United Kingdom, Sept. 1 -- Sir Michael Palin and his film crew were detained by armed militia in Venezuela after attempting to film a statue of former leader Hugo Chavez.

The 82-year-old Monty Python star was in the country shooting a new travel documentary when filming in Chavez's hometown of Sabaneta was cut short by armed guards who seized their cameras and passports and kept them all in custody for seven hours.

Palin told The Telegraph newspaper: "It got a bit farcical; they even went through our laundry."

He went on to reveal the group were eventually taken to a restaurant so they could have something to eat and the mood eventually lightened when one of the armed guards looked the funnyman up online and found one of his most famou...