Penguin Shop: 15% off with code PENGUINXMAS2025

Just a Minute: The Complete BBC TV Collection

byBBC Comedy, Sue Perkins (Read by), Nicholas Parsons (Read by), Paul Merton (Read by), Stephen Fry (Read by), Marcus Brigstocke (Read by), Miles Jupp (Read by)
,

Every Soundtrack Episode from the Hit BBC Comedy Show

All 30 soundtrack episodes of the BBC TV version of Just a Minute

Just a Minute is a radio perennial. Loved by listeners for almost 60 years, it’s the BBC’s longest-running and most popular panel game, having clocked up over 1000 episodes on Radio 4. And now, you can enjoy 30 more, with these sparkling soundtrack episodes from the BBC TV run of the show.

First broadcast on BBC One in 1999 and BBC Two in 2012, they are chaired by the one and only Nicholas Parsons, who presides over a host of celebrity wordsmiths including Paul Merton, Pam Ayres, Clare Balding, Jo Brand, Gyles Brandreth, Barry Cryer, Tony Hawks, Peter Jones, John Sergeant, Brian Sewell, Linda Smith, Hugh Bonneville, Marcus Brigstocke, Julian Clary, Stephen Fry, Phill Jupitus, Miles Jupp, Shappi Khorsandi, Jason Manford, Graham Norton, Sue Perkins and Liza Tarbuck.

Though the format may be different, the aim of the game is still the same: to speak on a given theme for 60 seconds, without hesitation, repetition or deviation. Among the topics testing the panellists’ verbal dexterity are Ever Decreasing Circles, Easter Bonnets, Mumbo Jumbo, Garden Gnomes, Yorkshire Pudding, St George’s Day, Charlie Chaplin, A New Rule for Just a Minute, Bowling a Maiden Over, My 45th Birthday and Writer’s Block.

So ready your ears for a feast of comic improvisations, magical monologues, cheeky challenges and outrageous one-upmanship, as the panellists set their sights on that rarest of beasts: a perfect, uninterrupted minute...

NB: Contains mild innuendo. The humour in these programmes sometimes reflects the era in which they were first broadcast.

Cast and credits

Devised by Ian Messiter

Chaired by Nicholas Parsons

BBC One series produced and directed by Helena Taylor

BBC Two series produced by Andy Brereton and Jamie Ormerod and directed by Richard van't Riet

Episode list:

BBC One

19 Apr 1999: Barry Cryer, Su Pollard, John Sergeant and Brian Sewell

20 Apr 1999: Tony Hawks, Wendy Richard, Steve Frost and Clare Baldin

21 Apr 1999: Isla Blair, Gyles Brandreth, Linda Smith and Gary Wilmot

22 Apr 1999: Pam Ayres, Peter Jones, Wendy Richard and Linda Smith

23 Apr 1999: Jo Brand, Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks and Peter Jones

26 Apr 1999: Barry Cryer, Stephen Frost, Tony Hawks and Wendy Richard

27 Apr 1999: Michael Cashman, Peter Jones, Maria McErlane and Linda Smith

28 Apr 1999: Liza Goddard, Richard Morton, Tom O’Connor and Richard Vranch

29 Apr 1999: Clare Balding, Stephen Frost, Tony Hawks and Wendy Richard

30 Apr 1999: Barry Cryer, Su Pollard, John Sergeant and Brian Sewell

3 May 1999: Isla Blair, Gyles Brandreth, Linda Smith and Gary Wilmot

4 May 1999: Maria McErlane, Steve Punt, Wendy Richard and Linda Smith

5 May 1999: Gyles Brandreth, Ken Bruce, Liza Goddard and Richard Morton

6 May 1999: Pam Ayres, Peter Jones, Wendy Richard and Linda Smith

10 May 1999: Tony Hawks, Wendy Richard, Barry Cryer and Stephen Frost

11 May 1999: Michael Cashman, Peter Jones, Maria McErlane and Linda Smith

12 May 1999: Jo Brand, Gyles Brandreth, Tony Hawks and Peter Jones

13 May 1999: Maria McErlane, Steve Punt, Wendy Richard and Linda Smith

14 May 1999: Gyles Brandreth, Ken Bruce, Liza Goddard and Richard Morton

26 May 1999: Liza Goddard, Richard Vranch, Richard Morton and Tom O'Connor

BBC Two

26 Mar 2012: Paul Merton, Graham Norton, Sue Perkins and Phill Jupitus

27 Mar 2012: Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Stephen Fry and Russell Tovey

28 Mar 2012: Paul Merton, Sue Perkins, Marcus Brigstocke and Ruth Jones

29 Mar 2012: Paul Merton, Liza Tarbuck, Gyles Brandreth and Miles Jupp

30 Mar 2012: Paul Merton, Josie Lawrence, John Sergeant and Jason Manford

2 Apr 2012: Paul Merton, Graham Norton, Sue Perkins and Tony Hawks

3 Apr 2012: Paul Merton, Shappi Khorsandi, Hugh Bonneville and Jason Manford

4 Apr 2012: Paul Merton, Sue Perkins, Marcus Brigstocke and Stephen Mangan

5 Apr 2012: Paul Merton, Liza Tarbuck, Gyles Brandreth and Tony Hawks

6 Apr 2012: Paul Merton, Julian Clary, Stephen Fry and Shappi Khorsandi

© 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd. (P) 2026 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

About BBC Comedy

Details
  • Imprint: BBC Digital Audio
  • ISBN: 9781529908015
  • Length: 840 minutes
  • Price: £16.00