Just A Minute

 
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Re: Two more editions of Just A Minute: #403 Sneezes & #417 The Boot

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dombell79May 20, 2009
 

 
(Medium-term group member, first time poster.)

First and foremost, I would like to join everyone in saying a colossal "THANK YOU!" to everyone who has made the episode collection what it is, particularly the inimitable Dean Bedford and Martin Hood. I have to wonder what it says about the BBC that the two people most responsible for making the rich history of "Just a Minute" accessible to the curious are from New Zealand and Australia! Nevertheless, Dean, Martin (Dean Martin?), and everyone else who has at some point ripped and otherwise encoded part of the surviving JAM catalogue, I salute you.

The thought has occurred that alongside assembling the current list of unavailable episodes (that this list is now down to the thirteen "officially missing" radio episodes - including the one Martin Hood recently managed to unearth, a transcript of which I see has appeared on Dean Bedford's website - is truly staggering), it might also be worth noting which episodes are available for download but are substantially incomplete or have particularly bad problems with the sound. By "substantially incomplete" I mean episodes where actual gameplay is missing - there are a fair few episodes where all or part of Nicholas' introduction is cut off, or all or part of the "Minute" Waltz at either the beginning or the end, or even sometimes all or part of Nicholas' salutatory "Welcome to 'Just a Minute'!", but all the important material is there. This way we will have a short list of the episodes for which upgrades would be most helpful.

I recently skimmed my entire collection to check that the files were labelled correctly, and I think the episodes where the most widely available downloads are incomplete are as follows (series and episodes numbered according to the standard on Dean Bedford's page):

Series 4 - [52] (missing most of intro)
Series 5 - [91] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing last round), [93] (missing start and end credits)
Series 16 - [307] (missing start and end credits), [313] (missing most of intro), [315] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing first few seconds of first round)
Series 18 - [340] (missing intro, starts with first round), [342] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing first few seconds of first round), [351] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing first three and a half rounds), [353] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing first round and part of second)
Series 20 - [369] (missing most of intro), [371] (missing most of intro)
Series 22 - [392] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing first few seconds of first round), [397] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing first few seconds of first round)
Series 24 - [414] (missing part of intro)
Series 28 - [448] (GAMEPLAY INCOMPLETE - missing part of last round)

As only eight of those are missing actual gameplay, that really means there are only eight incomplete episodes - the other eight listed above are missing less important things such as Nicholas introducing the panellists and/or explaining the rules.

The following episodes have particularly severe sound quality problems - in some cases it is difficult to make out what the panellists are saying through static or, in some cases, intereference from other radio stations:

Series 2 - [19], [22]
Series 3 - [25], [28]
Series 6 - [106], [108]
Series 19 - [360], [365]
Series 24 - [412]
Series 30 - [470]
Series 31 - [477]

There are a few other episodes with audio issues, but they can still be heard and understood and enjoyed for the most part. It seems fair to assume that ABC will broadcast some of the more recent ones at some point, but the older ones may require someone with a bit of sound software know-how to clean up a bit (sadly, I do not fit that bill or I'd try it myself).

Again, though, this still means that all but thirteen "Just a Minute" episodes from the over seven hundred that have aired since 1967 are available in some form for fans to listen to, and that is truly remarkable. Again, Dean, Martin, and everyone else who has contributed in some way to making this collection what it is, I salute you - my only sorrow is that I don't really have a way to contribute to this collection myself as "Just a Minute" seems to be pretty much unknown outside the British expat community here in the States!


-Matthew.

 
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