ee-əm; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Graham Chapman. Together they collaborated on the sketch series Monty Python's Flying Circus (1969–1974) and the films Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, also co-directed), Life of Brian (1979) and The Meaning of Life (1983). In 1988, they received the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema. In 2009, Gilliam received the BAFTA Fellowship for lifetime achievement.

Gilliam transitioned to directing serious films with themes exploring imagination and oppositions to bureaucracy and authoritarianism. His films are sometimes set in dystopian worlds and involve black comedy and tragicomedic elements. He has directed thirteen feature films, gaining acclaim for Time Bandits (1981), Brazil (1985), The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (1988), The Fisher King (1991), and 12 Monkeys (1995). Other directing credits include Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), and The Man Who Killed Don Quixote (2018).