Parsons appeared on every show for 51 years, either as chairman or panellist, until he was absent through illness for two episodes recorded in April 2018 and broadcast the following June. Those shows were hosted by Gyles Brandreth, [33] [34] as were two episodes recorded and broadcast in August 2019, when Parsons was again unwell. Just a Minute: Series 81, Episode 6". BBC Radio 4. BBC Sounds. BBC. 18 June 2018 . Retrieved 30 January 2020. Presenter: Gyles Brandreth

Each programme features four panellists, with the exception of six shows in 1968 and another at the end of the 1970–1971 season when there were only three. Episode 424". Just a Minute. Series 26. Episode 1. 2 January 1993. BBC Radio 4. Transcript from just-a-minute.info. This particular edition of Just A Minute comes from the beautiful and ancient Theatre Royal in the delightful and old city of Bury St Edmonds.Wolf, Ian (20 October 2011). "Just A Minute to be adapted for TV for 45th anniversary". British Comedy Guide . Retrieved 21 October 2011. A ten-part series will be broadcast in BBC Two's daytime schedule, presented by long-serving host Nicholas Parsons and featuring semi-regular panellist Paul Merton. BBC Radio 4 was launched on 30 September 1967, around three months before Just a Minute was created.

Repeats were then broadcast until Parsons' death on 28 January 2020, at the age of 96, and for a couple of weeks thereafter as a homage. [16] As the government’s national archive for England, Wales and the United Kingdom, The National Archives hold over 1,000 years of the nation’s records for everyone to discover and use. Just a Minute". Radio Times. Vol.186, no.2414 (London & South Easted.). BBC Publications. 12 February 1970. p.27 . Retrieved 30 January 2020. A panel game controlled (!) this week by Clement Freud.Hesitation" is watched very strictly: a momentary pause in speaking can give rise to a successful challenge, as can tripping over one's words. Even pausing during audience laughter or applause (known as "riding a laugh") can be challenged. In 2018, Nicholas Parsons was unable to attend the recording of two editions of the programme as he had the flu. This broke his uninterrupted run of fifty years as a performer on the programme. The episodes were recorded on 1 April 2018 with Gyles Brandreth standing in for Parsons and were broadcast on 4 and 11 June 2018. [14] He was also not present for a recording session for two episodes in series 85; episodes 942 and 943 were broadcast on 9 and 26 August 2019. Brandreth again covered for Parsons. Just a Minute continued to be transmitted with Parsons as host until his last show on 23 September 2019. [15] The pilot for Just a Minute was recorded in 1967, featuring Clement Freud, Derek Nimmo, Beryl Reid and Willma Ewert as panellists. The chairman was originally intended to be Jimmy Edwards but he was unavailable on Sundays, the proposed recording dates, and was replaced by Nicholas Parsons, who was originally supposed to be a panel member. Parsons did not want the job and only reluctantly took it, just for the pilot episode. After the show settled in, again he found himself in the role of a straight man for the panellists. Although executives at the BBC disliked the pilot, its producer, David Hatch, insisted on having Parsons as the chairman. [11] The first series was not very successful, but Hatch threatened to resign if the programme was not given another chance. [11] Not wishing to lose Hatch, the BBC acquiesced. Clement Freud on Just a Minute: A Celebration". Clement Freud on Just a Minute: A Celebration. 26 May 2009. BBC Radio 4. In the early years the rules were more complicated, as special rules were sometimes tried out in addition, on a one-off basis: a ban on the word "is" might apply in a round, for example, or "the". But the three basic rules have always applied: