UK talkshow doyen Michael Parkinson died on August 16. He was 88. Here, I recall a Canberra story involving an unexpected early morning visit from “Parky”.
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| Sir Michael Parkinson. Photo courtesy Sydney Morning Herald |
by Tony Magee
In 1988, Michael Parkinson made one of many trips to Australia. I have it on very good authority from a Canberra based senior Quarantine Officer (at the time), that the following story is true.
Having departed Heathrow en-route to Tullamarine, the Qantas Boeing 747 Parky was aboard, along with 300 other passengers, suddenly had to make an emergency landing at Canberra.
There was a fuel problem.
It was 1am, but the pilots were able to make contact with the RAAF Base at Fairbairn and permission was immediately granted to land, their advice also being that a plane of that size had never landed at Fairbairn, or Canberra domestic before - the runways were considered too short and also not wide enough.
But is was an emergency, so down they came.
On touch-down, the Boeing’s wheels crushed all the landing lights for the entire length of the runway, the plane coming to a halt with just three metres to spare.
Passengers had to remain seated on the plane for some time, waiting for quarantine officials to arrive and process them on disembarking.
Michael Parkinson was the first passenger off, followed by everyone else. The group of very tired, frustrated and in some cases frightened travellers had to stand around waiting, whilst buses appeared to take them all to hotels.
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| David Frost. Photo courtesy Canberra City News online |
An Australian Customs official, also involved in the debacle, spotted Parky on the tarmac, rushed over and screamed with excitement at the top of his voice: “Oh my goodness - I can’t believe it! It’s really you! David Frost! Can I have your autograph?”
Parkinson reacted stunned at first, whilst most others around him burst out laughing.
Parky soon put on a jovial, but still somewhat sceptical demeanour and was seen scribbling something down on the man’s notebook.
Conversation amongst the passengers then turned to an amusing “I wonder if he signed ‘Parkinson’ or ‘Frost’?”
No-one ever found out. Many passengers asked him, but he politely and humorously declined, saying “that has to remain something that David Frost and I will have a good laugh about over a drink sometime.”
Parkinson’s career in Australia often ran in parallel to his work in the UK, and his series “Parkinson in Australia” was shown on the ABC from 1979 to 1982. He later recorded – with Sir David Frost – “Frost over Parkinson” and “Parkinson: The Frost Interviews” for Network Nine.
Parkinson said he “truly fell in love with Australia” when he watched the then prime minister Paul Keating put his arm around the Queen in 1992.
“Those who believed it was a terrible lapse of protocol, that Mr Keating should be sent to the Tower and tried for treason, completely missed the point,” he said.
“Mr Keating wasn’t being disloyal; he was merely reaching out in friendly gesture, as one human being to another.”
Sir Michael Parkinson: 1935 - 2023.
First published at Canberra City News online, in a slightly edited format, August 23, 2023
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