Just a Minute

Just a Minute
	Nicholas Parsons hosted the show for almost 52 years
Genre	Panel game
Running time	30 minutes (6:30 pm – 7:00 pm)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Home station	BBC Radio 4
Syndicates	BBC World Service; BBC Radio 4 Extra;
Hosted by	Nicholas Parsons (1967–2019); See list of guest presenters; Sue Perkins (2021–present);
Starring	Clement Freud; Peter Jones; Derek Nimmo; Kenneth Williams; Paul Merton; See list of guest panellists;
Created by	Ian Messiter
Produced by	See list of producers
Recording studio	BBC Radio Theatre
Remote studios	Various, including the Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Original release	22 December 1967 –; present
No. of series	92 (as of January 2024)
No. of episodes	981
Opening theme	The Minute Waltz by Frédéric Chopin
Website	www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006s5dp

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]

The object of the game is for panellists to talk for sixty seconds on a given subject, "without hesitation, repetition or deviation".^[5] The comedy comes from attempts to keep within these rules and the banter among the participants. In 2011, comedy writer David Quantick ascribed Just a Minute's success to its "insanely basic" format, stating, "It's so blank that it can be filled by people as diverse as Paul Merton and Graham Norton, who don't have to adapt their style of humour to the show at all."^[6]

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

^ "Sue Perkins announced as new host of Just a Minute". BBC News. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
^ BBC Radio 4 was launched on 30 September 1967, around three months before Just a Minute was created.
^ "2003 Winners". Sony Radio Academy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
^ "Sony Radio Awards 2003: Winners". BBC News. BBC. 8 May 2003. Retrieved 14 October 2010. The UK's main prizes for the airwaves, the Sony Radio Academy Awards, have been handed out in London. Comedy award: Just A Minute
^ 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.
^ Dee, Johnny (17 May 2011). "Just a Minute: why it's never paused". The Guardian. London. eISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved 30 January 2020. But what is the secret of its success? "I think it's because the format is insanely basic," says radio comedy writer David Quantick. "It's so blank that it can be filled by people as diverse as Paul Merton and Graham Norton, who don't have to adapt their style of humour to the show at all."

[perkins-1] "Sue Perkins announced as new host of Just a Minute". BBC News. 20 July 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2021.

[2] BBC Radio 4 was launched on 30 September 1967, around three months before Just a Minute was created.

[3] "2003 Winners". Sony Radio Academy. Archived from the original on 5 December 2004. Retrieved 14 October 2010.

[4] "Sony Radio Awards 2003: Winners". BBC News. BBC. 8 May 2003. Retrieved 14 October 2010. The UK's main prizes for the airwaves, the Sony Radio Academy Awards, have been handed out in London. Comedy award: Just A Minute

[5] 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.

[6] Dee, Johnny (17 May 2011). "Just a Minute: why it's never paused". The Guardian. London. eISSN 1756-3224. Retrieved 30 January 2020. But what is the secret of its success? "I think it's because the format is insanely basic," says radio comedy writer David Quantick. "It's so blank that it can be filled by people as diverse as Paul Merton and Graham Norton, who don't have to adapt their style of humour to the show at all."

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