0:00:00 > 0:00:05MUSIC: "Minute Waltz" by Chopin (theme tune to Just A Minute)
0:00:11 > 0:00:14APPLAUSE
0:00:16 > 0:00:19Thank you very much, thank you.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22First of all, thank you all for coming here.
0:00:22 > 0:00:23"My name is Paul Merton,"
0:00:23 > 0:00:26it says on this piece of card, so I'm going to read that out.
0:00:26 > 0:00:30This is an Edinburgh Exclusive in honour of a radio, show business,
0:00:30 > 0:00:32living legend phenomenon.
0:00:32 > 0:00:36Two years ago, we celebrated 45 years of Just A Minute
0:00:36 > 0:00:39and expert mathematicians tell me this is the 47th year.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45We've also recently recorded the 900th episode of Just A Minute
0:00:45 > 0:00:47and the man who has been throughout the chairman,
0:00:47 > 0:00:49throughout that entire run,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51has never missed a single programme, is here tonight.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53Will you please welcome to the stage,
0:00:53 > 0:00:55the living legend that is Nicholas Parsons!
0:00:55 > 0:00:58CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:01:10 > 0:01:14So, Nicholas, do you want to... Are you OK to check those?
0:01:14 > 0:01:16We should at this point out that Nicholas has written a book...
0:01:16 > 0:01:18- Mm. - ..um,
0:01:18 > 0:01:22which is coincidentally about Just A Minute, which is very good,
0:01:22 > 0:01:23but we'll be talking about that later.
0:01:23 > 0:01:25When is it published, Nicholas?
0:01:25 > 0:01:27It's being published at the BookFest
0:01:27 > 0:01:29- on 19th August. - 19th August.
0:01:29 > 0:01:33It is the history of Just A Minute, telling you all the background,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36how it started, all the things that have happened, all the fun,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38the stories, the personalities, the gossip
0:01:38 > 0:01:40and the genius of people like Paul Merton.
0:01:40 > 0:01:44We've mentioned at the beginning a couple of statistics.
0:01:44 > 0:01:4847 years it's been running now, 900 episodes.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52When it first started, was it greeted with great enthusiasm by the BBC?
0:01:52 > 0:01:54No, it was disaster!
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Absolute... I mean, I wasn't supposed to be chairman.
0:01:57 > 0:01:58It was going to be Jimmy Edwards.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01He was a good choice, actually, cos he'd just done a programme
0:02:01 > 0:02:03on Radio 4 called Does The Team Think?
0:02:03 > 0:02:07And they thought this sort of thing with people talking would be good
0:02:07 > 0:02:09and I was going to be on the panel.
0:02:09 > 0:02:11And...I wanted to improvise comedy.
0:02:11 > 0:02:15We had a wonderful young director called David Hatch, to whom I've
0:02:15 > 0:02:19dedicated the book, without whom this would never have got on the air.
0:02:19 > 0:02:23And he said, "We're never going to get Jimmy on a Sunday to record
0:02:23 > 0:02:26"the pilot, will you do it for me?" I said, "No, David. I'm wrong.
0:02:26 > 0:02:28"I don't want to do it. Please, please!"
0:02:28 > 0:02:29"Yeah, I'll do a deal with you.
0:02:29 > 0:02:31"You do the pilot for me
0:02:31 > 0:02:34"and if we get the series, you can go on the panel."
0:02:34 > 0:02:36Well, the panel... It was a disastrous pilot.
0:02:36 > 0:02:37- Was it? - No, nobody wanted it.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41I mean, we had Clement Freud and Derek Nimmo who were good,
0:02:41 > 0:02:42two others who weren't...
0:02:42 > 0:02:44LAUGHTER
0:02:44 > 0:02:45..and...
0:02:45 > 0:02:49You'll have to buy the book to find out who THEY were!
0:02:49 > 0:02:52And I wasn't very good because I hadn't done any hosting before.
0:02:52 > 0:02:54I was a bit pompous and arch.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57I tried to do it as I thought they wanted it, the BBC then,
0:02:57 > 0:02:58very formal, so forth.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02And David fought for it, it really wasn't good. And then he came to me
0:03:02 > 0:03:05and said, "I managed to get a series." And he said,
0:03:05 > 0:03:08"There's only one thing they quite enjoyed in the pilot
0:03:08 > 0:03:10"and that was your chairmanship.
0:03:10 > 0:03:12"So you're stuck with it!"
0:03:12 > 0:03:14And in show business, you don't turn down a good job,
0:03:14 > 0:03:15so I said, "All right, I'll do it."
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I must have done something right,
0:03:17 > 0:03:20cos I'm still doing the same job after 47 years!
0:03:20 > 0:03:22Fantastic. Isn't that the world record?! I believe it's, er...
0:03:22 > 0:03:25APPLAUSE
0:03:26 > 0:03:29Now, before we start talking more about the sort of history
0:03:29 > 0:03:31of the show, we did...
0:03:31 > 0:03:33We've got a few clips that we're going to play -
0:03:33 > 0:03:35audio clips from various parts of the show.
0:03:35 > 0:03:39900 shows, you could choose 1,000 different ways of doing it -
0:03:39 > 0:03:41well, 900 different ways of doing it, probably -
0:03:41 > 0:03:44but the first one features somebody
0:03:44 > 0:03:46who's only ever played the game once...
0:03:46 > 0:03:49- Yes, because, if I can interrupt... - Yes, go on.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51..the way the show's evolved,
0:03:51 > 0:03:55we had traditional talkers, and raconteurs, and comedians,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59and now they're bringing guests in, but they surround them
0:03:59 > 0:04:01with very talented people like you.
0:04:01 > 0:04:05And they had this gimmick of having a cricket commentator,
0:04:05 > 0:04:06- Henry Blofeld... - Yes.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10..who was up here doing a show. And Henry is a lovely chap
0:04:10 > 0:04:14and he's a talker, but sometimes, they think if he can talk,
0:04:14 > 0:04:16he'll be good on Just A Minute, but they don't realise,
0:04:16 > 0:04:20but you can explain, the incredible discipline of mind you require.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22Well, I suppose, obviously those cricket fans will know him,
0:04:22 > 0:04:26he's a supreme live broadcaster, but in live broadcasting, you don't
0:04:26 > 0:04:29have to worry about repetition, hesitation or deviation.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34As a natural talker, you might use All of those aspects as rhetoric.
0:04:34 > 0:04:39So when he came to do the show, He had...he had problems, didn't he?
0:04:39 > 0:04:42Absolute problems, yes. He was all over the place.
0:04:42 > 0:04:46And that show was actually recorded here last year in this very space.
0:04:46 > 0:04:50And you, actually, when he was struggling at some particular point,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54you, with your great comic skill, introduced an idea
0:04:54 > 0:04:58which you'll hear in the recording which I thought was comic genius,
0:04:58 > 0:05:00which helped to save that particular round.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02Yes, it was true. that it did sort of like...
0:05:02 > 0:05:05it became unlike any other Just A Minute round we've ever had.
0:05:05 > 0:05:06- That's right. - Perhaps at this point
0:05:06 > 0:05:09we should have a listen to Henry Blofeld from last year.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11AUDIO CLIP PLAYS
0:05:11 > 0:05:13NICHOLAS: 'And Henry, we're back with you to begin
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'and the subject is "Being a James Bond Baddie".
0:05:17 > 0:05:19'60 seconds, starting now.'
0:05:19 > 0:05:23HENRY: 'I first became a James Bond baddie in 1961,
0:05:23 > 0:05:26'with the publication by Ian Fleming of Thunderball.
0:05:26 > 0:05:30'Ian and my father had been friends of a sort at school - my father
0:05:30 > 0:05:32'was three years older than him -
0:05:32 > 0:05:35'and although Fleming always liked to take the names of people
0:05:35 > 0:05:40'he didn't get on with at school for his baddies, that hint suggests
0:05:40 > 0:05:43'that my father in fact wasn't as great a friend as all that.'
0:05:43 > 0:05:45BUZZER 'Oh...'
0:05:45 > 0:05:46NICHOLAS: 'Sue challenged.'
0:05:46 > 0:05:49APPLAUSE AND LAUGHTER
0:05:49 > 0:05:51RUSSELL KANE: 'I was going to buzz on Fleming, Sue,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53'and you stopped me with your hand - foul play!'
0:05:53 > 0:05:57- PAUL: 'I think that's very sad.' - SUE: 'My hand slipped...'
0:05:57 > 0:05:58'Oh, right.'
0:05:58 > 0:06:00'..and I withdraw my challenge,
0:06:00 > 0:06:03'because I would like to hear about Ian Fleming.'
