A History of Britain in Just a Minute

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BBC radio host Nicholas Parsons dies". BBC News. BBC. 28 January 2020 . Retrieved 30 January 2020. Broadcaster Nicholas Parsons has died at the age of 96 after a short illness, his agent has confirmed. In 1999, the BBC televised the show, with 20 episodes recorded during a single week in Birmingham. Nicholas Parsons was again the chairman. There were no regular panellists but those appearing were Pam Ayres, Clare Balding, Isla Blair, Jo Brand, Gyles Brandreth, Ken Bruce, Michael Cashman, Barry Cryer, Stephen Frost, Liza Goddard, Tony Hawks, Peter Jones, Maria McErlane, Richard Morton, Tom O'Connor, Su Pollard, Steve Punt, Wendy Richard, John Sergeant, Brian Sewell, Linda Smith, Richard Vranch and Gary Wilmot. The series was produced by Helena Taylor. The first show in 1967 was recorded in the Playhouse Theatre in central London, [39] [ failed verification] and the 35th anniversary show was also recorded there, and broadcast on New Year's Day 2003. [40]

Following Parsons' death on 28 January 2020, the BBC started broadcasting new episodes in 2021 with guest hosts including Gyles Brandreth, Paul Merton, Stephen Fry, Jo Brand, Nish Kumar, Julian Clary, Lucy Porter, Sue Perkins, Tom Allen and Jenny Eclair, [35] [36] [37] [38] before Perkins was announced as permanent host. In February 2012, two episodes of the show were recorded at the Comedy Store, in Mumbai in India, the first time the show has recorded outside Britain. The programme played for many years on the BBC World Service and is said to have a large following in India. [45] TV versions [ edit ] Just a Minute". Radio Times. Vol.181, no.2344 (London & South Easted.). BBC Publications. 10 October 1968. p.23 . Retrieved 30 January 2020. A panel game controlled (!) this week by Geraldine Jones.Jeffries, Stuart (16 February 2016). "Paul Merton on Just a Minute: 'Our worst contestant? Esther Rantzen' ". The Guardian. London. eISSN 1756-3224 . Retrieved 15 February 2020. The host gives one of four contestants a topic to talk about for 60 seconds and they have to do so without hesitation, repetition or deviation.

Sue Perkins announced as new host of Just a Minute". BBC News. 20 July 2021 . Retrieved 20 July 2021. A panellist scores one point for making a correct challenge against whoever is speaking, or the speaker gets a point if the challenge is deemed incorrect. If a witty interjection amuses the audience, but is not a correct challenge, at the chairperson's discretion the challenger can nevertheless be awarded an extra point (the "bonus point" rule). A player who makes a correct challenge takes over the subject for the remainder of the minute, or until he or she is successfully challenged. At the discretion of the chairperson also, a challenged player can be given a "benefit of the doubt" and keeps the subject if what he or she was saying appears to remain within the rules, even if verging on their very limits. The person speaking when the whistle blows after 60 seconds scores a point. An extra point is awarded if a panellist speaks for the entire minute without being challenged. On rare occasions, panellists will challenge themselves, usually by mistake or for laughs. [19] If successful, last-second challenges can be especially rewarding, as they allow one to speak for a short time but earn two points—one for the challenge and one for being the last speaker. Just a Minute". Radio Times. Vol.177, no.2301 (London & South Easted.). BBC Publications. 14 December 1967. p.65 . Retrieved 30 January 2020. Pre-recorded at The Piccadilly, 201 Piccadilly, London W1. Episode 455". Just a Minute. Series 29. Episode 1. 6 January 1996. BBC Radio 4. Transcript from just-a-minute.info. So Paul Merton started with the subject and he kept going with a little connivance from the chairman who actually blew the whistle on that occasion after one minute, 30 seconds!For the show's 25th anniversary in 1992, a two-hour compilation album entitled Just A Minute: Silver Minutes was released on long-play vinyl and cassette. The following year, an eponymous album Just A Minute was released containing three then-recent episodes from 1991 and 1993. A further cassette with four recent episodes entitled Just A Minute 2 followed in 1996. Just A Minute 3 in 1999 saw the start of regular annual releases featuring 4 of the best episodes from the previous year. After Just A Minute 8 in 2004, the following year's release was titled Just A Minute: The Best Of 2005 and an end-of-year collection has been released every year since with Just A Minute: The Best Of 2017 due for release on 2 November. Winners". Sony Radio Academy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2004 . Retrieved 14 October 2010. You've never heard the history of Britain told quite like this. You'll enjoy every uproarious minute of it. Read more Look Inside Details Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game, hosted by Sue Perkins since 2021. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Following Parsons' death in 2020, Perkins assumed the host's chair permanently, starting with the 87th series. Just a Minute was first transmitted on Radio 4 on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. [2] The programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003. [3] [4] Participants [ edit ] Clement Freud was a panellist on the show from 1967 to 2009, making him the longest-serving contestant.

For the first 30 years, most shows were recorded in the Paris Theatre in central London. In 1992, a new producer, Sarah Smith, took the show outside central London and recorded some shows in nearby Highgate. [41] A year later, the show left London for the first time; the first such shows broadcast were recorded in Bury St Edmunds [42] and Llandudno. [43] The show started going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1993 and has been there every year since. [44] In recent years most shows, though not all, have been recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House in central London. Hesitation" is watched very strictly: a momentary pause in speaking can give rise to a successful challenge, as can tripping over one's words. Even pausing during audience laughter or applause (known as "riding a laugh") can be challenged.

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The panellists are invited, in rotation, to speak for one minute on a given subject (which they are normally not informed of in advance), without "hesitation, repetition or deviation". Over the years, the application of these rules has been inconsistent, and their interpretation is the focus of much of the comic interplay between those appearing, who often challenge the chairman's rulings. Clement Freud on Just a Minute: A Celebration". Clement Freud on Just a Minute: A Celebration. 26 May 2009. BBC Radio 4.