Ian Cassan Messiter (2 April 1920 – 22 November 1999) was a
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...
producer and the creator of a number of
panel game
A panel show or panel game is a 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 contestants, such as on ' ...
s, including ''
Just a Minute'',
''Dealing With Daniels'' and ''
Many a Slip''. Messiter brought the successful ''
twenty questions'' format to BBC Radio
and was programme associate for ''
Family Fortunes
''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 30 December 2002. A celebrity version, '' All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to ...
''. Messiter was born in
Dudley
Dudley is a large market town and administrative centre in the county of West Midlands, England, southeast of Wolverhampton and northwest of Birmingham. Historically an exclave of Worcestershire, the town is the administrative centre of the ...
,
Worcestershire
Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a county in the West Midlands of England. The area that is now Worcestershire was absorbed into the unified Kingdom of England in 927, at which time it was constituted as a county (see H ...
, and educated at Winton House School, near
Winchester, and
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
...
in
Dorset
Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...
.
In his autobiography, ''My Life and Other Games'' (1990), Ian Messiter described how an incident during a history lesson at Sherborne School became the inspiration for the ''Just a Minute'' radio panel-game.
Ian acted as whistle-blower on ''Just a Minute'', and its predecessor ''One Minute, Please''. He appeared in the first series of BBC science-fiction quiz show ''
The Adventure Game
''The Adventure Game'' is a game show that was originally broadcast on UK television channels BBC1 and BBC2 between 24 May 1980 and 18 February 1986. The story in each show was that the two celebrity contestants and a member of the public ha ...
'' in 1980 as the Rangdo, the leader of the alien Argonds, and contributed ideas for puzzles in the series. He published his autobiography ''My Life and Other Games'' in 1990.
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 '' ...
stated that ''Just a Minute'' is "perhaps the most deceptively simple, enduring, popular and much-copied comedy game on radio or television anywhere"
In each edition, Messiter is acknowledged as the inventor of the game.
Family
Messiter married Enid, née Senior. They had two children: a daughter, Susan, who lives in Cambridgeshire, and a son,
Malcolm Messiter, who is an oboist.
References
External links
Messiter's game show magic, Obituary of Ian Messiter''BBC News''
in ''The Guardian''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Messiter, Ian
1920 births
1999 deaths
People from Dudley
BBC radio producers
English radio producers
People educated at Sherborne School