0:06:03 > 0:06:04APPLAUSE
0:06:06 > 0:06:08'Henry, she's withdrawn her challenge.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10'You've got time to take another breath
0:06:10 > 0:06:12'and carry on with "Being a James Bond Baddie".
0:06:12 > 0:06:13'36 seconds, starting now.'
0:06:13 > 0:06:15HENRY: 'My father and Ian Fleming may not have been...'
0:06:15 > 0:06:17LAUGHTER
0:06:17 > 0:06:19NICHOLAS: 'Keep going!'
0:06:19 > 0:06:21'My father and Ian Fleming may not have been the greatest...'
0:06:21 > 0:06:22BUZZER
0:06:22 > 0:06:24PAUL: 'I've got a suggestion.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27'Can we call this round "My Father and Ian Fleming"?'
0:06:27 > 0:06:30CHEERING AND APPLAUSE 'Let's do that.'
0:06:31 > 0:06:33SUE AND HENRY SPEAK OVER EACH OTHER
0:06:33 > 0:06:36NICHOLAS: 'So give Paul a bonus point for his suggestion.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39'Right - the subject has now become "My Father and Ian Fleming".'
0:06:39 > 0:06:40LAUGHTER
0:06:41 > 0:06:43'So "My Father and Ian Fleming",
0:06:43 > 0:06:46'32 seconds, Henry, starting now.'
0:06:46 > 0:06:48HENRY: 'They knew each other, and...
0:06:48 > 0:06:50'fairly well.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54'And Ian took my father's name as the name of the baddie.
0:06:54 > 0:06:55'Um...
0:06:55 > 0:06:58'Thunderball was the book.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00'When I... When I... Oh, no, I...'
0:07:00 > 0:07:02BUZZER
0:07:02 > 0:07:04'I'm getting...'
0:07:04 > 0:07:06LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE
0:07:06 > 0:07:10SUE: 'Now, hang on - I'm confused - did your dad know Ian Fleming?'
0:07:10 > 0:07:12HENRY: 'I'm getting it terribly wrong, I'm sorry.'
0:07:12 > 0:07:14PAUL: 'No, it's an incredibly hard game.'
0:07:14 > 0:07:16NICHOLAS: 'Henry. Henry, this is a comedy show
0:07:16 > 0:07:18'and you're contributing tremendously.'
0:07:18 > 0:07:19LAUGHTER
0:07:19 > 0:07:21SUE: 'Without you, Henry, this would frankly be
0:07:21 > 0:07:24'an infomercial about grave-diggers from the 19th century.'
0:07:24 > 0:07:28NICHOLAS: 'Right - 22 seconds. Who was it? Paul, did you challenge?
0:07:28 > 0:07:29PAUL: 'I'm not sure!'
0:07:29 > 0:07:31HENRY: 'I think everyone challenged me, they did it in unison!'
0:07:31 > 0:07:32NICHOLAS: 'In that case,
0:07:32 > 0:07:34'we'll give it back to you, Henry, if everybody challenged.'
0:07:34 > 0:07:36CHEERING
0:07:36 > 0:07:39'And say that you have 22 seconds still - if you can -
0:07:39 > 0:07:40'to keep going...
0:07:42 > 0:07:43'What did we change the subject to?'
0:07:43 > 0:07:45PAUL: 'My Father and Ian Fleming.'
0:07:45 > 0:07:48NICHOLAS: 'My Father and Ian Fleming, starting now.
0:07:48 > 0:07:52HENRY: 'When Ian Fleming started to write Thunderball one evening after
0:07:52 > 0:07:55'dinner in his flat on the Chelsea embankment, he wanted to think of
0:07:55 > 0:07:58'the name of a baddie and he couldn't and he went to bed scratching
0:07:58 > 0:08:01'his head, which is not always the best way of getting to sleep.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04'He woke up scratching his head, and the next morning...
0:08:04 > 0:08:06'went to his...
0:08:06 > 0:08:09'Went to his club in London
0:08:09 > 0:08:11'and he looked through the membership list...'
0:08:11 > 0:08:12WHISTLE BLOWS
0:08:12 > 0:08:14CHEERING
0:08:14 > 0:08:15END OF AUDIO CLIP
0:08:15 > 0:08:18I think one of the things that really amuses me about that as well,
0:08:18 > 0:08:21as he's kept repeating the phrase "my father and Ian Fleming",
0:08:21 > 0:08:24once we changed it to that, he didn't say it
0:08:24 > 0:08:26when he could have done.
0:08:26 > 0:08:28When he could have done. No, but the thing is,
0:08:28 > 0:08:31he kept committing all the crimes of Just A Minute all the time.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35This is where people like Paul, who are experienced,
0:08:35 > 0:08:37are very generous.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40Get someone like that who's never done it before, they let him go.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43We have a lot of fun doing it. But it's a bit of a challenge, actually.
0:08:43 > 0:08:45It's better when they can play.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49Yes, you know, imagine four different Henry Blofelds all on the same show,
0:08:49 > 0:08:51it would be...absolute chaos.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54We make it funny and we make it entertaining,
0:08:54 > 0:08:56but it's quite a challenge to do that.
0:08:56 > 0:08:59Yes, it's a one-off, I think, when you have someone like that.
0:08:59 > 0:09:01But he plays it like no-one else has ever played it.
0:09:01 > 0:09:04But we talked about the early days then of Just A Minute,
0:09:04 > 0:09:06and you being given the chairmanship of it.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08Now, how soon was it that we,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11for those who are fans of the show from way back would
0:09:11 > 0:09:15remember the sort of quartet of Peter Jones, Clement Freud,
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Derek Nimmo and Kenneth Williams?
0:09:17 > 0:09:21Some number of people to begin with, including Geraldine Jones and others.
0:09:21 > 0:09:24David Hatch experimented sometimes with three people.
0:09:24 > 0:09:27He even experimented by putting me on the panel a couple of times,
0:09:27 > 0:09:31and so forth, and made Clement Freud chairman, which was a disaster
0:09:31 > 0:09:34because he wanted to try and always embarrass me.
0:09:34 > 0:09:37But the thing was, eventually it evolved into four regulars,
0:09:37 > 0:09:39which was Kenneth Williams, who was wonderful.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42To begin with, he was completely lost -
0:09:42 > 0:09:45it was genius of David Hatch to cast him -
0:09:45 > 0:09:46but once he found his feet,
0:09:46 > 0:09:48- it became his favourite job... - Yes.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50..cos he'd show off his erudition and knowledge,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53because he was completely self-taught.
0:09:53 > 0:09:58We had Kenneth Williams, Clement Freud, Peter Jones and Derek Nimmo.
0:09:58 > 0:10:00They were the four regulars for many years.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03When they first started, those four, you're right,
0:10:03 > 0:10:06they became, as we saw, the regular people who played it.
0:10:06 > 0:10:09Was it played in a different way in those early days?
0:10:09 > 0:10:10To begin with, yes.
0:10:10 > 0:10:13I mean, to begin with, I think, um, hesitation
0:10:13 > 0:10:16was more hesitation from thought
0:10:16 > 0:10:18and deviation from thought
0:10:18 > 0:10:21and repetition was of the idea and so forth.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24In other words... This is where Clement got a bit cross with me,
0:10:24 > 0:10:27because he wanted to keep it in a situation where there were
0:10:27 > 0:10:31four intelligent, erudite people talking interestingly,
0:10:31 > 0:10:36but not necessarily committing the verbal rules that we have now.
0:10:36 > 0:10:38- Yes. Yeah, yeah. - And slowly it evolved.
0:10:38 > 0:10:41But I take some credit for having refined the rules
0:10:41 > 0:10:43so they became more distinctive.
0:10:43 > 0:10:47Clement wanted to keep it in a sort of old-fashioned, cultural way.
0:10:47 > 0:10:50There were two programmes on at the time
0:10:50 > 0:10:51- called My Word and My Music... - Yes.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54..which were of their time and very indicative.
0:10:54 > 0:10:57Four intelligent people and a chairman who was very autocratic
0:10:57 > 0:11:01and just made rules and comments
0:11:01 > 0:11:03- and they just faded away. - Mm.
0:11:03 > 0:11:07And Just A Minute would have faded the same if we hadn't increased
0:11:07 > 0:11:11the sharpness of the rules, brought in people like you, who picked up
0:11:11 > 0:11:12the baton and went with it
0:11:12 > 0:11:15and made it much funnier and cleverer and wittier.
0:11:15 > 0:11:17I think it was very much in the tradition,
0:11:17 > 0:11:20when it was the early, sorry, late '60s, through to early '70s,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23you still had this tradition of the radio talk.
