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Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game which has been running continuously since its first broadcast on December 22, 1967.
History
The premise of the game came to Ian Messiter as he rode on the top of a number 13 bus, recalling a particularly cruel headmaster from his school days who punished him with the task of speaking for sixty seconds without hesitating or repeating himself. To this, he added a rule preventing players deviating from the subject presented by the show's chairman, as well as a scoring system based on panelists' correct and incorrect challenges.
The show's theme music is a very fast rendition of Frédéric Chopin's piano Waltz in D flat major, Op. 64, No. 1, nicknamed the "Minute Waltz".
The show broadcast on 10th July, 2006 featured the highest scorer, Paul Merton, with a record shattering 24 points.
Rules
The four panelists are challenged to speak for one minute on a given subject without "repetition, hesitation, or deviation". Over the years, the application of these rules has changed considerably:
- "Repetition" originally meant not repeating a particular idea or concept, but is now understood to prevent repetition of any word or phrase, although challenges based upon very common words such as "and" are generally rejected except in extreme cases. Words contained in the given subject are exempt unless repeated many times in quick succession.
- Hesitation is watched very strictly: even a momentary pause before resumption of the subject can give rise to a successful challenge, as can tripping over one's words.
- "Deviation" originally meant only deviating too far from the subject, but is now more broadly interpreted, allowing speakers to be challenged for "deviating from the English language as we know it", or provably deviating from the truth.
Panelists score a point for making a correct challenge against whoever is speaking, whilst the speaker gets a point if the challenge is deemed incorrect. However, if an "incorrect" interjection amuses the audience then at the chairman's discretion both the challenger and speaker gain a point. A player who makes a correct challenge takes over the subject for the rest of the minute, or until he or she is in turn subject to a successful challenge. Panelists also score a point for being the person speaking when the 60 seconds expire, and (rarely) an extra point for speaking for the whole minute without being challenged once.
The difficult part of the game is to speak within the rules for as long as possible, whilst at the same time being amusing and interesting. But the points system means that the greatest rewards go to those who make challenges, even if they do not speak for very long. The most rewarding time to challenge, indeed, will be seconds before the minute expires, because then there will be a point for the challenge followed by a point for speaking as the minute finishes, although very little needs to have been said between the two.
Participants
The long-suffering but good-natured host of Just a Minute is Nicholas Parsons. He has held this position since its inception, although on occasions he has swapped the chair with contestants including Clement Freud and Kenneth Williams.
Until 1989, Ian Messiter sat quietly on the stage with a stopwatch and blew a whistle when the speaker's minute was up. He was replaced by Janet Staplehurst, who retired at the end of the first 2006 series. Messiter died in 1999.
For the first few decades of the programme the four regular competitors were:
- Clement Freud (politician, food writer, grandson of Sigmund, brother of Lucian, and father of Emma) whose favourite strategies are to slowly rattle off lists, and to present a challenge seconds before the whistle was due to sound. Somehow he gets away with it;
- Derek Nimmo, who nearly every week improvised descriptions of his experiences abroad, usually on a theatrical tour;
- Peter Jones, who once said that in all his years of playing the game, he never quite got the hang of it; and
- Kenneth Williams, the indisputable star of the show, whose flamboyant tantrums, arch putdowns, and mock-sycophancy made him the audience favourite. He often stretched out his speeches by extending every syllable to breaking point.
Of these four, only Freud is still alive, and the show now varies its line-up frequently with a wide selection of recurring competitors, including:
- Paul Merton, who often wins by challenging just before the whistle and also by accruing myriad "bonus points" for his witty comments and challenges outside of the rules. He also makes frequent comic interjections.
- Stephen Fry, whose main tactic, when transgressing, is to quickly challenge himself before anyone else can do so. Within the game's rules, he then wins the right to continue speaking.
- Chris Neil, who has been producer for many of the shows.
Other recurring guests include Tony Hawks, Kit Hesketh-Harvey, Ross Noble, Graham Norton, Julian Clary and Jenny Eclair. Linda Smith was a regular panellist until her death in 2006.
Other versions
- From 1994 to 1999, the programme was televised for ITV and later BBC1.
- A Swedish version of the show, called På minuten, has been broadcast on Sveriges Radio P1 since 1969.
See also
- The similarly long-running I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue includes a musical parody entitled "Just a Minim", in which the contestants must sing a song, but sticking to the rules of Just a Minute.
External links
- BBC - Radio 4 - Comedy - Just a Minute
- Just a Minute Unofficial Fansite A database driven site containing an extensive, searchable episode guide, statistics and much, much more
- UK Gameshows Page: Just a Minute (mainly about the TV version)
- Just A Minute on a Kenneth Williams fan site
- Welcome to Just a Minute! an unofficial fan site with lots of info
- Obituary to Ian Messiter in The Guardian
"Just a Minute"