Keith's memories

I have been corresponding with my friend Keith Matthews for four years about JAM, and he has been a fan for 35 years. These are some of his memories.

I have been attending Just A Minute since 1972 and began listening two years previously. Just looking down the lists of the programmes that have been recorded over the past 30 years has brought back many happy memories.

A gang of us used to go regularly to the shows at the Playhouse and the Paris Studio and we would see whole series of the show. You'd be lucky to get a single ticket to one of these new ones.

Sometimes if one of us turned up without a ticket we could always sidle up quietly to Kenneth explaining that the ticket office at the Beeb had let me down. Kenneth would open up the swing door with gusto and intone "it's all right ,these are with me" and we would accompany our cloth capped hero into the warm interior of the studio. There'd be no dodginess in what he'd do, it was just a kind gesture. We would always sit with his Mum and we'd share our refreshments out.

Really funny moments they were. I can recall a time when Ken gave Sheila Hancock a right ticking off about her wild curly hair calling out "Her sitting there with that awful wig on. She must have had it all cut off." Sheila gave as good as she got. I for one miss her deeply from the show. She would have dealt with Paul Merton in an instant. I wrote to her and she said she didn't want to be in it so soon after Ken had died. She said that Paul Merton had asked her the same thing when they had appeared together on that satirical news show. She continued in the letter to me that she would certainly like to do a Just a Minute show now though. I must say the Beeb are bloody sexist when it comes to older women in panel games. Isobel Barnett, Anona Winn and Aimi Macdonald all kicked out because of being slightly older than the rest. One of my favourite Sheila put downs was when she retorted that she thought he'd just been to see the film "HITLER THE LAST TEN DAYS" for inspiration.

Nicholas Parsons' contribution to the show cannot be underestimated. It would be he who would indicate to the other panelists to let someone continue with their story, especially if they had not said much in previous rounds, or even let someone carry on for more than a minute and a half. The one time when I saw Parsons take up the buzzer and Messiter take up the stopwatch he was exceptional and beat Nimmo, Jones and Williams comfortably. A very shy and late Clement Freud rolled in late in the midst of the first programme and was astounded at how good Nicholas was. Normal service was resumed in the second show and they all slagged Parsons off rotten.

I could go on and on about the show, I love it so much. Liz Fraser smoking her thick panatella cigars , Peter Jones, the only one to be bleeped in the history of the show and Kenneth Williams, amazingly grotesque monkey walk across the far side of the stage to his regular seat near Mr Freud.

A gang of us used to attend JAM recordings in the 70ss and 80ss. We got to know each other by standing in the queue waiting to go in for a recording. We would get there at least an hour and a half before they opened the doors of the studio. This ensured that we would be able to sit on the front row, in front of Kenneth 6pm arrival time and 7.15pm they would let us in. Come rain or come shine, the commissionnaires would keep us out there sipping our hot drinks from the nearby Itailian Coffee House.

We were all fans of Ken but our attitude to him was all different. One woman harboured a huge love for Kenny. She would have dropped anything to be with him. Another thought he was fun and a huge tonic. A man in our group wanted to be him. His nostrils flaired so much when he talked that you would have sworn that Kenneth had sired him. I on the other hand was being educated by all that I saw and listened to. Kenneth was my teacher in my chosen field of acting. He was by far the liveliest and funniest entertainer I have ever seen. He never gave less than 200 percent.

We all knew Kenneth's beloved mother, Louisa, as Mrs Williams and she revelled in the politeness. It never stopped us sharing out our sweets with her. He feared death greatly and he once said jokingly in a languid voice, "I love the music about the dead. Just to go to the gates of heaven with that formless din". It almost mirrored the sentiments of the Frankenstein Monster in the BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN when he says in a close up full frame head shot "Like dead, hate living..."

Once the format was established the seating of those in Just A Minute was fixed. On the left of the stage would be Kenneth and on his left would sit Clement. Derek sat on the far right of stage with Peter on his right. Parsons and Messiter would be in the thick of it all in the middle. Each pair would have the microphones in front of them, plus the customary BBC jug of water and glasses. Notepad and pens would complete the players equipment. Occasionally during the recording one player would write a note to his seating partner.

