''Just a Minute'' is a

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

radio comedy Radio comedy, or comedy, comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketch comedy, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic element ...

panel game A panel show or panel game is a radio broadcasting, radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Celebrity panelists may compete with each other, such as on ''The News Quiz''; facilitate play by non-celebrity conte ...

, hosted by

Sue Perkins Susan Elizabeth Perkins (born 22 September 1969) is an English actress, broadcaster, comedian, presenter and writer. Originally coming to prominence through her comedy partnership with Mel Giedroyc in ''Mel and Sue'', she has since become best ...

since 2021. For more than 50 years, with a few exceptions, it was hosted by

Nicholas Parsons Christopher Nicholas Parsons (10 October 1923 – 28 January 2020) was an English actor, straight man and radio and television presenter. He was the long-running presenter of the comedy radio show '' Just a Minute'' and hosted the game show '' ...

. 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. The programme won a Gold

Sony Radio Academy Award The Radio Academy Awards, started in 1983, were the most prestigious awards in the British radio industry. For most of their existence, they were run by ZAFER Associates, but in latter years were brought under the control of The Radio Academy ...

in 2003. The object of the game is for panellists to talk for sixty seconds on a given subject, "without hesitation, repetition or deviation". The comedy comes from attempts to keep within these rules and the banter among the participants. In 2011, comedy writer

David Quantick David Quantick (born 14 May 1961) is an English novelist, comedy writer and critic, who has worked as a journalist and screenwriter. A former freelance writer for the music magazine ''NME'', his writing credits have included '' On the Hour'', '' ...

ascribed ''Just a Minutes success to its "insanely basic" format, stating, "It's so blank that it can be filled by people as diverse as

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and someti ...

and

Graham Norton Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his comedy ...

, who don't have to adapt their style of humour to the show at all." Throughout its half-century history, the show has, in addition to its popularity in the UK, developed an international following through its broadcast on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...

and, more recently, on the internet. The format has also occasionally been adapted for television.

History

The idea for the game came to

Ian Messiter Ian Cassan Messiter (2 April 1920 – 22 November 1999) was a BBC Radio producer and the creator of a number of panel games, including '' Just a Minute'', ''Dealing With Daniels'' and '' Many a Slip''. Messiter brought the successful '' twenty ...

as he rode on the top of a number 13 bus. He recalled Percival Parry Jones, a history master from his days at

Sherborne School (God and My Right) , established = 705 by Aldhelm, re-founded by King Edward VI 1550 , closed = , type = Public school Independent, boarding school , religion = Church of England , president = , chair_label = Chairman of the governors , ...

who, upon seeing the young Messiter daydreaming in a class, instructed him to repeat everything he had said in the previous minute without hesitation or repetition. To this, Messiter added a rule disallowing players from deviating from the subject, as well as a scoring system based on panellists' challenges. The format was first used in ''One Minute, Please'', chaired by

Roy Plomley Francis Roy Plomley, ( ; 20 January 1914 – 28 May 1985) was an English radio broadcaster, producer, playwright and novelist. He is best remembered for devising the BBC Radio series ''Desert Island Discs'', which he hosted from its inception i ...

, two series of which were broadcast on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

between 1951 and 1957. Whilst the fundamental rules were the same, the game was played in two teams of three rather than with four individual contestants. Other early incarnations of the show, all created by Messiter, include a 1952 version on South African radio, and a television version on the

DuMont network The DuMont Television Network (also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont Television, simply DuMont/Du Mont, or (incorrectly) Dumont ) was one of America's pioneer commercial television networks, rivaling NBC and CBS for the distinction of being ...

in the United States: '' One Minute Please''. The pilot for ''Just a Minute'' was recorded in 1967, featuring

Clement Freud Sir Clement Raphael Freud (24 April 1924 – 15 April 2009) was a German-born British broadcaster, writer, politician and chef. The son of Ernst L. Freud and grandson of Sigmund Freud, Clement moved to the United Kingdom from Nazi Germany as a ...

