Fans’ alarm as Parsons takes a few minutes off
HE has spent more than 900 episodes ensuring his famous panellists speak without hesitation, repetition or deviation. But for the first time in half a century, Nicholas Parsons was absent from Just A Minute last night.
The 94-year-old, who has hosted the show since it began in December 1967, was replaced by writer Gyles Brandreth in order to give the veteran ‘a couple of days off’.
Brandreth, who is a regular guest on the show, introduced the recording by saying: ‘After 50 years at the helm [he] quite rightly thinks he should be allowed a day off.’
Yesterday evening, fans of the long-running series expressed alarm at Parsons’s absence, as some feared it was a harbinger of doom. Some joked they believed it was a secret code of impending apocalypse while one Twitter user said: ‘Tuned in late to Just A Minute. Where’s the lovely Nicholas Parsons? Anyone? Please may he not have died.’
Another fan asked: ‘Can we challenge BBC Radio 4 for deviation from Nicholas Parsons?’
BBC executives were quick to quell fans’ fears, explaining that the veteran host was just taking a couple of days off.
Julia McKenzie, head of radio comedy, tweeted: ‘Just to reassure those listening to the very unexpected Just A Minute on BBC Radio 4 at the moment – the apocalypse is not upon us – Gyles Brandreth kindly stepped in to give Nicholas Parsons a couple of days off. NP is totally fine and is still the guvnor as per the last 50 years.’
Writing on Twitter after the episode finished, Brandreth said: ‘An honour (if daunting) standing in for the irreplaceable Nicholas Parsons tonight. Happily he’s back in a fortnight!’
Appearing alongside Brandreth in the show, which was recorded before a studio audience, were Tony Hawks, Sara Pascoe, Josie Lawrence and Paul Merton. The panel game invites guests to speak on a specific subject for 60 seconds without ‘hesitation repetition or deviation’.
If a panellist breaks one of the three rules, the guest who spotted the error is allowed to interrupt and continue. Regular guests in the early years included Clement Freud, Kenneth Williams, comedy actor Derek Nimmo and actor Peter Jones.
After he left school, Mr Parsons’ relatives in Scotland arranged a job for him on Clydebank, near Glasgow, where he spent five years employed as an engineering apprentice at Drysdales, a maker of marine pumps. He later admitted that the job had been arranged in order to discourage him from pursuing a career in acting.
Mr Parsons said that at first, he was treated with suspicion by his fellow workers due to his polished English accent. However, he managed to quickly win them over with a quick wit and a talent for impressions.
Parsons made his acting debut in 1947.
Following a number of film roles, he became a TV regular on The Benny Hill Show and the longrunning game show Sale Of The Century.
‘The apocalypse is not upon us’