At the allotted time a producer would come out and after a bit of banter would introduce Ian Messiter. What a lovely kind man he was. He would introduce Nick. Once he said "and here is our wonderful chairman, hotfoot from his dayjob of selling matches from a tray round his neck in the Balls Pond Road, Nicholas Parsons". Nicholas would introduce the guest first, then the regulars. If Parsons was going on a bit Kenneth would shout out from the sidelines "Oh get on with it... stop hanging it out". Sometimes he would even be talking over Nick's introductions of the other players and then he would deliberately move the side curtains in impatience. When he eventually entered he would do his monkey walk or his bursting for a pee or constipated entrance. From the moment he came on he was fully aware with all guns firing.

There are those people who would say that Kenneth was the only person the audience came to see. They would be wrong. Kenneth knew this too. He knew the comedic value of Messrs Jones, Parsons, Freud and Nimmo. He knew that they were the rich and varied base that he could coat hanger his comedy upon. None of the regular participants of JAM ever reached higher radio comedy heights than they achieved in Just A Minute.

None of the shows were broadcast in their chronological date. If a producer thought that a second show was not as riotous as the first show at a recording, then they would broadcast it between two stronger shows. You used to be able to point out what was the second show because a panelist would refer to a previous remark from the first recording and Nicholas would have to explain the laughter at the running gag. He would usually say "You see I must explain, this audience wasn't here the last time we met but ............" and we the audience would laugh even more because Nicholas would then explain the reference and we knew jolly well that we had heard it before. In the preamble talk before the show they used to pretend that we would be a fresh audience for the second recording. Nicholas would usually say this. It was one of the Beeb's little quirky ways of working since days gone by. Usually light entertainment shows would only do one show. But as JUST A MINUTE was basically a simple show to produce because of it's ad libbish way they would literally churn out sometimes two double show recordings a week. This would fit in with the availability of the regulars. Derek would usually be in a play in the West End or touring world wide, Clement would have his parliamentary duties, Sheila was acting regularly. It was only Kenneth who would make room in his diary for Just A Minute. They would fix up the recording date suitable to the regulars and record them. Then rearrange them for continuity. As for Nicholas, he was very happy to do them whenever they asked. As long as they fitted in with his TV quiz show.

An edition of Just A Minute in the area of 73-75 ish, the panel was Derek Nimmo, Clement Freud, Andree Melly and Peter Jones. The subject was PETE. This could be taken two ways, the first and most obvious way as somebody's name, but Peter Jones took it the other way, as PEAT. He spoke about being a young lad in Shropshire and in the early days when men used to gather peat from the bogs at a place called Wixol Moss. Nimmo charged in with a hesitation challenge and then took over the subject. He took it the other way. If I remember the interchange correctly:

DN: I have sat here quite often looking at Pete or Peter Jones as he is known more popularly and I have found it the most rewarding sight. The cherubic face, the greying hair,the sprinkles of dandruff floating down..

BUZZ

NP: Peter, you've challenged.

PJ: Deviation, I mean tricological deviation.

NP: What do you mean ?

PJ: Well I have no dandruff at all. As you can see. I use the new medicated shampoo. If I go to a party I have to borrow dandruff from a friend. Since I've been using it girls just wont leave me alone !!!

It is one of those glorious Peter moments that only a truly gifted comedy actor like him could bring off. Not only did he hit back at Nimmo's suggestion that he was getting old in the tooth, but he topped his joke as well without being cutting or bitchy.

This is the Peter I remember well. Kenneth was going on about fan mail and that he takes time to answer every one. Which must have been about 20 a day. Jones put in with "I had a letter once from a fan. Only once. But it was a very nice letter." Sometimes he would jokingly come on stage when he was announced at a recording and wave and say a la Elvis Presley "Hello fan". I can remember him challenging once and he said "I dont have a challenge, I just wanted to say hello to my fan in Sweden."

I do think Peter was a gently private man as opposed to the fiercely guarded private life of Kenneth and Clement. When I wrote to Clement he sent me a book. I corresponded with Kenneth yearly and always a hand written blue inked envelope would arrive shortly after. Peter just sent a publicity still from his new series KINDLY LEAVE THE KERB. It was on ITV and he starred with that other underated comedy actor also called Peter, Peter Butterworth. They played friendly rivalled pavement performers. Escapologists past their prime. It was very funny.