Derek Nimmo Derek Robert Nimmo (19 September 193024 February 1999) was an English character actor, producer and author. He is best remembered for his comedic upper class "silly ass" and clerical roles including Revd Mervyn Noote in the BBC1 sitcom ''All G ...

Beryl Reid Beryl Elizabeth Reid, (17 June 1919 – 13 October 1996), was a British actress of stage and screen. She won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for ''The Killing of Sister George'', the 1980 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performan ...

and Willma Ewert as panellists. The chairman was originally intended to be

Jimmy Edwards James Keith O'Neill Edwards, DFC (23 March 19207 July 1988) was an English comedy writer and actor on radio and television, best known as Pa Glum in ''Take It from Here'' and as headmaster "Professor" James Edwards in ''Whack-O!''. Early lif ...

but he was unavailable on Sundays, the proposed recording dates, and was replaced by

, who was originally supposed to be a panel member. Parsons did not want the job and only reluctantly took it, just for the pilot episode. After the show settled in, again he found himself in the role of a straight man for the panellists. Although executives at the BBC disliked the pilot, its producer,

David Hatch Sir David Edwin Hatch, (7 May 1939 – 13 June 2007)
"''Just a Minute''" site wa ...

, insisted on having Parsons as the chairman. The first series was not very successful, but Hatch threatened to resign if the programme was not given another chance. Not wishing to lose Hatch, the BBC acquiesced. The show's theme music is

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's piano Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64, No. 1, nicknamed the "

Minute Waltz The Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1, sometimes known as "" (French for "Waltz of the puppy"), and popularly known in English as the Minute Waltz, is a piano waltz by Polish composer and virtuoso Frédéric Chopin. It is dedicated to the Co ...

" (which, despite its name, lasts longer than 60 seconds; the nickname actually refers to "minute" as in "small" rather than the unit of time). The recording used for the theme is by David Haines. For a time, broadcast of the show was to continue even following a nuclear attack as part of the BBC's continuation programming. The show was later dropped from the schedule in the 1980s, along with all other light programming, in order to conserve power. In 2018,

was unable to attend the recording of two editions of the programme as he had the flu. This broke his uninterrupted run of fifty years as a performer on the programme. The episodes were recorded on 1 April 2018 with

Gyles Brandreth Gyles Daubeney Brandreth (born 8 March 1948) is an English broadcaster, writer and former politician. He has worked as a television presenter, theatre producer, journalist, author and publisher. He was a presenter for TV-am's '' Good Morning ...

standing in for Parsons and were broadcast on 4 and 11 June 2018. He was also not present for a recording session for two episodes in series 85; episodes 942 and 943 were broadcast on 9 and 26 August 2019. Brandreth again covered for Parsons. ''Just a Minute'' continued to be transmitted with Parsons as host until his last show on 23 September 2019. Repeats were then broadcast until Parsons' death on 28 January 2020, at the age of 96, and for a couple of weeks thereafter as a homage. Series 86 began transmission in February 2021, with a number of guest panellists from the show's history being asked back to host an episode each.

Rules

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. In the early years the rules were more complicated, as special rules were sometimes tried out in addition, on a one-off basis: a ban on the word "is" might apply in a round, for example, or "the". But the three basic rules have always applied: * "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. * "Repetition" means the repetition of any word or phrase again and again, although challenges based upon very common words such as "and" are generally rejected except in extreme cases. Words contained in the given subject are now exempt unless repeated many times in quick succession, although this was a later addition to the rules. Skilful players use synonyms to avoid repeating themselves. Even letters may not be repeated; for example, the term "BBC" must be avoided, as it can be successfully challenged for repetition of "B". * "Deviation" originally meant deviating from the given subject, but gradually evolved to also include "deviating from the English language as we know it", "deviation from grammar as we understand it", deviating from the truth, and deviating from logic. Nevertheless, leaps into the surreal are usually allowed. 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. It is rare for a panellist to speak within the three cardinal rules for any substantial length of time, whilst both remaining coherent and being amusing. Therefore, to speak for the full minute without being challenged is a special achievement. However, if a panellist is speaking fluently on a subject, staying reasonably within the three rules, and seems likely to speak for the whole minute, the other panellists often refrain from challenging. On occasion a similar courtesy has been extended by the whistle-blower, who will refrain from indicating the end of the minute so as to not interrupt a panellist in full and entertaining flow (this once led to Paul Merton speaking for one minute and thirty seconds on the topic "