0:11:23 > 0:11:25"Professor so-and-so will now talk about
0:11:25 > 0:11:27"the rainforests of Basingstoke."
0:11:27 > 0:11:29And you would have a serious talk.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32So the comedy often came about through the challenges rather than
0:11:32 > 0:11:34- the actual subject matter itself. - That's right, yes.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36Yes. How soon did you realise
0:11:36 > 0:11:39that this was going to become a popular show
0:11:39 > 0:11:43that became listened to throughout the world, in fact?
0:11:43 > 0:11:46That's a very interesting question which I haven't put in the book.
0:11:46 > 0:11:50Um, I don't think in show business you realise that.
0:11:50 > 0:11:51It's more of a gradual...
0:11:51 > 0:11:54You do a show and if it goes well, you think, "Oh, well,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57"we might be doing it again." And it slowly evolved.
0:11:57 > 0:11:59I think, "Now it's established,
0:11:59 > 0:12:01"we are fairly confident they will ask us to do some more."
0:12:01 > 0:12:03But at that time...
0:12:05 > 0:12:07But at that time, no -
0:12:07 > 0:12:10it just plodded along and we...we all got together.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13And we went down to the Paris Studios,
0:12:13 > 0:12:15and it was nearly always midday,
0:12:15 > 0:12:18because Derek Nimmo was in a play and he couldn't do it.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20And we had much the same audience.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Kenneth Williams' mother always sat in the front row -
0:12:23 > 0:12:25a sweet old woman called Lou -
0:12:25 > 0:12:29and kept her eyes riveted on her talented son,
0:12:29 > 0:12:31and never took them off,
0:12:31 > 0:12:35and never laughed, but just watched her wonderful little boy!
0:12:35 > 0:12:39And Derek Nimmo using his knowledge of travel to keep going.
0:12:39 > 0:12:41Peter Jones being very witty and acerbic
0:12:41 > 0:12:44and Clement Freud being very intellectual and, um...
0:12:44 > 0:12:48- Competitive, certainly. - ..and very competitive, yes.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52I mentioned the thing about it becoming a programme that soon was
0:12:52 > 0:12:53- picked up by the World Service... - Yes.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55..and started being played all around the world.
0:12:55 > 0:12:59One of my first times somebody came up to me and said they'd
0:12:59 > 0:13:01enjoyed me on Just A Minute was about 20-odd years ago now.
0:13:01 > 0:13:04A man passed me during the Edinburgh Festival in the street
0:13:04 > 0:13:07and said, "Oh, I was listening to you in the summer doing Just A Minute."
0:13:07 > 0:13:10And I sort of just nodded, you now, thinking, "Well, that's nice."
0:13:10 > 0:13:12And he said, "No, I was crossing the Nairobi Desert in a Jeep".
0:13:12 > 0:13:14LAUGHTER
0:13:14 > 0:13:16He had it tuned to the World Service.
0:13:16 > 0:13:19The strange thing is, you know, the World Service took it up
0:13:19 > 0:13:22and it became their most popular programme.
0:13:22 > 0:13:25And then they made a decision a number of years ago
0:13:25 > 0:13:28to drop all comedy shows from the World Service
0:13:28 > 0:13:32and wanted to only send out factual programmes and things which emphasise
0:13:32 > 0:13:38the culture and background and history of the British, um, nation.
0:13:38 > 0:13:42And...and India, where they love language and words,
0:13:42 > 0:13:45it became incredibly popular
0:13:45 > 0:13:48and I used to get the most amazing fan letters from India.
0:13:48 > 0:13:50And, you know, the Indians are very effusive in their praise
0:13:50 > 0:13:53and I used to get wonderful things, overwhelming with compliments.
0:13:53 > 0:13:56- But this producer... - Did you put them in the book?
0:13:56 > 0:13:57No, because I never kept them!
0:13:57 > 0:14:00- Oh, you should have done! - The funniest fan letter I ever got,
0:14:00 > 0:14:02or most delightful one, was from an American.
0:14:02 > 0:14:05And he is George Adams, he IS mentioned in the book.
0:14:05 > 0:14:09He wrote to me and said, "Why is Just A Minute not on the World Service?
0:14:09 > 0:14:10"We love it."
0:14:10 > 0:14:13I wrote back and said, "The World Service in their lack of wisdom
0:14:13 > 0:14:16"have decided that they're only going to put on programmes which
0:14:16 > 0:14:20"emphasise the culture and background and so forth of the British nation."
0:14:20 > 0:14:22And he wrote back and sent a lovely letter.
0:14:22 > 0:14:26He said, "Nothing emphasises the whole nature and background
0:14:26 > 0:14:29"and history of Great Britain than Just A Minute.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33"It is the epitome of what is Great Britain!"
0:14:33 > 0:14:35And he said, "I feel so strongly about this, I'm going
0:14:35 > 0:14:37"to send a copy of my letter to your Prime Minister!"
0:14:37 > 0:14:39LAUGHTER
0:14:39 > 0:14:42And then he put a PS in - "On second thoughts,
0:14:42 > 0:14:44"I'm also going to send a copy to your Queen."
0:14:44 > 0:14:46LAUGHTER
0:14:46 > 0:14:48So I don't know whether she ever got the copy.
0:14:48 > 0:14:50I'd love to ask her if she ever did.
0:14:50 > 0:14:54We have... You mentioned India there as being one of the places that was,
0:14:54 > 0:14:56IS very enthusiastic about Just A Minute.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58It's often played over there as a kind of game
0:14:58 > 0:15:01to refine your use of English language,
0:15:01 > 0:15:04to be able, you know, to express yourself in different ways.
0:15:04 > 0:15:07For the 50th, sorry, the 45th anniversary of Just A Minute,
0:15:07 > 0:15:09the BBC did a rather unusual thing -
0:15:09 > 0:15:12they flew us out to India for a few days where we...
0:15:12 > 0:15:16with myself and Nicholas - to Mumbai, in fact
0:15:16 > 0:15:18where we were out there. We've got a clip from this,
0:15:18 > 0:15:21this features myself, Marcus Brigstocke, Anuvab Pal
0:15:21 > 0:15:25and Cyrus Broacha, and with Nicholas, of course, always in the chair.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27This is from March 2012.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30NICHOLAS: 'And Anuvab, it's your turn to begin
0:15:30 > 0:15:32'and the subject is "Colonial India"
0:15:32 > 0:15:35'and your time starts now.'
0:15:35 > 0:15:40ANUVAB: 'Wajid Ali Shah in colonial India was thrown out of Lucknow
0:15:40 > 0:15:43'and he didn't want to travel with any possessions or any money
0:15:43 > 0:15:46'as long as he had access to 100 royal cooks
0:15:46 > 0:15:48'to make him a perfect biryani...'
0:15:48 > 0:15:50AUDIENCE MEMBER: 'Whoo! BUZZER
0:15:50 > 0:15:52NICHOLAS: 'Marcus challenged.'
0:15:52 > 0:15:53- 'Hesitation.' - 'Yes.'
0:15:53 > 0:15:55PAUL: 'It's not often that biryani gets a whoop
0:15:55 > 0:15:57'from a member of the audience.' LAUGHTER
0:15:57 > 0:15:59CYRUS: 'I think he should be allowed to hesitate, we're all hungry.
0:15:59 > 0:16:01- 'Biryani...pause.' - 'Exactly.'
0:16:01 > 0:16:03'Right. Marcus, correct challenge.'
0:16:03 > 0:16:06'46 seconds, "Colonial India", starting now.'
0:16:06 > 0:16:08'The subject is "Colonial India",
0:16:08 > 0:16:12'so now seems like a perfectly reasonable time for me to say sorry.'
0:16:12 > 0:16:14LAUGHTER
0:16:14 > 0:16:16BUZZER
0:16:16 > 0:16:20ANUVAB: 'I just have one thing to say to Marcus - hesitation.'
0:16:20 > 0:16:22LAUGHTER
0:16:24 > 0:16:26- So, it is astonishing really... - Yeah.
0:16:26 > 0:16:28..that it has this international appeal.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30It is. But, you see, what has happened in India
0:16:30 > 0:16:32is they've taken Just A Minute
0:16:32 > 0:16:36and adapted it and use their own version of it
0:16:36 > 0:16:38because I went out to do a programme
0:16:38 > 0:16:40called The Quiz Exchange which I'd written
0:16:40 > 0:16:42for Radio 4 and I went to schools
0:16:42 > 0:16:45and so forth and we talked about it and I discovered -
0:16:45 > 0:16:48it was in Bangalore - there were things called JAM clubs,
0:16:48 > 0:16:50which is the initials of Just A Minute.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53And I went to one of these JAM clubs, and there
0:16:53 > 0:16:57they were all playing Just A Minute for fun in a quite bizarre
0:16:57 > 0:17:01and aggressive way and they asked me to join in.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03And I came back and I said to my producer, Tilusha Ghelani,
0:17:03 > 0:17:06who originally hails from that continent,
0:17:06 > 0:17:08I said, "It's wonderful. Could we not go there
0:17:08 > 0:17:10"and do a recording of Just A Minute, because they love it still
0:17:10 > 0:17:14"and they play it their own individual way at these JAM clubs."
