Fern was briskly put in her place, much to her – and our – surprise. Just a Minute launched in December 1967 as a comedy panel show, in which guests must speak for 60 seconds on a given subject.

Sir Nicholas Parsons has described the "great essence" of the success of Radio 4's Just A Minute as "having fun". "I try to orchestrate things so we do have fun. I will throw out lines to people like ...