Ram-raiding Ram-raiding is a type of burglary in which a heavy vehicle is driven into the windows or doors of a building, usually a department store or jeweller's shop, to allow the perpetrators to loot it. Overview The term came into widespread use after ...

"). There have also been occasions when players have chosen not to buzz because the speaker has been amusing the audience by performing badly. Here is an example of a speech which successfully lasted for a full minute without being challenged. On rare occasions, panellists will challenge themselves, usually by mistake or for laughs. 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. The game is then scored and a winner declared, but the attraction of the show lies less in the contest than in the humour and banter among participants and the chairman.

Participants

Each programme features four panellists, with the exception of six shows in 1968 and another at the end of the 1970–1971 season when there were only three. Ian Messiter, the show's creator, set the subjects for every show until his death in 1999. Until 1989 he also sat on the stage with a stopwatch and blew a whistle when the sixty seconds were up. He has been replaced by a succession of different whistle-blowers, a role which now falls to the production assistant. There have been five regular competitors in the show's history: *

(1967–2009) *

(1967–1999) *

Kenneth Williams Kenneth Charles Williams (22 February 1926 – 15 April 1988) was an English actor of Welsh heritage. He was best known for his comedy roles and in later life as a raconteur and diarist. He was one of the main ensemble in 26 of the 31 Car ...

(1968–1988) * Peter Jones (1971–2000) *

(1989–present) Freud and Nimmo appeared from the first programme in 1967, while Williams joined in the show's second series in 1968. Jones made his début in 1971. After Williams' death in 1988, Merton (a long-time fan of the show) contacted the producer at Nicholas Parsons' suggestion and was invited to participate during the following year. Nimmo died in 1999, Jones in 2000 and Freud in 2009, leaving Merton as the only regular, although he is not in every episode. Just a Minute

Each of the regulars brought their individual style to playing the game. Clement Freud liked to make lists and to challenge with only a few seconds to go. He was among the show's more competitive players, regularly referring to the rules and deprecating any deviation from them. Derek Nimmo often improvised descriptions of his experiences abroad, many derived from his extensive theatrical tours. He too was highly competitive, and was known for berating the chairman frequently. Peter Jones once said that in all his years playing the game, he never quite got the hang of it; nonetheless, his self-deprecating, laconic style suited the essential silliness of the show. Kenneth Williams was often the star of the show: his flamboyant tantrums, arch put-downs, and mock sycophancy made him the audience's favourite. Williams often stretched out his speeches by extending every syllable to breaking point (some words lasting for up to three seconds), and his outbursts of mock-anger regularly included his catchphrase "I've come all the way from

Great Portland Street Great Portland Street in the West End of London links Oxford Street with Albany Street and the A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road. A commercial street including some embassies, it divides Fitzrovia, to the east, from Marylebone to the west. ...

", as though he had journeyed for miles, when in fact his home was just around the corner from the BBC studios where most recordings took place. Merton frequently launches into surreal flights of fancy and fantasy, such as claiming to have had unusual occupations or to have experienced significant historical events. He also often wins points by challenging just before the whistle or for humorous challenges, another technique being to say the same word in the singular and the plural, for inexperienced panellists to challenge incorrectly.

Guest panellists

Over the 50-year history of the show, there have been many other panellists. Those appearing more than 20 times include: Others appearing as panellists on the Radio and TV programme include: *

James Acaster James William Acaster (; born 9 January 1985) is an English comedian, writer, presenter and musician. As well as appearances on panel shows, he is known for the stand-up specials ''Repertoire'', co-hosting the food podcast '' Off Menu'' and co- ...

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* Eshaan Akbar *

Ray Alan Ray Alan (18 September 1930 – 24 May 2010) was an English ventriloquist and television entertainer from the 1950s until the 1980s. He was associated primarily with the dummies Lord Charles and Ali Kat and later with the puppets Tich and Quack ...

* Tom Allen *Juno Alexander *

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Toni Arthur Toni Arthur-Hay (born Antoinette Alice Priscilla Wilson; 27 December 1940) is an English theatre director, former folk singer and television presenter. Early life and education Arthur was born in Oxford, England. She describes her childhood ...

*John Baddeley *

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* Tony Banks *

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* Lucy Bartlett *

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* Lucy Beaumont *

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* Carol Binstead *

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* Ed Byrne *

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* Jason Byrne *

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* Charles Collingwood *

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*Wilma Ewart *

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Emma Freud Emma Vallencey Freud (born 25 January 1962) is an English broadcaster and cultural commentator. Early life Freud was born in London on 25 January 1962 and is the daughter of politician and broadcaster Sir Clement Freud (1924–2009) and June ...

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*Fred MacAulay *Lee Mack *Jackie Forster, Jacqueline MacKenzie *Jason Manford *Stephen Mangan *Miriam Margolyes *Alfred Marks *Betty Marsden *Jean Marsh *Carolyn Marshall *Anna Maxwell Martin *Pete McCarthy *Maria McErlane *Alistair McGowan *Pauline McLynn *Ian McMillan (poet), Ian McMillan *Mike McShane *Andrée Melly *

*Shazia Mirza *David Mitchell (comedian), David Mitchell *Warren Mitchell *Bob Monkhouse *Patrick Moore *Justin Moorhouse *Richard Morton *Neil Mullarkey *Jimmy Mulville *Richard Murdoch *Al Murray *Chris Neill *Dara Ó Briain *Owen O'Neill *Anuvab Pal *Michael Palin *Rachel Parris *

*Sara Pascoe *Lance Percival *Su Pollard *Lucy Porter *Kiri Pritchard-McLean *Greg Proops *Marjorie Proops *Steve Punt *Libby Purves *Magnus Pyke *Caroline Quentin *Esther Rantzen *Jan Ravens *Heidi Regan *

*Nick Revell *Anneka Rice *Kate Robbins *Kenneth Robinson (broadcaster), Kenneth Robinson *Jonathan Ross *Suzi Ruffell *Willie Rushton *Katherine Ryan *Jennifer Saunders *Alexei Sayle *Prunella Scales *Will Self *John Sergeant (journalist), John Sergeant *Lee Simpson *Paul Sinha *Frank Skinner *Tony Slattery *Millie Small *Arthur Smith (comedian), Arthur Smith *Victor Spinetti *Richard Stilgoe *Elaine Stritch *Una Stubbs *Eleanor Summerfield *Jim Sweeney (comedian), Jim Sweeney *David Tennant *Christopher Timothy *Sandi Toksvig *Barry Took *Russell Tovey *Tommy Trinder *Joan Turner *Stanley Unwin (comedian), Stanley Unwin *Tim Vine *Richard Vranch *Rick Wakeman *Roy Walker (comedian), Roy Walker *David Walliams Comic Relief Special 2011 *Holly Walsh *Phil Wang *Felicity Ward *Mark Watson *Suki Webster *Katharine Whitehorn *June Whitfield *Josh Widdicombe *Simon Williams (actor), Simon Williams *Anona Winn *Dale Winton *Terry Wogan *Michael Wood (historian), Michael Wood *Victoria Wood

Guest presenters

Nicholas Parsons chaired the show from its inception until 2019. On nine occasions he appeared on the panel, and others have acted as chairman including

, Geraldine Jones, Andrée Melly "as our contribution to the women's liberation movement", and