0:17:14 > 0:17:15And so we went to Bangalore first,
0:17:15 > 0:17:17cos the only way they could afford to do it
0:17:17 > 0:17:19was to make a radio documentary...
0:17:19 > 0:17:21- Yes. - ..about the trip to India.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24- Yes. - We went to the JAM clubs,
0:17:24 > 0:17:26watched them playing it in their own individual way.
0:17:26 > 0:17:29I went to one or two schools and things and then you flew out with
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Marcus Brigstocke, and at the Comedy Store in Mumbai,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34we did that recording, which you heard.
0:17:34 > 0:17:36Yes, and it went extremely well. We mentioned,
0:17:36 > 0:17:40we talked earlier about the early people that used to play the show -
0:17:40 > 0:17:43Kenneth Williams, particularly. And we have here...
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Our next clip is one that does feature Kenneth.
0:17:45 > 0:17:47- Oh, right. - This is from...
0:17:47 > 0:17:49I haven't got a year, but I imagine it's about 1980.
0:17:49 > 0:17:52Sheila Hancock is also in this. So it's Kenneth Williams,
0:17:52 > 0:17:54Sheila Hancock, Alfred Marks and Peter Jones.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56The subject is "Curry".
0:17:56 > 0:17:59And there's a particular reason why we picked this clip, as well,
0:17:59 > 0:18:01so this is clip number three.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04NICHOLAS: 'Sheila Hancock, your turn to begin the subject, "Curry".'
0:18:04 > 0:18:05- 'Oh...' - 'Tell us something about
0:18:05 > 0:18:07'that hot subject in just a minute,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09- 'starting now.' - 'The hotter, the better.
0:18:09 > 0:18:11'It does in fact make me very...
0:18:11 > 0:18:13'ill the next day.' BUZZER
0:18:13 > 0:18:14'Kenneth Williams.'
0:18:14 > 0:18:15- 'Hesitation, I'm afraid.' - 'I agree, Kenneth.'
0:18:15 > 0:18:16'I was going to say something...'
0:18:16 > 0:18:18ALFRED: 'She had a mouthful of curry. It's not easy.'
0:18:18 > 0:18:20'I was going to be indelicate, so I stopped myself.'
0:18:20 > 0:18:22NICHOLAS: 'Yes. Well, it's in the Bible, so...'
0:18:22 > 0:18:24- PETER: 'I wouldn't worry.' - NICHOLAS: 'What, curry?'
0:18:24 > 0:18:27SHEILA: 'No! The way it makes you the day after.'
0:18:27 > 0:18:28PETER: 'Oh, really?'
0:18:28 > 0:18:31ALFRED: '"And a great wind came upon Jerusalem."'
0:18:31 > 0:18:33LAUGHTER
0:18:35 > 0:18:36NICHOLAS: 'So words of wisdom and...'
0:18:36 > 0:18:38KENNETH: 'Yeah, and it gets me nowhere,
0:18:38 > 0:18:41'I don't get any marks anyway. What's the point?'
0:18:41 > 0:18:44KENNETH WHININGLY: 'What's the point, I ask myself?'
0:18:44 > 0:18:48NICHOLAS AS KENNETH: 'You can a-a-ask yourself as often as you like!'
0:18:50 > 0:18:53KENNETH: 'They're clapping your performance, it's a disgrace,
0:18:53 > 0:18:54'shut up!'
0:18:54 > 0:18:57NICHOLAS: 'It was the imperson-ay-tion!'
0:18:57 > 0:18:59LAUGHTER
0:18:59 > 0:19:00KENNETH: 'Is that what I look like?'
0:19:00 > 0:19:03NICHOLAS: 'I'm in the lead! Oh, I'm in the lead!'
0:19:03 > 0:19:05'Yeah, go on, tell me, I'm in the lead. Ooh!'
0:19:06 > 0:19:10KENNETH: 'Hmm, if that's what I look like, well, one of us is terrible!'
0:19:10 > 0:19:12END OF AUDIO CLIP
0:19:14 > 0:19:15So, Nicholas, there, we heard...
0:19:15 > 0:19:17Because when you first started in show business,
0:19:17 > 0:19:19a lot of people wouldn't know that you did impressions.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Yes, I was. I started as an impersonator.
0:19:22 > 0:19:24So, which? Can you remember which impersonations you did?
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Yes, it was... I know what you're going to ask me now!
0:19:27 > 0:19:31A man called Carroll Levis and he had his Discoveries.
0:19:31 > 0:19:33He used to go around the music hall and in those days...
0:19:33 > 0:19:36Nowadays, people find this difficult because
0:19:36 > 0:19:38nowadays with Britain's Got Talent and things like that,
0:19:38 > 0:19:41people come on and thousands think they've got talent.
0:19:41 > 0:19:43And then one or two get their jobs,
0:19:43 > 0:19:47but they're just overnight sensations and maybe they succeed
0:19:47 > 0:19:50and survive, but in those days, you became a discovery,
0:19:50 > 0:19:52you were sort of not quite at the top rank,
0:19:52 > 0:19:55but you survived and you worked continuously like that.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59And I was then working, trying to be an engineer
0:19:59 > 0:20:02because the war was on, but I could get off and do a broadcast.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05And he had a programme called Carroll Levis Carries On
0:20:05 > 0:20:09and I was doing amateur concert parties up in Glasgow
0:20:09 > 0:20:13and I used to impersonate them, the film stars, James Stewart
0:20:13 > 0:20:15- and Charles Boyer and people. - Mm. Mm.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17- Well, do you want me to do it now? - Well, um...
0:20:17 > 0:20:20I mean, I don't think the world has ever been more ready
0:20:20 > 0:20:22for a Charles Boyer impersonation!
0:20:25 > 0:20:28It was a film from All This, And Heaven Too with Bette Davis.
0:20:28 > 0:20:31- Oh, yes. - AS BOYER: Oh, no, no, my darling.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33As you stand there with the light on your hair
0:20:33 > 0:20:35and your image in the mirror behind.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37This is how I want to remember you.
0:20:37 > 0:20:39Oh, please, don't move. No, please.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41AS SELF: You know, and James Stewart.
0:20:41 > 0:20:42APPLAUSE
0:20:42 > 0:20:43PAUL LAUGHS
0:20:45 > 0:20:47DRAWLS: J-James Stewart used to talk like that.
0:20:47 > 0:20:49Mr Smith Goes To Washington - yeah.
0:20:49 > 0:20:52I have to say, it's very difficult being on the stage
0:20:52 > 0:20:55here at this moment here at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
0:20:55 > 0:20:57I-I've done many shows in my time,
0:20:57 > 0:20:59but I've never worked with Paul Merton before.
0:20:59 > 0:21:02So Nicholas, where did your ambition come fr...?
0:21:02 > 0:21:04APPLAUSE
0:21:04 > 0:21:07Where did your ambition to get into show business come from,
0:21:07 > 0:21:09- are you from a showbiz family? - No.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13From the earliest age, my parents were HORRIFIED.
0:21:13 > 0:21:15Cos in those days, when I was young,
0:21:15 > 0:21:18you know, people just followed the line of the family tradition.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21If you came from a professional family, you went into a profession.
0:21:21 > 0:21:24You took a degree. If you were in business, you went into business.
0:21:24 > 0:21:26If you were the labouring class, you became a labourer.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29And I showed talent to become an impersonator,
0:21:29 > 0:21:33I was always fooling around and making my school chums laugh
0:21:33 > 0:21:35and my parents indulged this.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39So when I got a bit older and I said I wanted to be an actor,
0:21:39 > 0:21:41my father was horrified.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44He said, "My dear chap, you don't do things like that!
0:21:44 > 0:21:47"I mean, unless you want to be an amateur and have fun doing it,
0:21:47 > 0:21:50"but it's not a proper job.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52"You've got to get... You've got to get a proper job."
0:21:52 > 0:21:54And my mother was horrified,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56she thought everybody in the entertainment industry was
0:21:56 > 0:21:59either debased or debauched or something and someone like me
0:21:59 > 0:22:01would finish as an alcoholic pervert in the gutter.
