We in Blighty are, in many ways, as fickle as our weather. We like nothing better than talking a chap up, only to bloody his nose (see below) at the first window of op.

On BBC Radio Four however longevity reigns. The pace of change is reassuringly slow. I was considering this yesterday lunchtime while listening to Just a Minute on Radio 4. Like many successful radio 4 comedy shows it is a mixture of intelligent repartee and schoolboy silliness. Not quite as near-the-knuckle as I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, but an enjoyable way to spend half an hour nevertheless.

Apparently Ian Messiter first had the idea while at school, after being challenged by a teacher to repeat what he had been saying ‘for the last minute, without hesitation or repetition’. And so the basic concept of the show, for panelists to try to speak for a minute without hesitation, deviation or repetition, was born. That schoolboy idea conceived in the 1930s still amuse audiences today, featuring a very ‘un-1930s’ generation of comedians. It is a testament to our need for a bit of silliness now and then. That never changes. We at Blighty are glad about that.