Four of the best 2015 episodes of the much-loved panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Just a Minute is a national institution. The Minute Waltz has been the signature tune for wonderfully witty entertainment since 1968, making the show one of the longest-running radio comedy shows of all time. In these four episodes, recorded at the BBC's Radio Theatre and Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, long-time panellists including Julian Clary, Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock and Liza Tarbuck return for more fast-paced fun. Taking on the challenge for the first time is David Tennant, who caused headlines by speaking uninterrupted for the full 60 seconds in his very first game! Among the topics tackled are 'Exit, Pursued by a Bear', 'Canterbury Tales', 'The Garden of England', 'Death and Taxes' and 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Chaired by the redoubtable Nicholas Parsons, these four shows from Series 71 and 72 are the cream of the crop. So why wait for 'JAM' tomorrow, when you can have the best of 2015 today? Duration: 2 hours approx.
Four of the best 2015 episodes of the much-loved panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Just a Minute is a national institution. The Minute Waltz has been the signature tune for wonderfully witty entertainment since 1968, making the show one of the longest-running radio comedy shows of all time. In these four episodes, recorded at the BBC's Radio Theatre and Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, long-time panellists including Julian Clary, Stephen Fry, Paul Merton, Sheila Hancock and Liza Tarbuck return for more fast-paced fun. Taking on the challenge for the first time is David Tennant, who caused headlines by speaking uninterrupted for the full 60 seconds in his very first game! Among the topics tackled are 'Exit, Pursued by a Bear', 'Canterbury Tales', 'The Garden of England', 'Death and Taxes' and 'The Count of Monte Cristo'. Chaired by the redoubtable Nicholas Parsons, these four shows from Series 71 and 72 are the cream of the crop. So why wait for 'JAM' tomorrow, when you can have the best of 2015 today? Duration: 2 hours approx.
Four of the best 2015 episodes of the much-loved panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons..
The formula for this long-running and popular radio panel game was
devised in the early 1950s by Ian Messiter, a Light Entertainment
producer who was on the staff of the BBC from 1942 to 1952.
Although Just A Minute was Messiter’s preferred name for the show,
the Head of Light Entertainment thought this too slick - and
insisted the show be called One Minute, Please.
The idea came from a humiliating experience that Messiter had
suffered as a schoolboy at Sherborne. The 13-year-old had been
staring out of the window, daydreaming during a Latin class.
Suddenly the Latin master, Parry-Jones, told him to come up to the
front of the class and repeat what had just been said without
hesitating or repeating himself. Of course he couldn’t, and the
resultant caning in front of the class provided a lasting
lesson.
In that first show Roy Plomley acted as Chairman, with Gilbert
Harding, Kenneth Horne and Reggie Purdell pitting their wits
against Yvonne Arnaud, Valerie Hobson and Nan Kenway. One Minute,
Please was responsible for introducing the versatile talents of the
artist, tuba player and raconteur Gerard Hoffnung to a wider
audience. It was on the show that Hoffnung first told his famous
Bricklayer Story, which was used to warm up the audience before the
start of the programme.
In 1952 Messiter left the BBC and set up a commercial radio station
in Johannesburg. According to Ian’s wife Enid Messiter, it was here
that Just A Minute first went on air in the format we know. Ian
Messiter produced and chaired the programme, and Enid herself
played Chopin’s Minute Waltz for these South African
recordings.
In 1967 the Messiters returned to England, and a pilot edition of
Just A Minute was proposed to Roy Rich, then Head of Light
Entertainment for BBC radio. The pilot was made, but initially
rejected. Producer David Hatch threatened to resign unless it was
offered to BBC Radio 4 planners. It was, and the rest is history.
In addition to the radio series, there have been several TV series
on both ITV and BBC.
For many years the regular panellists included Clement Freud, Derek
Nimmo, Kenneth Williams and Peter Jones. As their numbers dwindled
in the early 1990s, however, an increasing number of guests joined
the show. Paul Merton has become a mainstay of latter-day Just A
Minute, while many others now form a pool of semi-regular
contestants. In 2003 the programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy
Award, and in 2012 it celebrated its 45th year.
With Nicholas Parsons at the helm for its entire tenure, Just A
Minute has been a continually popular feature of the Radio 4
schedules. Decade after decade it has succeeded in both finding new
fans and pleasing its legion of loyal older ones.
"This is the panel game next to which all other panel games pale, a
soft, snuggly blanket of a show drawn weekly over the nation in a
fug of warmth, wordplay and wit. Its silliness, and its simple
capacity to bask in the quick-wittedness of its panellists (even
when they deliver their monologues so very s-l-o-w-l-y) make it
joyous listening."
*The Independent (Feb 2015)*
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