0:22:01 > 0:22:02PAUL CHUCKLES
0:22:02 > 0:22:04- I remember saying... - There's still time!
0:22:04 > 0:22:06LAUGHTER
0:22:06 > 0:22:08It's only half past eight!
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Can I tell you a funny story about what my mother said?
0:22:12 > 0:22:15- Yes. Yes. - Because I said to her
0:22:15 > 0:22:16one time a bit later, I said, "Mother,
0:22:16 > 0:22:19"I don't understand you - you love going to the theatre."
0:22:19 > 0:22:20She said, "Oh, yes, I do. I love it."
0:22:20 > 0:22:24I said, "You admire people like Laurence Olivier, and Leslie Howard,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26"and Peggy Ashcroft and others like that." She said, "Yes."
0:22:26 > 0:22:29I said, "Do you think they're like all those people you describe?"
0:22:29 > 0:22:32She said, "No,
0:22:32 > 0:22:35"but isn't it a pity they have to work with those sort of people?"
0:22:35 > 0:22:36LAUGHTER
0:22:38 > 0:22:40So I knew I was... So, um,
0:22:40 > 0:22:42I became an engineer because I was always capable of making
0:22:42 > 0:22:45and repairing things and I went on to Clydebank.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47SCOTTISH ACCENT: I did five year on Clydebank, you know.
0:22:47 > 0:22:49I was over there on Clydebank
0:22:49 > 0:22:50working with other fellas who talked like that.
0:22:50 > 0:22:52I was known as that big English...
0:22:52 > 0:22:54"hey, you, come here with your wah-wah accent,
0:22:54 > 0:22:55"we'll teach you how to get your effin' hands dirty.
0:22:55 > 0:22:57"This is life here and you'll grow to love it..."
0:22:57 > 0:22:59LAUGHTER
0:23:01 > 0:23:03And somehow I survived,
0:23:03 > 0:23:06but all the time, I was getting away to do little bits of show business.
0:23:06 > 0:23:09Carroll Levis' Discoveries, and concert parties,
0:23:09 > 0:23:12slowly I got some raw experience. And after the war,
0:23:12 > 0:23:15I just chanced my arm and decided to become an actor.
0:23:15 > 0:23:17I'd imagine one of the first things you would have done
0:23:17 > 0:23:18would have been radio,
0:23:18 > 0:23:21because television wasn't really very strong then, was it?
0:23:21 > 0:23:24- Radio would have been the thing. - Radio was the big thing then,
0:23:24 > 0:23:26oh, yes. Television hadn't started.
0:23:26 > 0:23:31And it was the Home Service, the Light Programme
0:23:31 > 0:23:33and then Radio 3 was only just beginning.
0:23:33 > 0:23:35And I had a great compliment.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40Actually, I put it in the book that the BBC decided...
0:23:40 > 0:23:42My wife said to me...
0:23:42 > 0:23:45I'd just celebrated my 90th birthday, Paul was there.
0:23:45 > 0:23:50He made a FABULOUS speech about me, absolutely WICKED, sent me up rotten.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51LAUGHTER
0:23:51 > 0:23:54- Go on, tell them what you said. - Oh, well, we've set it up now!
0:23:54 > 0:23:56Now, let me think. Um... Um...
0:23:56 > 0:24:00Yes, Nicholas Parsons is the only current member of show business
0:24:00 > 0:24:02who was first mentioned in the Bible.
0:24:03 > 0:24:06He was doing the cabaret during the Last Supper...
0:24:07 > 0:24:10..and later complained about it being a tough crowd.
0:24:11 > 0:24:14I think the other thing was his first publicity photo is actually
0:24:14 > 0:24:16a cave painting in southern France which was discovered...
0:24:17 > 0:24:18That sort of thing.
0:24:18 > 0:24:20But anyway, he set it all up, we did this thing
0:24:20 > 0:24:23and then my wife said to me, "They want to give you a surprise party."
0:24:23 > 0:24:27I said, "Well, I don't like surprise parties. Please, I don't want it."
0:24:27 > 0:24:29And I thought it was some charity was going to honour me and so forth,
0:24:29 > 0:24:32but in the end I went along with it. And the taxi arrived
0:24:32 > 0:24:36and they were in on the secret. They drove to the Broadcasting House.
0:24:36 > 0:24:39I thought, "This isn't a charity, the Broadcasting House."
0:24:39 > 0:24:43And I arrived there and Trudi Stevens, our whistle-blower,
0:24:43 > 0:24:47greeted me and took me up to what is called the "Council Chamber",
0:24:47 > 0:24:50where all the top brass of the BBC meet for their council meetings.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53And I walked in there and there were about 100 members of show business,
0:24:53 > 0:24:57including you, and they all greeted me, including the Director-General.
0:24:57 > 0:25:02And they gave me a party to honour my 70 years of broadcasting.
0:25:02 > 0:25:04It was fantastic.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Well, you've introduced longevity there, which is very pertinent,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14because our next clip here from Just a Minute, the subject on this
0:25:14 > 0:25:18particular clip is why Just A Minute has lasted so long.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Mind you, this was from 2003,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23so that's already - what? - 11 years ago.
0:25:23 > 0:25:25The panellists on this are myself, I think,
0:25:25 > 0:25:28Graham Norton, Sheila Hancock and Clement Freud.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32NICHOLAS: '44 seconds, you tell us something about
0:25:32 > 0:25:34'"Why Just A Minute has Lasted so Long".'
0:25:34 > 0:25:37GRAHAM: 'The main reason Just A Minute lasts so long is because
0:25:37 > 0:25:39'people keep INTERRUPTING!
0:25:39 > 0:25:40'They...continually...'
0:25:40 > 0:25:42BELL RINGS
0:25:43 > 0:25:44- NICHOLAS: 'Paul?' - 'Hesitation.'
0:25:44 > 0:25:46'Yes, because you interrupted!
0:25:46 > 0:25:48'Right, "Why Just A Minute has Lasted so Long",
0:25:48 > 0:25:51'and 37 seconds available, Paul - starting now.'
0:25:51 > 0:25:52PAUL: 'It's extraordinary, I think
0:25:52 > 0:25:57'because the actual way of playing it is capable of infinite variety,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59'it's a bit like a game of draughts -
0:25:59 > 0:26:02'it seems very simple first of all, the rules aren't many,
0:26:02 > 0:26:03'but because of the personalities
0:26:03 > 0:26:05'that play the game, they each bring...'
0:26:05 > 0:26:06BELL RINGS
0:26:06 > 0:26:09- 'Er...Clement Freud challenge.' - 'Repetition of "game".'
0:26:09 > 0:26:11NICHOLAS: 'Yes, you did repeat the word "game" before.'
0:26:11 > 0:26:13'So Clement, a correct challenge, you tell us something about why you
0:26:13 > 0:26:17'think Just A Minute has lasted so long, 22 seconds starting now.'
0:26:17 > 0:26:19CLEMENT: 'I think it just SEEMS long.'
0:26:19 > 0:26:21LAUGHTER AND BELL RINGS
0:26:23 > 0:26:25- 'Sheila has challenged!' - 'Hesitation.'
0:26:25 > 0:26:29'Yes, it was hesitation, but let's be fair to Clement - he paused
0:26:29 > 0:26:32'for comic effect and Sheila, you get a point for a correct challenge
0:26:32 > 0:26:35'and you have 19 seconds on "Why Just A Minute has Lasted so Long",
0:26:35 > 0:26:36'starting now.'
0:26:36 > 0:26:39'Without a doubt, it's because of the participants -
0:26:39 > 0:26:40'excluding myself, of course -
0:26:40 > 0:26:44'Kenny and Derek and Peter Jones
0:26:44 > 0:26:46'and now the younger generation - it's a wonderful game for...'
0:26:46 > 0:26:48BELL RINGS
0:26:48 > 0:26:50- 'Clement Freud, challenge.' - 'She missed ME.'
0:26:50 > 0:26:52LAUGHTER
0:26:55 > 0:26:56And she missed me!
0:26:56 > 0:26:59PAUL: There's no easy way of saying this...
0:27:02 > 0:27:05So there we had a flavour of, sort of, Clement there, as well.
0:27:05 > 0:27:07He was a very competitive player of the game.
0:27:07 > 0:27:09- Oh, yes. - As indeed was Derek.
0:27:09 > 0:27:11Oh, yes - they were very competitive.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15I mean, we've got Gyles Brandreth who's very competitive now,
0:27:15 > 0:27:18but again, nowadays, you are in your own way competitive,
0:27:18 > 0:27:20but you're very professional.