The other older man who I think made a mark upon Just A Minute before he died was the one time side kick of Arthur Askey's, Richard Murdoch. I saw his first outing of Just A Minute. No stranger to panel games and the only person who could hesitate more than Peter Jones and get away with it. He joined the panel when he was incredibly old. Still mobile and playing golf. But what a gentleman broadcaster of the old school. He had been a regular team-mate on Ian Messiter's other long running panel game MANY A SLIP. You may have heard this. On Just A Minute he managed to endear himself to audiences by showing his warmth and charm and they responded. A gallant loser and one not given to gamesmanship of the Freud or Nimmo variety. I remember the warmth of the audience when they discovered that he had won a show. He was as surprised as they were. It was the equivalent of a man with callipers winning a marathon.

Richard Murdoch's initial recording was sadly Kenneth's very last show of JUST A MINUTE. Kenneth said little in the show. He had taken several small white pills throughout the recording. Presumably for his ulcer. His last subject was "Gold" and that melifluous voice just faded away into nothingness. Casually relinquishing the subject to a Nimmo challenge, whereas in former times Kenneth's nostrils would have flared with outrage and expostulated loudly at the rough treatment, correct challenge or not. Something was wrong with Kenneth and my friend had spotted it and nudged me in mid-recording but I had seen Kenny do a sulk before. He would be bound to burst out of it soon. But he didn't. Richard really shone and so was invited back.

Clement is one of these people who has complete control over his life. He guards it carefully and is very scrupulous about what he answers questions about. I wrote some questions down for him to answer in the second half of his one man show. Rather than doing what most one men show performers do and select them backstage, he brought them on and read them under his breath and discarded them with a quick and sharp NO ! He did not want to talk about his accident in Montana. (A thing that he had commented upon many times in print.) Nor did he want to talk too much about Kenneth Williams. He did call him a "frustrating genius". He also said he had a huge affection for him.

When I look back at the numerous times I have watched that pairing of Freud and Williams, the one impression that gets me most is one of a pair of know-all trouble making swots in an all boys school. They complemented each other so well. They berated each other, they pinched each others subjects, they took each others sides, they attacked others that might attack them. I know of no other pairing in a panel game that was so formidable in the entertain-
ment stakes or in the aggression stakes either.

The gamesmanship in Just A Minute is so essential that manners and etiquette go out of the window. Abandon all niceties all ye who sit on this panel. Literally anything goes. If the humour led to some woman being insulted by Kenneth or Clement then that's the way the cookie crumbled. I think Freud abstained from all that niceness to women bit because Parsons did it so much in the early days. Sometimes it was sickening. I would shout at the radio I would get so angry sometimes. He could not get away with it now because of the political correct mob and the equal opportunites.

Derek and Peter would usually redress the balance on the show if Parsons did not. Normal disorder would then be restored.

Clement used to be a director and trustee of the Playboy Club in London, so he certainly loves female company. A doctor friend of mine was absolutely charmed by him when she met him in the company of a lady friend of hers. She wanted the tea party to go on for ever.

Clemnet is a unique, intelligent, warm and funny man.

He was born the son of Ernst and Lucie Freud on24/4/24. (Taurus.) His father was an architect. His grandfather was Sigmund Freud. On 4/9/50 he married Jill, the 2nd daughter of H.W.Flewett M.A. She was a good friend to C.S.Lewis. They have 3 sons and 2 daughters. It is their daughter Emma, a well-known presenter, who appeared as a guest on Just A Minute in a show recorded after the passing of Kenneth Williams. She was 'forced' to be quite spikey by the patronage of Mr Parsons and Derek Nimmo who reminded her that at one time he used to have her on his knee. She would have none of the usual quarter given by the chairman to first-time guests and played under her own steam. Her wit is as sharp as her father. She never was invited back though. Not surprising was Clement's abstinence from buzzing his daughter whenever she spoke. He left it to the two other panelists.

Clement went to the same school as Nicholas Parsons although he was a prefect in an older year. Derek always said that Nicholas had been afraid of him ever since! Clement found out that Nicholas as chairman gets more money than the panelist and he and Nimmo had great fun teasing him about it. It could not have had much effect on their friendship because Nicholas always spoke for Clement each time he stood for the Liberal candicacy of the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire and Clement held it from 1973 to 1987. He started the first show of the 1988 series by congratulating Clement on his knighthood which he received in the autumn of 1987.

