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Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > Radio
Includes contributions from Graham Norton, Sue Perkins, Jenny
Eclair and Gyles Brandreth. As its nine hundredth episode
approaches, Just a Minute has consistently entertained BBC Radio 4
listeners since its first broadcast in December 1967. Inspired by a
punishment handed out at school, the show's creator Ian Messiter
devised a deceptively simple and versatile set of rules that has
allowed the game to adapt and thrive as each new era of comedy
entertainers emerges. Over forty-seven consecutive years, fans have
laughed along with Kenneth Williams' outrageously funny 'battles'
with Sheila Hancock, Paul Merton's imaginative flights of fancy,
Clement Freud's acerbic wit, Julian Clary's flagrant innuendos,
Graham Norton's celebrity 'gossip', Jenny Eclair's brutal honesty,
Gyles Brandreth's extravagant monologues and Sue Perkins'
infectious enthusiasm to name only a handful of the more than two
hundred star entertainers who have braved the Just a Minute panel.
In this official celebration, chairman Nicholas Parsons, the only
person to have appeared in every programme, recalls the very best,
occasionally awkward and often hilarious, moments from the last six
decades. Magical minutes, verbal dexterity, sharp one-liners and
witty challenges can all be marvelled at once again as Nicholas
tells the Just a Minute story from its inauspicious pilot episode,
through television and stage versions, and on to the present day,
without hesitation, repetition or deviation...
The rhythmic lullaby of 'North Utsire, South Utsire' has been
lulling the nation's insomniacs to sleep for over 90 years. It has
inspired songs, poetry and imaginations across the globe - as well
as providing a very real service for the nation's seafarers who
might fall prey to storms and gales. In 1995, a plan to move the
late-night broadcast by just 12 minutes caused a national outcry
and was ultimately scrapped. Published with Radio 4 and the Met
Office, The Shipping Forecast is the official miscellany for
seafarers and armchair travellers alike. From the places themselves
- how they got their names, what's happened there through the ages
- to the poems and parodies that it's inspired, this is a
beautifully evocative tribute to one of Britain's - and Radio 4's -
best-loved broadcasts.
Kevin McNally stars in five brand new recordings of original
Hancock's Half Hour scripts by Ray Galton and Alan Simpson. Whilst
Hancock's Half Hour was an enormously popular radio sitcom in the
1950s, many of the episodes were not retained in the BBC Sound
Archive and are believed to be lost. Now, five of them have been
recreated by BBC Radio 4, with Kevin McNally taking the role made
famous by Tony Hancock. Among the supporting cast are Simon
Grenall, Kevin Eldon and Robin Sebastian.
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