0:27:20 > 0:27:23You know that the success of the show is more important than your own
0:27:23 > 0:27:26individual success. I've noticed sometimes that you,
0:27:26 > 0:27:27Paul, and this is a great compliment,
0:27:27 > 0:27:30you, if you think you've been talking too much,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32will hold back and let others have a chance.
0:27:32 > 0:27:34Well, yes, it's important to do that I think.
0:27:34 > 0:27:39But the... But you see, the others didn't and Clement would...
0:27:39 > 0:27:42Clement would never give an inch!
0:27:42 > 0:27:47And he criticised me in his autobiography because he actually...
0:27:47 > 0:27:48And I put it all in the book, by the way!
0:27:48 > 0:27:51LAUGHTER
0:27:51 > 0:27:54He didn't like the way... I was... The play...
0:27:54 > 0:27:55..the show evolved.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58He wanted to keep it as the rather old-fashioned,
0:27:58 > 0:28:00staid show where four interesting
0:28:00 > 0:28:04and intelligent people showed off their knowledge and erudition.
0:28:04 > 0:28:08And he criticised me for playing for laughs,
0:28:08 > 0:28:10which all helps the show,
0:28:10 > 0:28:16and said I should just have been like a, um, severe schoolmaster,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19saying, "Correct challenge. A point to you, carry on. Take the subject.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21"No, incorrect challenge, a point to you. Carry on."
0:28:21 > 0:28:24And...and it would have been so predictable,
0:28:24 > 0:28:27it would have been so boring. But that's what he wanted.
0:28:27 > 0:28:28- Yes. - He'd rather have it boring.
0:28:28 > 0:28:31I think he was happier with that version of the show.
0:28:31 > 0:28:32Absolutely.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34But you said some very kind words to me,
0:28:34 > 0:28:36but, Nicholas, one of the things
0:28:36 > 0:28:38that really has been important is your introduction of the...
0:28:38 > 0:28:40Although it seems like a simple thing...
0:28:40 > 0:28:43The introduction of bonus points for amusing challenges,
0:28:43 > 0:28:44even though they're wrong -
0:28:44 > 0:28:48well, wrong within the context of, you know, the rules -
0:28:48 > 0:28:51means that you can still get points and be funny without
0:28:51 > 0:28:54necessarily competing over every repetition of "the" or "I"
0:28:54 > 0:28:56- or whatever. - Yes.
0:28:56 > 0:29:00What I did was, originally, the rules were hesitation,
0:29:00 > 0:29:03repetition or deviation from the subject.
0:29:03 > 0:29:06And when... I stopped that and went just for deviation,
0:29:06 > 0:29:10on the basis that someone could challenge,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13like Paul would sometimes do, and come up with some bizarre
0:29:13 > 0:29:18idea of deviation which is incredibly funny and then I would say, well,
0:29:18 > 0:29:21"Paul, that was very funny, I think you deserve a bonus point for that.
0:29:21 > 0:29:24"YOU get a bonus point. HE was interrupted, HE gets a point."
0:29:24 > 0:29:26So we had more fun.
0:29:26 > 0:29:28So the person who's been interrupted, although it was a funny challenge,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30it wasn't a correct challenge, doesn't lose the subject.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33- They don't feel aggrieved. - And he gets a point.
0:29:33 > 0:29:34So it's all right.
0:29:34 > 0:29:37To me, people have said to me, what do you think is the essence
0:29:37 > 0:29:41of the success of Just A Minute and I think it's about having fun.
0:29:41 > 0:29:44I think there should be more fun in life anyway.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47We should all laugh more about silly little things.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50What I try to do is to generate fun.
0:29:50 > 0:29:53Do you find yourself laughing over silly little things these days?
0:29:53 > 0:29:55LAUGHTER
0:29:55 > 0:29:57Yeah, I do... Sometimes...
0:29:57 > 0:30:01Sometimes my wife says to me, "Why did you say that?"
0:30:01 > 0:30:03And I say, "Well, I just thought it was quite funny."
0:30:03 > 0:30:05She says, "I thought it was stupid."
0:30:05 > 0:30:07LAUGHTER
0:30:07 > 0:30:10I say, "Well, I was just having a bit of fun, that's all, darling."
0:30:10 > 0:30:14And I do. I mean, it is... We should laugh more.
0:30:14 > 0:30:17It's the only thing in these difficult, tough times,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21when there's so much stress around where you should ease
0:30:21 > 0:30:25the relationships between people and nations as well, oh, my God.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26It's very sad.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31I think... I mention about you coming in because...
0:30:31 > 0:30:34I mean, you coming in was an amazing situation.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I first met Paul... It's all in the book, by the way.
0:30:37 > 0:30:39LAUGHTER
0:30:39 > 0:30:42- I first met Paul... - Have you written a book, Nicholas?
0:30:42 > 0:30:44I first met...
0:30:44 > 0:30:47The BBC have cooperated and given me pictures and things.
0:30:47 > 0:30:50I first met you when we were doing the Simon Mayo show, Scruples.
0:30:50 > 0:30:53- That's right, Scruples. - That's right.
0:30:53 > 0:30:55I remember you said a wonderful line.
0:30:55 > 0:30:58I was talking and chatting and you suddenly said to me,
0:30:58 > 0:31:02cos he's got this wonderful ability to be funny - and he said to me...
0:31:02 > 0:31:07I suppose it's to your timing and the situation.
0:31:07 > 0:31:10You suddenly said, "You were never like this on Sale Of The Century."
0:31:11 > 0:31:16But it was a thrill to meet you - that was 1988, I think.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19And I'd listen... Just A Minute, by that point, had been going
0:31:19 > 0:31:21for 21 years already.
0:31:21 > 0:31:25I'd listened to it as a boy of ten onwards, used to listen to it
0:31:25 > 0:31:28when it used to be broadcast with the four regulars.
0:31:28 > 0:31:30Then, in the early 1980s when I was living in a bedsit
0:31:30 > 0:31:34and I didn't have any money, but I did have a little cassette radio,
0:31:34 > 0:31:38so although I didn't have a television, I would tape episodes
0:31:38 > 0:31:41from Just A Minute off the radio and play them over and over again.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44So much so that I heard one episode of Just A Minute
0:31:44 > 0:31:47on Radio 4 Extra about two months ago which was one of the tapes
0:31:47 > 0:31:51I used to have and I knew it word for word!
0:31:51 > 0:31:53I must have listened to it so many times.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55But in a strange way, that kind of gave me...
0:31:55 > 0:31:58Well, not strange, I suppose in a perfectly understandable way,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00that gave me a knowledge and understanding of how to come
0:32:00 > 0:32:03into the show initially without ruffling too many feathers.
0:32:03 > 0:32:05Because you came to me,
0:32:05 > 0:32:07you said, "I love that programme you do on Radio 4."
0:32:07 > 0:32:10And I suddenly thought, "My God, you'd be bloody good in that!"
0:32:10 > 0:32:14I'd never made any suggestions to our producers before for participants,
0:32:14 > 0:32:17but I did, I said to Ted Taylor, who was then our director,
0:32:17 > 0:32:20"There's a man called Paul Merton who is very funny
0:32:20 > 0:32:22"and I think he'd be brilliant in our show."
0:32:22 > 0:32:25He'd never heard of you, he said, "Is he an alternative comedian?"
0:32:25 > 0:32:28LAUGHTER
0:32:28 > 0:32:31I said, "He's a comedian, I don't know what alternative means.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33"He's just a bit different."
0:32:33 > 0:32:34LAUGHTER
0:32:34 > 0:32:36And I didn't...
0:32:36 > 0:32:38I discovered later that you actually had written to ask.
0:32:38 > 0:32:40Yes, I had.
0:32:40 > 0:32:41The only time I wrote...
0:32:41 > 0:32:45I think on the basis of meeting Nicholas, and I was up here in 1988,
0:32:45 > 0:32:49and I just wrote a letter to Ted Taylor at the BBC and he got this
0:32:49 > 0:32:53letter and checked with his secretary and she'd heard of me from somewhere.
0:32:53 > 0:32:57Nicholas had met me the year before, I think it was.
0:32:57 > 0:33:00He phoned me up, Ted Taylor phoned me up, very sort of...
0:33:00 > 0:33:02Very good, traditional BBC producer
0:33:02 > 0:33:06and he wanted to know what I'd be wearing...
0:33:06 > 0:33:09I don't know what... He thought Sid Vicious was going to turn up
0:33:09 > 0:33:12or something. He reminded me that we didn't swear on Just A Minute.
0:33:12 > 0:33:16But I was able to say, "I understand how the programme works."
0:33:16 > 0:33:17And, um...
0:33:17 > 0:33:20I was able to, in the first case come in
0:33:20 > 0:33:24and just find a sort of place within the group of people of the regulars
0:33:24 > 0:33:29that wasn't too upsetting, but also could move it on a bit, perhaps.
0:33:29 > 0:33:31I remember Ted telephoning me and saying...
0:33:31 > 0:33:35He was completely traditionalist, of the old school, Auntie BBC.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37He said, "Well, we've had someone drop out
0:33:37 > 0:33:41"and I've cast this chap you suggested, Paul Merton.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44"I hope he's going to be good, because I can tell you this -
0:33:44 > 0:33:46"if he isn't, it's not my fault, it's yours."
0:33:48 > 0:33:50So I was under pressure when you came on, but...
0:33:50 > 0:33:52For the first time on, you were amazing.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Well, I think it was just the knowledge,
0:33:54 > 0:33:56also being able to listen to it.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59We have... That leads us neatly into another clip here, Nicholas.
0:33:59 > 0:34:03This is Kenny Everett. Now, those of you who remember Kenny Everett...
0:34:03 > 0:34:05He only ever appeared on the show once...
0:34:05 > 0:34:06Um...
0:34:06 > 0:34:08This clip might explain why!
0:34:10 > 0:34:12He's talking on the subject...
0:34:12 > 0:34:15He's meant to be talking on the subject of marbles.
0:34:15 > 0:34:17This is from 5 February, 1980.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19The other panellists are Clement Freud, Peter Jones
0:34:19 > 0:34:20and Kenneth Williams.
0:34:20 > 0:34:23But I think it's Kenny Everett that you hear mainly in this.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26NICHOLAS: 'And the subject is marbles. Kenny, would you tell us
0:34:26 > 0:34:29'something of those in 60 seconds, starting now.
0:34:29 > 0:34:32KENNY: 'Marbles is a game that I last played
0:34:32 > 0:34:36'when I was at St Bede's secondary modern school for aspiring twits.
0:34:36 > 0:34:37'I always used to wonder
0:34:37 > 0:34:40'as I got my thumb into the marbleising position,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43'about to flick and ruin all the others in the circle,
0:34:43 > 0:34:46'I used to wonder how the heck they got those little coloured
0:34:46 > 0:34:49'squirly bits to go through the glass, you know, the...
0:34:49 > 0:34:50'The... Aaargh!'
0:34:50 > 0:34:53LAUGHTER
0:34:55 > 0:34:56NICHOLAS: 'Keep going!
0:34:56 > 0:34:58'And anyway... Um...
0:34:58 > 0:35:00'I used to wonder whether they put them in
0:35:00 > 0:35:03'after with a hypodermic or whether they built the glass
0:35:03 > 0:35:05'around the coloured squirly and how they got the colours all to
0:35:05 > 0:35:09'intertwangle with each other, all sort of mangling and tumbling
0:35:09 > 0:35:12'in a gay abandon throughout the glass, that's what I used to wonder.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16'And then I'd flick them and in the middle of the circle they'd go
0:35:16 > 0:35:19'scattering all the other marbles in all various directions from east
0:35:19 > 0:35:21'to west and north and probably south, as well.
0:35:21 > 0:35:23'All the other kids would rush around
0:35:23 > 0:35:27'saying, "What a wonderful holly player the old geezer is,"
0:35:27 > 0:35:29'cos they used to call them hollies as well, you know and they used to
0:35:29 > 0:35:32'call them other things, but I've forgotten what the other things were
0:35:32 > 0:35:36'that they used to call them, because I was very young at the time.
0:35:36 > 0:35:39'I'm 34 now, it's been absolutely ages since I was at school
0:35:39 > 0:35:42'and so I've forgotten the whole thing and anyway,
0:35:42 > 0:35:44'it was the coloured squirlies that caught my eye, really,
0:35:44 > 0:35:47'because I had a great eye for coloured squirlies
0:35:47 > 0:35:51'and I think I've done much more than a minute!'
0:35:51 > 0:35:52WHISTLE BLOWS
0:35:58 > 0:36:00NICHOLAS: 'Well, I'm afraid we were very wicked, we let Kenny Everett
0:36:00 > 0:36:06'go on talking for 90 seconds on the subject of marbles!
0:36:06 > 0:36:10'During that time, he continually repeated himself, deviated
0:36:10 > 0:36:12'and also hesitated.
0:36:12 > 0:36:14KENNETH WILLIAMS: 'But didn't lose his marbles.'
0:36:15 > 0:36:18There's a lovely word he invented there, "intertwangle".
0:36:18 > 0:36:19I think that's a beautiful word.
0:36:19 > 0:36:23That's an example of where you were seasoned professionals.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26If you realise something is funny - you weren't in the show,
0:36:26 > 0:36:29but it happens other times - you let the person go,
0:36:29 > 0:36:30so we can have entertainment.
0:36:30 > 0:36:34Clement Freud wouldn't, but he was much more precise about it.
0:36:34 > 0:36:36But that was a perfect example.
0:36:36 > 0:36:40Have you, sort of... Over the years, you've watched it develop.
0:36:40 > 0:36:43Have you ever sort of felt like you'd like to have another go
0:36:43 > 0:36:45- at being a competitor? - No, no! No, no. No, no!
0:36:45 > 0:36:46Really?
0:36:46 > 0:36:49No, when I was, I mean, it was on a hiding to nothing,
0:36:49 > 0:36:52because we did... Four specials they put in at one time.
0:36:52 > 0:36:55We had the four regulars whom I mentioned.
0:36:55 > 0:36:57And they decided, as a gimmick...
0:36:57 > 0:37:00It was way back in the early days of David Hatch,
0:37:00 > 0:37:02that I should go on the panel and each of them,
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Clement Freud, Peter Jones, Derek Nimmo
0:37:04 > 0:37:09and Kenneth Williams should all go in the chair for these four specials.
0:37:09 > 0:37:13Of course, Clement was the first to go on and he was determined
0:37:13 > 0:37:18I shouldn't get any points. But actually, I did manage to win and...
0:37:19 > 0:37:22And then Peter Jones was quite good, Derek Nimmo was all over the place.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25Kenneth Williams didn't know whether it was Sunday or Monday,
0:37:25 > 0:37:27it was ridiculous!
0:37:27 > 0:37:30Ian Messiter, who used to blow the whistle, he kept saying to him,
0:37:30 > 0:37:34"What do I do? Was that hesitation? Oh, yes! Oh, lovely.
0:37:34 > 0:37:38"Shall I give him a point? Yeah, do you want a point for that? No!
0:37:38 > 0:37:41"What do we do next? Was it hesitation?"
0:37:41 > 0:37:44Ian Messiter was really running it, he just didn't know where he was.
0:37:44 > 0:37:47You mentioned there, which is very good
0:37:47 > 0:37:49that you did mention Ian Messiter, because he was the one person who is
0:37:49 > 0:37:52vital to the whole thing of Just A Minute. We haven't mentioned him yet.
0:37:52 > 0:37:54Tell us who Ian Messiter was.
0:37:54 > 0:37:58Ian Messiter was a very creative... Well, he was an inventor, to my mind.
0:37:58 > 0:38:03He invented a number of radio shows like Petticoat Line and...
0:38:03 > 0:38:04PAUL: Many A Slip, I think.
0:38:04 > 0:38:05Many A Slip and many other ones.
0:38:05 > 0:38:09How did Ian Messiter come up with the idea of Just A Minute?
0:38:09 > 0:38:13Well, according to what he said, it was when he was at school,
0:38:13 > 0:38:14his master called him up
0:38:14 > 0:38:16cos he thought he hadn't been paying attention
0:38:16 > 0:38:21and said, "Messiter, I want you to repeat what I've just been saying
0:38:21 > 0:38:24"and you mustn't hesitate or repeat anything."
0:38:25 > 0:38:30It stuck in his mind, so he had this idea and then he had the idea
0:38:30 > 0:38:33of deviation and so he had this programme,
0:38:33 > 0:38:35which he did with Many A Slip.
0:38:35 > 0:38:38Many A Slip was a sort of forerunner of Just A Minute,
0:38:38 > 0:38:40because I went to Ian, I knew him very well.
0:38:40 > 0:38:45I said, "Ian, I've just had a success on radio with Listen To This Space,
0:38:45 > 0:38:46"which I won an award for.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50"I want to do some improvised comedy, have you got any ideas?"
0:38:50 > 0:38:53He said, "Well, I've got this programme here which I've adapted
0:38:53 > 0:38:55"and I'm going to call it Just A Minute."