During the 2nd World War he was in the Royal Ulster Rifles. He was also a liaison officer in Nuremburg. Trained as a chef at the Martinez Hotel in Cannes. Once he owned a night club in Sloane Square .He had to introduce the performer having never appeared publicly before . It was here that he honed and developed his unique untheatrical, intimate way of performing.

This night club and dining club experience must have had some help when he got the small part as a croupier in an illegal high class gaming establishment in the 1960 Terry-Thomas black and white comedy film MAKE MINE MINK. This film also starred Hattie Jacques, Athene Seyler, Billie Whitelaw and way down the cast list in a small role, Kenneth Williams. Sadly Kenneth and Clement did not have scenes together. Those were yet to come!

Besides having the distinction of appearing in and winning the most games of JUST A MINUTE since 1967, Clement has had the honour of becoming Rector of Dundee University (1974-1980). This was bestowed upon Nicholas Parsons too at one time. Clement has presided over the old English Ceremony of the Dunmow Flitch which takes place in a small village in Essex. He and his wife have been benefactors of their local Fringe theatre, the Soho Theatre Company. It specialises in encouraging new playwrights to hone their talents. It is also a company that I had worked for, for 3 years.

He has written for virtually every 'quality' English newspaper and magazine. He has written two children's books that were very popular when he turned up to read them on Jackanory, a children's weekday storytelling TV programme. GRIMBLE and GRIMBLE AT CHRISTMAS rate in Harry Potter author JK Rowling's top three children's books. Clement generously sent me a signed copy of one of them. It indeed proved to be, in his own words, "much more useful than a signed photograph". He enjoys sports. He also likes a bit of a flutter , but when he does so he studies the form carefully. He currently owns four racehorses and
he jokingly said not to bet on any of them. A few years back he was in Montana and a horse kicked him, this resulted in a fracture that took ages to heal. For a while he used a stick to help him get out and about.


He dislikes smoking. He also dislikes but makes fun of the inadequacies of modern travel. At one time keenly supported Portsmouth Football Team.

He has had his own cookery show on TV FREUD ON FOOD. Oh how English TV needs him now. We have a glut of second string TV chefs and very, very few of them have the quality of knowledge, the wit, the experience and the necessary calm about the kitchen that Clement has. Thank God for fire extinguishers.

He has also guested on many chat shows and quiz shows on both sides of the Atlantic. He has been to New Zealand and when he was asked what he thought about it, he is meant to have said "I find it hard to say because when I was there it seemed to be shut!"

About his involvement in JUST A MINUTE I can offer a few pointers. He obviously enjoys being in the show, even though it takes up very little of each year and he is a very busy man. It can only take up from 10 to 14 days maximum. Usually they are recorded in places all over Britain and he would have to stay in a hotel or else he loves to travel at night. He is not always on the panel, hence the guestimate of days. I have seen him play JUST A MINUTE many times and compared to the other usually gushy comedy types, he can look very formidable when speaking. Dare anyone challenge this highly intelligent man? They had better have a good reason for doing so. First time players must be so afraid.

His individual, quiet , low voice can lull panelists into a cosy safeness which makes them not pay attention to any rules he might break. Audiences go deathly silent when he speaks. The saying about a pin dropping could easily be applied. Well, maybe a large knitting needle.

At the recordings ,the microphones on each panelist's desk are at mouth height and when he speaks Clement's head is moved slightly more near to it than the other panelists. His head hardly moves from its initial position other than a tiny nod for gentle emphasis. You can barely see his lips move because of him sitting at a slight angle to the audience ,the full beard that he has always had, and the spell that his voice casts upon all listeners .

When he listens and is enjoying the game, his favoured seating position is to sit right back in his chair, with his legs stretched out underneath the desk with hands resting on his stomach. The buzzer in hand. Usually he has a great big smile, eyes that really twinkle and a very hearty quick chuckly laugh .

He has the kind of face that ,in repose, many would call lugubrious, rather in the same way that Alistair Sim's face was. He too, used his face to entertain with equally great effect. His face has often been satirized. Even the picture of Clement that advertises his one man show CLEMENT FREUD ENTERTAINS is a familiar cartoon that heads his column in Saga magazine. His face has been sketched and his head been sculpted by Le Roy Neiman and Jane Hamilton respectively,yet neither have captured the very human warmth of the man.

