Join national treasure and Just a Minute regular Gyles Brandreth on a hilariously addictive romp through British history. This isn't just another history book - there's a catch! From Stonehenge and Boudicca to Megxit and Brexit, each topic is written in 60-second instalments, without hesitation, repetition, or deviation.
A History of Britain in Just a Minute celebrates key moments, people and places from our past: kings and queens, heroes and villains, triumphs and disasters, inventions and events, battles and bonnets, art, science, literature, entertainment, sport, gossip, and more. Some entries are uninterrupted minutes, while others feature challenges for repetition and even, er...hesitation. You'll even find other Just a Minute panellists occasionally grabbing the pen to regale us with their witty takes on history.
The book also includes illustrations by award-winning artist Steven Appleby. A selection of cartoons are reprinted below alongside extracts from the book about three television classics.
Buy A History Of Britain In Just A Minute By Gyles Brandreth here.
DOCTOR WHO
Doctor Who is a science-fiction television programme that has been aired by the British Broadcasting Corporation for almost six decades. The central character is a Time Lord, centuries old, who has a number of useful life skills. The Doctor can move forwards and backwards in chronology. The Doctor’s physical age is equally flexible. And, most accomplished of all, the Doctor appears to be able to live for eternity in perfect harmony with a selection of companions while cooped up inside an old-fashioned police box.
Doctor Who was first transmitted on Saturday 23 November 1963, the day after the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. As one might expect, referring to the main member of the cast as Doctor Who is no accident. To date the Doctor has gone through 13 human manifestations, the most recent of which bears a striking resemblance to the actor Jodie Whittaker. My favourite was the be-scarfed Tom Baker and I had a soft spot, too, for Jon Pertwee. Although it’s rated as the longest-running and most successful TV show of its kind, Doctor Who has not been without critics. Some complain that the Doctor is a dreadful procrastinator, because s/ he leaves everything for earlier.
CORONATION STREET
Coronation Street is the name given to 87 thoroughfares in the UK along with 171 Coronation Roads, 93 Coronation Avenues, 2 Coronation Mews and 8 Coronation Squares. The one that is sometimes mistaken as a Coronation Street for its television coverage at royal ceremonials is the Mall in London, which runs up to the front door of Buckingham Palace. Probably the best-known Coronation Street is not a real street at all.
This is the Coronation Street which forms the central location in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street, that has been seminal viewing for ‘Corrie’ fans since it was first broadcast way back in 1960. This cobbled street, in the equally fictitious northern town of Weatherfield, features a number of exteriors that regularly appear in the show. These include a row of terraced dwellings, a few townhouses, The Kabin (a newsagent’s), D&S Alahan’s (a grocery shop), a factory and the Rovers Return. The latter is not a reception centre for stray pets, but a public house where members of the cast frequently congregate to chew the fat and advance the storyline for the benefit of the six million viewers that tune in to each episode.
BLUE PETER
‘Blue Peter’ is the name given to the maritime signal flag featuring a blue background with a white rectangle at its centre. It is flown to indicate that a ship is ready to sail, although in the canon of nautical communication Blue Peter also represents the number 2 and, as might be expected, the letter P. It was this pennant that inspired the long-running TV show Blue Peter, which has been transmitted by the British Broadcasting Corporation since October 1958.
The story goes that the Blue Peter was displayed on a ferry plying the River Mersey, which was used as the setting for Children’s Television Club, an entertainment pitched at youngsters aged between five and those three years senior.* This opened with the presenter, Judith Chalmers, standing at the bottom of the gangplank welcoming viewers aboard. The old name was swiftly dumped in favour of Blue Peter, which promised ‘a voyage of adventure’ in every programme. That applied to the presenters too. Although constructing things out of recycled domestic produce, attending to an assortment of pets and participating in hair-raising escapades did launch many successful TV careers.
