BBC Radio 4 panel game Just A Minute is to transfer to BBC2 next year to mark the show's 45th anniversary. "After 45 years of chairing Just a Minute on radio, I am excited to be hosting these special celebratory episodes for BBC2," the programme's host, Nicholas Parsons, told the Daily Mail. Just a minute, Nicholas … hasn't it been on television before? It has indeed, with an ill-fated ITV version that lasted just two series in the mid-1990s. Despite boasting Parsons in the presenter's chair and many of the show's regulars, it almost entirely failed to capture the spirit of the radio original. Possibly because seeing the panellists adds nothing to a show that is entirely aural. In fact, the visuals positively detracted from the experience. Still, it was made by Carlton, the old ITV licensee for London, which didn't exactly have a track record in quality television. Good luck with next year's transfer to BBC2. The next topic is … the tricky business of making a radio programme work on television. And your minute starts … now!

Topics