Out of all of the regulars of JUST A MINUTE, he is the least likely to court publicity or even be photographed. I noticed that when he, Nicholas, Peter Jones and Kit Hesketh Harvey recorded two shows as part of the Leicester Comedy Festival in Loughborough, it was he who rushed out a bit too fast when an impromptu photo shoot occurred on stage after the recording.

I also worked for ten years at the Gate Theatre( another well-known Fringe venue in London) and it was there that Clement and his wife came to see their daughter in the band of the musical version of ELMER GANTRY.

Emma was very easy going and talked about her Dad. She also told me what fun she had had working with Vincent Price and Coral Brown in Jean Anouilh's difficult play ARDELE at the Queen's theatre in the West End. When Clement turned up with his wife Jill, he remembered me as a regular face in the Just A Minute audience. We spoke for a while and he said that he was quite happy to play the competitive panelist in the show. It was a role that Ian Messiter, the show's creator, had suggested for him. And he stuck to it. He remembered the time when, after 18 years of suffering the wicked wit of all the regulars that Stephanie presented Nicholas with a little trophy. He jokingly added, "for bravery". He said that only occassionly did Kenneth put him off his subject by his hi-jinks. Blowing in his ears, nuzzling against his back and making faces at the audience and winding up his arm as if to say "speed it up a bit" and "doesn't he go on!"

When the play ended ,the 80+ people began to converge on the single door exit to the equally miniscule foyer. I could see Clement being caught up in the melee and there was a panic in his eyes. He hurried to me and struck up a conversation as if we had been speaking and by keeping my cool as they jostled around him, I know I helped him overcome his momentary fright. I had never seen him so vulnerable. We spoke of the new, much shorter , series of JUST A MINUTE. What were the BBC up to? From 26 shows per series, to 16, 14, what next? Could this be their way of winding the show down? I hoped not. Clement did not know either. You never knew with any type of entertainment when that comfortable feeling of safeness was going to end.

I am so glad that they have made Graham Norton a regular. He had done a few of the TV ones and had his nose put out of joint by the picky point-gaining ways of Tony Slattery and I thought well that's the end of him, but after a few twin appearances each series, bang he is back with a vengeance. I love Graham Norton so much. A lot of it is because he has brought back that heightened camp that Kenneth could bring to the show at times. Graham has become the King of Outrage. A mantle recently worn by Julian Clary and Lily Savage. He can do no ill in my eyes. I am watching the listings like a hawk to see any London recordings for the new shows recorded in the latter part of this year. It is likely that Graham will be in at least one of them.

The show does so desperately need a regular to take the michael out of the show. Before Just A Minute came along the Beebs panel games were very sedate affairs. All very formal and knowledge based. But now anything goes. Now I think all the Beeb have to do is secure Stephen Fry as a regular and the show will march on into the next decade.

I went to the first proper outside broadcast of the radio show when it went to Clement's old Parliamentary constituency and recall the sparks that flew between Slattery and Merton. Most of it got cut up in the editing room. Wendy Richard was put out by the liberties of indulgent comic invention that the two lads had drawn the show into and hardly smiled for the rest of the recording.

Paul Merton is a clever verbal comedian. He came from pretty humble beginnings and with people who have never been to an advanced level of education they have to be self taught. He has given new blood to Just A Minute and I am very grateful to the producers of the show for the injection.

I think that I must write to Janet Staplehurst and put some suggestions. It is long overdue. Suggest a few panellists to her. Please Miss Staplehurst make Stephen Fry a regular. Bring back Sheila Hancock and Aimi Macdonald. Plus Tony Slattery for my friend in New Zealand too. Words to this effect. I might even suggest a few rounds. Ian Messiter had used some of my suggestions before.

Derek I had a initial dislike to. Only because I was so partisan towards Kenneth, at the start. I felt so sincerely sorry that Kenneth and Peter hardly ever won. It would really annoy me when I was younger. Derek seemed so show offish and full of himself. I was only 11 or 12.

I can only say that when he sat next to Magnus Pyke the first time it was a miracle that they did not hit each other. Both being so effusive and over generous with their arm gestures. I think Nicholas mentioned this at the recording that they would have to watch how they went with their hands. Windmills would be static compared to them.

