[1] Palmer began his career in 1962 as dubbing editor on Station Six-Sahara.
Through the 1960s into the early 1970s he worked as a sound mixer or editor, on films including 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia (1967), Shalako (1968), The Strange Affair (1968), Hello-Goodbye (1970) and Wake in Fright (1971).
[2] Palmer's first work as a full film editor came in 1969, on the first eight episodes of Strange Report, a new television drama series starring Anthony Quayle.
[3] Thereafter, Palmer almost invariably worked as editor, several times on films made by Peter Sasdy and Jack Gold.
[4] In 1999 Palmer received the Primetime Emmy Award (Outstanding Single Camera Picture Editing for a Miniseries or a Movie) for Hornblower: The Even Chance (1998),[1] and for the same movie he was also nominated for a BAFTA Television Award (Best Editing, Fiction/Entertainment).