Michael Palin: stay out of care homes for as long as you can Elderly people should be allowed to remain in their own homes for as long as possible, Michael Palin has said, as he recalled how his father lost his identity when he moved into a care home. Palin, 71, who recently took part in the Monty Python reunion, makes a rare foray into serious drama next week in the BBC's supernatural thriller Remember Me. He plays an octogenarian who moves into a care home on the Yorkshire Moors. The role led Palin to reflect on care for the elderly. He told Radio Times: "My mother never went into a home. My mother-in-law, who is over 100, has not gone into a home. My father was in a home for a bit, and however enlightened the people and friendly the care, I just was aware that he had lost something. And I know that if I was taken away from my home to go and live somewhere else, even if I needed the treatment, a whole part of my life would have gone; my connection with the past and all the objects that I've collected. Keeping people in their own home environment for as long as possible is really important. Palin, who enjoyed a second career as a presenter of television travelogues, said he was enjoying his mature years. Undoubtedly, the years go by. I'm aware that I read the medical pages more carefully, follow the great statins debate and that kind of thing - but, to be honest, it seems to me my life is much more enjoyable, certainly better organised, now than when I was young.