I know nothing of the origin of Derek's stutter, however he would fix his hands firmly in the small of his back, usually bunching up his evening jacket when he was getting to grips with it in a round. An occassional slurred or strangulated vowel sound would indicate the onset, but only very briefly and always comic and never cruelly.

His introduction would be warmly received and he would take a quiet seat with a slight nod of appreciation. Completely different from Kenneth who would sometimes engage Nicholas en route to his seat with some outrageous banter. The hands would be extended the nostrils and the nosetip punctuating the air with his superiority.

Nimmo was the only male player who actually could put Kenny in his place and sometimes top his jokes with the same heightened comedy. He could be equally loud without being too distasteful to the ears. Several times he called Kenneth "an old poofter" or a "stupid nana " as in the Bernard
Cribbins and Sheila Hancock one I went to. His flair at the game was his sheer believability that whatever he challenged against he was right. A lot of the times he would make up a challenge and many a time he would get away with it. The crafty man. All in fun though. What fun he brought to the show. He was from humble beginnings and certainly loved the trappings of fame. He had a chauffeur and suave was the only word for him. Sometimes the audience would "OOOhhh" at the vibrancy of his outfits, as he entered. Not in a garish Brandreth way. He had style. He really smiled and performed when he was given his subjects. A natural true performer's warmth. Not of the sudden rage of the moment new comedians. He was a true theatrical Ambassador of England. Many pictures in the press showed him wearing top hats. The voice was very actorish at times and I get the feeling he was a member of several clubs. My brother had to do some work on his flat about 15 or so years before he died and he told me that Derek followed him about the house all the time. A bit of a fusspot.Virgoan you see. The ones who put newspapers under cuckoo clocks ...... Derek's own words.

He had his own theatre company and at one time Peter Jones was employed by his company. I think it was part of an offshoot from Ray Cooney's Theatre of Comedy company .He had an affection for Peter and a slightly different relationship with Clement. After the last two of the shows had been in the can as they say the regulars and guests, if invited would repair to the upstairs room of The Sherlock Holmes Pub in Northumberland Avenue. This practise was continued into the 70s and 80s when the show moved to the Paris Studio and the pub was a different one. A practise unheard of today.

I think he had two by-pass operations and certainly after the first he moved slower than usual. His hair was perpetually black with grey only being allowed to show at suitable intervals. He loved to entertain at home and like all the regulars excelled in being a raconteur. He could appreciate jokes - practical or otherwise.

I will finish this with something I think is a true story. Every cab that I go in, I always ask who is the most famous person you have had in your black cab. A completely honest cockney cabbie said that he had had Derek Nimmo and Nerys Hughes in the back of his cab. I knew that they were in a play together at the time and he got the theatre right too. He then proceeded to tell me that the two of them began to act out this love scene in the back of his cab. "All over each other they were," was his description. They must have known what a reaction he would get because Derek had such a gentlmanly image on the screen. I wish I had seen it.

Derek had many visits to your neck of the globe and indeed every where else for that matter. Kenneth once said that "There's him dropping his place names and half of us are lucky to get into Jepatty's in Clapham".

Nimmo could be relied to stoke up the audience if Kenneth was absent from the line up or doing his quiet bit. So with all four of the regulars present you were always looking from one pair of players then over to the other two constantly. Quicker than at any Wimbledon Final. Many times his minute long efforts would be cheered wildly. He would be genuinely surprised because of his stutter would come in when he least expected it to. Yet he continued with such gusto and verve they loved it.

I never really appreciated him as much as I should have. He was a singularly classic comedy stage actor. But I knew his true worth to the game. All of the regulars did. He also had a quirky trick of twiddling his toes in a unique way. A bit of trivia there. I remember Nicholas proudly announcing to the assembled audience at the Radio Theatre that he spoke on behalf of all of them when sending Derek Nimmo our wishes for a speedy recovery. He said that he was on the mend and would be back soon. Strangely enough he had said the same thing on the last of 1988 of the series to be recorded when Kenneth was under the weather and was replaced by Lance Percival in the Christopher Timothy episodes. Like Kenneth, Derek never returned to the game.

Unique comedy giants giving hours of humour and pleasure. Let them not be forgotten.

I am sure Just A Minute holds the record for the world's longest running panel game. 34 years. Outlasting the 30 or so years of My Word and the 27 or 28 years of Twenty Questions. Long may it continue.