0:38:55 > 0:38:57So I actually took it up to Roy Rich,
0:38:57 > 0:38:59who was then Head of Light Entertainment,
0:38:59 > 0:39:01and I put the idea to him and he said, "Yes,
0:39:01 > 0:39:03"I think that's a good idea, let's go with a pilot."
0:39:03 > 0:39:06And, um, I was going to be on the panel...
0:39:06 > 0:39:08And as I say, Jimmy Edwards, as I said before.
0:39:08 > 0:39:14Yes. Well, our last trip here features me, sadly.
0:39:14 > 0:39:19This is me doing a whole minute on flying saucers.
0:39:19 > 0:39:21Until I got sent this clip the other day I'd completely forgotten this,
0:39:21 > 0:39:23because it is from February 1995.
0:39:23 > 0:39:27The other panellists are Derek Nimmo, Peter Jones and Steve Frost,
0:39:27 > 0:39:30although I don't know how much you hear of those. Um, but this is me,
0:39:30 > 0:39:32from 20 years ago. AUDIO CLIP FOLLOWS
0:39:32 > 0:39:34- STEVE FROST: 'Blimey. - NICHOLAS: 'Flying saucers.
0:39:34 > 0:39:36'60 seconds, starting now.'
0:39:36 > 0:39:40PAUL: 'Well, a flying saucer landed in my back garden about 19 years ago
0:39:40 > 0:39:43'and I got on it and went to the planet Venus, and it's true
0:39:43 > 0:39:45'because I've got photographs here of me
0:39:45 > 0:39:48'standing on the surface of that particular planet.
0:39:48 > 0:39:50'And anybody who says this is false can come outside and I'll give them
0:39:50 > 0:39:54'a damn good fight because I was trapped on that particular orb
0:39:54 > 0:39:56'in space for YEARS.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59'I tried speaking to the Venusians, I said, "Look,
0:39:59 > 0:40:02'"it's not my fault I'm here, I was kidnapped by one of your people."
0:40:02 > 0:40:03'They said, "It's got nothing to do with us, it could have been
0:40:03 > 0:40:07'"anybody they picked up. We had Winston Churchill about 30 years ago.
0:40:07 > 0:40:09'"Before that, Sir Stanley Matthews,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12'"the wizard of the wings spent a fortnight on this very surface."
0:40:12 > 0:40:15'"I thought, "Well, I'm very proud to be in such august company."
0:40:15 > 0:40:17'They said, "So you should be and all.
0:40:17 > 0:40:19'"What do you want for your dinner?" I said, "Well, what have you got?"
0:40:19 > 0:40:21'They said, We can offer you fishcakes,
0:40:21 > 0:40:22'"if that's not too fantastic for you?"
0:40:22 > 0:40:25'I thought it was quite an extraordinary concept,
0:40:25 > 0:40:27'the idea of eating that particular meal out here,
0:40:27 > 0:40:30'this far away from the Earth, where I originally came from.
0:40:30 > 0:40:32'They said, "Look, do you want it or not?" I said, "It'll be fine."
0:40:32 > 0:40:35'So at that point, they produced a doner kebab,
0:40:35 > 0:40:38'which, to all intents and purposes, was completely cold.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40'I said, "Why is this not served up hot?"
0:40:40 > 0:40:42'They said, "We got it from a shop in Highgate
0:40:42 > 0:40:44'"and it's a long way away to bring it all the way from
0:40:44 > 0:40:48'"that particular part of north London to where we're standing now."
0:40:48 > 0:40:51'I said, "OK, I'd go along with that. What have you got to drink?"
0:40:51 > 0:40:53'They said, "Well, we've got Watneys Red Barrel."
0:40:53 > 0:40:56'I said, "That is just too fantastic because nobody outside of the..."'
0:40:56 > 0:40:58WHISTLE BLOWS
0:40:58 > 0:41:00CHEERING
0:41:01 > 0:41:03It is, um...
0:41:03 > 0:41:05Paul, I must come in there because,
0:41:05 > 0:41:10you see, this is where I think you illustrate your comic genius.
0:41:10 > 0:41:13I mean, others... I mean, he didn't hesitate, repeat or deviate...
0:41:13 > 0:41:15I did planet a couple of times!
0:41:15 > 0:41:18No! I mean, The thing is, he went into the world of fantasy -
0:41:18 > 0:41:20which you can do -
0:41:20 > 0:41:22and anybody could have challenged for deviation,
0:41:22 > 0:41:24but that's where they're sporting - kept back.
0:41:24 > 0:41:27You did not repeat anything and it's an incredible discipline of mind
0:41:27 > 0:41:29that keeps you going like that.
0:41:29 > 0:41:31And it's your contribution to the show
0:41:31 > 0:41:34which has helped to make it so successful.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Well, you're very kind, Nicholas, you are.
0:41:36 > 0:41:37But I mean...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39I think we should give him a round of applause, don't you, for that?
0:41:39 > 0:41:41APPLAUSE
0:41:44 > 0:41:47I think it's one of those things, I do a lot of improvisation,
0:41:47 > 0:41:49so there's an example of you've no idea where you're starting,
0:41:49 > 0:41:51but you just keep going and suddenly,
0:41:51 > 0:41:54you're being offered fishcakes on the planet and stuff like that.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57But there must be a thing that, as you're talking
0:41:57 > 0:41:59and you're coming to a word which you know you've used before,
0:41:59 > 0:42:02you have to quickly find another one without hesitating.
0:42:02 > 0:42:05Yes, although sometimes I sort of developed a little...
0:42:05 > 0:42:08You can trick people who haven't played it much.
0:42:08 > 0:42:13You say, um, "As I walked up the steps, I trod stair by..."
0:42:13 > 0:42:15And they come in, and you haven't said the next word "stair".
0:42:15 > 0:42:17They think you're going to repeat "stair"
0:42:17 > 0:42:19but you say something else. so you can, sort of, sometimes
0:42:19 > 0:42:20- lure people in I think. - I know.
0:42:20 > 0:42:22I know. - We're coming to the end,
0:42:22 > 0:42:25sadly, Nicholas, of this 45-minute show.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27Um, is there, um...
0:42:27 > 0:42:32What do you... How do you think the show will go on from here?
0:42:32 > 0:42:34I mean, it goes from strength to strength, really, doesn't it?
0:42:34 > 0:42:38Well, I don't know. I mean, it keeps up its strength.
0:42:38 > 0:42:39It keeps up its standard.
0:42:39 > 0:42:42And you and I agree on this idea
0:42:42 > 0:42:45that some people who've won their spurs
0:42:45 > 0:42:47have proved they can play the game,
0:42:47 > 0:42:49I think they should go...
0:42:49 > 0:42:51they are on the producer's wish list and they're not always free
0:42:51 > 0:42:54because radio doesn't pay vast sums of money.
0:42:54 > 0:42:55I mean, it doesn't.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57Actually, this is why we're so grateful to Paul Merton,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59because what he gets for Just A Minute
0:42:59 > 0:43:02doesn't really increase his lifestyle very much.
0:43:02 > 0:43:03LAUGHTER
0:43:03 > 0:43:06But he does it because he loves the show.
0:43:06 > 0:43:08And we have a whole queue of people who want to come on
0:43:08 > 0:43:12because they love the show. It is a fun show to do.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14And, um...
0:43:14 > 0:43:18so the producer now has a nucleus of regular performers
0:43:18 > 0:43:20who have proved themselves in it
0:43:20 > 0:43:22and, occasionally, we bring in someone new,
0:43:22 > 0:43:25but you always make sure you surround them with three regulars
0:43:25 > 0:43:26otherwise they can, um, struggle.
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Well, I think it's good, it's useful because it shows that
0:43:29 > 0:43:32if you have three regulars, there's an etiquette, I suppose.
0:43:32 > 0:43:34It's what we've been saying all the way through.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36If somebody is being amusing, then you let them go.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39If you have two new people on the show, they don't know that
0:43:39 > 0:43:42and they pick up on "the" and "I" and things like that.
0:43:42 > 0:43:44But I think it's... You know, Nicholas,
0:43:44 > 0:43:46you've said some very kind words to me
0:43:46 > 0:43:49but, after all, this is really about you here.
0:43:49 > 0:43:52It is extraordinary that you've done 900 shows
0:43:52 > 0:43:54and there seems to be no way of getting rid of you,
0:43:54 > 0:43:55it's absolutely...
0:43:55 > 0:43:57LAUGHTER
0:43:57 > 0:43:59It's an absolutely phenomenal achievement.
0:43:59 > 0:44:02Ladies and gentlemen, the magnificent man.
0:44:02 > 0:44:04CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Thank you
0:44:04 > 0:44:05Thank you.
0:44:07 > 0:44:08COMMENTS DROWNED OUT BY APPLAUSE