Just A Minute

-----Original Message-----
From: scratchy@...
Sent: Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:45:58 -0500
To: just-a-minute@...
Subject: Re: [just-a-minute] Missing JAMs

 

It seems some of these have been replaced since the message was originally posted.

I think the most notable issues remaining from this list are:

448 - The Firth of Forth - does ANYONE have a complete version of this episode?
470 - The Highlands - this is REALLY hard listening.  Is there a version 2?

The numbering seems off for #91 - it's part of season 6, not season 5, and I appear to have a complete version.

Another notable problem:

118 - Sneakers - last few minutes are badly garbled.  Does ABC have this episode?

On Wed, Apr 18, 2012 at 3:21 PM, Dave B <pondydave@...> wrote:

Hello all,

I just Googled Missing Just A Minute Episodes and came across this message from our group from 20th May 2009 and thought it relevant to what we are talking about. I wonder what progress we have made? Has anyone checked please? This is something I wanted go check on but I haven't got to grips with the fresh editions that have come out of Australia. Apologies to Matthew if he isn't happy about this reappearing. I just thought it a great bit of research.

Dave

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

(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.

---

From: James R Curry <scratchy@...>

To: just-a-minute@...
Sent: Wednesday, 18 April 2012 3:36 PM

Subject: Re: [just-a-minute] Missing JAMs

 

On Tue, Apr 17, 2012 at 6:51 PM, Clitheroe Kid <clitheroekid@...> wrote:

Contacting sound archives is a waste of time, I too tried that already and was simply ignored. my contacts at radio 4 extra have investigated in any case, so I already know that s.a. only hold 3 editions of jam from before 1980.

My Forebears: 1 December, 1969
The First of a New Series: 16 September, 1974
What to Do With The Hole in the Doughnut: 27 February, 1973
When We Meet Again: 27 April 1977
Jockeys: 30 January 1979
Parbuckles & The Most Extraordinary Person I Have Ever Met: 22 May 1979

These are the clips used in Parts 3 and 4 of Silver Minutes, a clip show made in 1992, long after the BBC's practice of junking tapes had come to an end.

From this, we know for certain that the BBC hold at least six editions from before 1980, and as we know they have the very first episode, we know they hold at least seven.

If the Sound Archives only hold three editions, was BBC Worldwide involved in the production of Silver Minutes, or another source?

Per Dean's Site, the CD releases include shows from:

1967
1968 (Three different shows in the "Classic Just a Minute" range)
1969
1971
1976 (Two different shows in the "Classic Just a Minute" range)
1977 (Three different shows in the "Classic Just a Minute range)
1978 (Two different shows in the "Classic Just a Minute" range)
1979 (Two different shows in the "Classic Just a Minute" range)

I don't have the patience to research which specific episodes are in each collection, but for each year, if we subtract episodes that we already know exist (assuming they're also on these CDs) then we can still deduce that there are at least 9 additional episodes here, bringing the total up to 12.

So for certain, the BBC have (and KNOW they have) 12 editions of Just a Minute from before 1980.  I'd be willing to be that the total is greater than this...

A final thought.  The missing episode from Series 9 bothers me.  It seems strange that ABC wouldn't have it.  What's our source for knowing that this was a Christmas Special?  With it being Christmas Week, is it possible that the BBC just threw a repeat into this timeslot?  Are we absolutely certain it's a missing episode?

--
James R Curry

scratchy@...

--
James R Curry

scratchy@...

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