. Ian Messiter was chairman on one occasion in 1977, when Freud arrived late and Parsons took his place on the panel. Parsons appeared on every show for 51 years, either as chairman or panellist, until he was absent through illness for two episodes recorded in April 2018 and broadcast the following June. Those shows were hosted by

, as were two episodes recorded and broadcast in August 2019, when Parsons was again unwell. Following Parsons' death on 28 January 2020, the BBC started broadcasting new episodes in 2021 with guest hosts including

, Stephen Fry, Jo Brand,

, Julian Clary, Lucy Porter,

, Tom Allen and Jenny Eclair, before Perkins was announced as permanent host.

Producers

Over the years, more than two dozen producers have worked on ''Just a Minute''. *

David Hatch Sir David Edwin Hatch, (7 May 1939 – 13 June 2007)
"''Just a Minute''" site wa ...

*Simon Brett *John Cassells *Bob Oliver Rogers *John Lloyd (producer), John Lloyd *John Browell *Pete Atkin *Edward Taylor (scriptwriter), Edward Taylor *Sarah Smith (producer), Sarah Smith *Anne Jobson *Chris Neill *Claire Jones *Tilusha Ghelani *Katie Tyrrell *Victoria Lloyd *Matt Stronge *Richard Morris *Alex Smith *Hayley Sterling TV version *Helena Taylor *Mike Mansfield *Andrew Brereton *Tilusha Ghelani *Malcolm Messiter *Jamie Ormerod *Jo Street

Recording locations

The first show in 1967 was recorded in the Playhouse Theatre#BBC studio, Playhouse Theatre in central London, and the 35th anniversary show was also recorded there, and broadcast on New Year's Day 2003. 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. A year later, the show left London for the first time; the first such shows broadcast were recorded in Bury St Edmunds and . The show started going to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1993 and has been there every year since. In recent years most shows, though not all, have been recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House in central London. 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

and is said to have a large following in India.

TV versions

Several television versions have been attempted. Two pilot episodes were recorded for television in 1969 and 1981 but never broadcast, except in documentaries about Kenneth Williams. In 1994, 14 shows were broadcast on Carlton Television, ITV (TV network), ITV in London. Two additional variations were added: a round in which the team were presented with a mystery object to talk about, rather than a subject, and another round where the audience suggested a topic. Nicholas Parsons chaired the show, and Tony Slattery featured in all programmes. Other panellists were Tony Banks, Baron Stratford, Tony Banks,

, Jo Brand, Ann Bryson,

, Clement Freud, Mariella Frostrup,

, Tony Hawks,

, Kit Hesketh-Harvey, Helen Lederer, Pete McCarthy, Neil Mullarkey, Derek Nimmo,

, Nick Revell, Ted Robbins, Lee Simpson, Arthur Smith, Jim Sweeney and Richard Vranch. In 1995, fourteen more episodes were broadcast. ''Just a Minute'' became a team game, with the Midlands and London playing against each other, under team captains Tony Slattery and Dale Winton. Each player earned individual points, which were totalled for each team at the end of the show. Nicholas Parsons again chaired the shows. The gimmick of the audience choosing a subject was abandoned in this series. Other panellists were Tony Banks, Tony Blackburn,

, Mariella Frostrup, Liza Goddard,

, Kit Hesketh-Harvey, Helen Lederer, Carolyn Marshall, Graham Norton, Su Pollard, Wendy Richard, Arthur Smith, Jim Sweeney and Richard Vranch. Both this series and the series before were produced by Mike Mansfield (producer), Mike Mansfield. 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,

, Jo Brand, Gyles Brandreth,

, Barry Cryer, Stephen Frost, Liza Goddard, Tony Hawks, Peter Jones, Maria McErlane, Richard Morton, Tom O'Connor (comedian), 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. In March and April 2012, the BBC broadcast ten episodes, recorded over a week at the BBC Television Centre in London, to mark the 45th anniversary of the programme. For the first time, the shows were shown in prime time at 6 pm each night over two weeks on BBC Two. Nicholas Parsons again chaired the programme and Paul Merton appeared in all episodes. Other panellists were

, Marcus Brigstocke, Julian Clary, Stephen Fry, Tony Hawks, Ruth Jones (actress), Ruth Jones,

, Shaparak Khorsandi, Josie Lawrence, Jason Manford, Stephen Mangan, Graham Norton,

, John Sergeant (journalist), John Sergeant, Liza Tarbuck and Russell Tovey. No changes were made to the format of the game. The shows were produced by Andy Brereton and Jamie Ormerod.

