Just A Minute

Just got back from the first recording for Series 1 of Junior Just A Minute.

I had assumed this was just going to be a couple of shows but it turned out that they were recording all six episodes today!

My ticket was for the morning session so I only got to see the first three shows. The recording took place at the RADA Studios in Gower Street, London. Their largest theatre seats 184 so it's a lot smaller than the usual venue at Broadcasting House.

The rules of the game have been changed slightly to accommodate the junior members. Instead of four players, there are now two teams, made up of one regular JAMmer and one young person. The three shows that I watched had Jenny Eclair sitting on the far left and Josie Lawrence on the far right. Next to them were their junior partners and on the table in the middle was Nicholas and his assistant.

The opening rounds are only 40 seconds, increasing to 50 seconds and then finally to 60 seconds for the last part of the show.

The recording of the first show finally got underway at about 11.15am. The players were Jenny & Zrey vs. Josie & Katie. I won't tell you who won but all the games were pretty close and, of course, Nicholas awarded plenty of bonus points and gave the "benefit of the doubt" on several occasions. After this show, the junior members were escorted to their parents in the audience where they got to watch the remaining shows. I noticed a lot of empty seats dotted around which I thought unusual for such a classic programme.

Show two featured Jenny & Rosa vs. Josie & William and recording started about midday. I can't remember the ages of all the contestants although the youngest was 11, with most of them being 12 or 13. After this show a lot of the audience left, presumably because they hadn't anticipated such a long recording session.

There was a longer break so Nicholas could go to the loo. It was approaching 1pm by the time the third show started. This time it was Jenny & Jonah vs. Josie & Francesca. Nicholas called up to the producer and asked if he could record the closing announcements for the first two shows again as he had forgotten to mention Ian Messiter. He was told not to worry as they would edit it in from other recordings. He also made a joke about half the audience leaving after the first two shows but requested they edit that bit out!

A thoroughly enjoyable morning, although it's very warm inside the RADA. They have to keep the air-conditioning off as it's too noisy when they're recording. Nicholas removed his jacket after the first two shows as he was obviously feeling the heat too. It was great to see him in such fine form, listening attentively to every word spoken by the panel and continuously prompting the opposing team to challenge whenever he spotted one of the rules being broken. This was quite amusing as they would then buzz in without actually knowing why they were challenging.

Regular listeners to JAM should definitely enjoy this new series. I'm looking forward to hearing the final edits...

Simon