Just a Minute competitors in the show's history: Freud and Nimmo appeared from the first programme in 1967, while Williams joined in the show's second series in 1968. Jones made his début in 1971. After Williams' death in 1988, Merton (a long-time fan of the show) contacted the producer at Nicholas Parsons' suggestion and was invited to participate during the following year. Nimmo died in 1999, Jones in 2000 and Freud in 2009, leaving Merton as the only regular, albeit he is not in every edition. Each of the regulars brought their individual style to playing the game. Clement Freud liked to make
Just a Minute his flamboyant tantrums, arch put-downs, and mock sycophancy made him the audience's favourite. Williams often stretched out his speeches by extending every syllable to breaking point (some words lasting for up to three seconds), and his outbursts of mock-anger regularly included his catchphrase "I've come all the way from Great Portland Street", as though he had journeyed for miles, when in fact his home was just around the corner from the BBC studios where most recordings took place. Merton frequently launches into surreal flights of fancy and fantasy, such as claiming to have had unusual occupations or to have experienced