Audiobook releases

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. In 2004, the BBC began a separate annual series of double CD releases collecting older episodes covering the shows first 30 years entitled ''Just A Classic Minute: Volume 1''. Each episode had a newly-recorded introduction by Parsons (for later volumes, Parsons and Merton in discussion). The first four volumes were also released in a box set entitled ''Just A Classic Minute: 40th Anniversary Collection'' in 2007. The series finished in 2010 with the release of ''Just A Classic Minute: Volume 7''. In 2010, ''Just A Minute: Series 56'' became the first series to be made available in its entirety for purchase via digital download. This continued up to ''Just A Minute: Series 67''. The pattern resumed for ''Just A Minute: Series 71'' onwards, with complete series also made available on Compact Disc. In 2011, five double CDs were released with each volume focusing on a "Classic" selection of each of the main regular panellists (eg. ''Just A Minute: Classic Kenneth Williams'', ''Just A Minute: Classic Paul Merton'', etc.) The five volumes were also available as a box set entitled ''Just A Minute: The Classic Collection'' along with a bonus CD. The "Classic Clement Freud" CD and audio download was withdrawn from sites such as Amazon and iTunes following the posthumous revelations about him. A second box set was released in 2014 entitled ''Just A Minute: Another Classic Collection''. It followed the same theme as its predecessor, this time focusing on five non-regulars who are frequent panellists, namely Sheila Hancock, Gyles Brandreth, Jenny Éclair, Stephen Fry and Graham Norton. Once again, there was a bonus disc with the box set which was not available with the separate volumes. In 2015, a third box set entitled ''Just A Minute: A Further Classic Collection'' focused on Tim Rice, Wendy Richard, Tony Hawks, Sue Perkins and Julian Clary. In 2017, a box set entitled ''Just A Minute: Golden Collection'' was released to celebrate the show's 50th anniversary. Controversially, more than half the selected episodes featured Freud despite the revelations about him in the previous year.

Other formats

In Sweden, a version of the show, called , has been broadcast on Sveriges Radio P1 (Swedish radio station), P1 since 1969. In India, a Malayalam version, known as ml, ഒരു നിമിഷം, translit=Oru Nimiṣaṁ, translation=(Just a Moment), label=none, has been broadcast since 2017 on Flowers (TV channel), Flowers TV, hosted by Sreekandan Nair; the programme was previously broadcast on Asianet, Dooradarshan and Malayalam radio station Akashavani. In Belgium a Flemish dialects, Flemish version, called , was broadcast from 1992 to 1997 on Één, and was revived in 2016 on VIER, Vier. ''I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue'', another BBC radio comedy panel show which occupies the same Monday-night slot in the Radio 4 schedule, occasionally parodies its rival show with a round entitled "Just a Minim". In this spoof version the contestants must sing songs — always chosen for their highly repetitive lyrics — without repetition, hesitation, or deviation (from the tune). The chairman, currently

who has himself been a guest on ''Just a Minute'', imitates Nicholas Parsons' style.

References

External links

* *
''Just a Minute'' fansite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Just A Minute 1967 radio programme debuts BBC Radio 4 programmes BBC World Service programmes BBC Radio comedy programmes British panel games British radio game shows 1960s British game shows 1970s British game shows 1980s British game shows 1990s British game shows 2000s British game shows 2010s British game shows 2020s British game shows Radio programs adapted into television shows Improvisational television series