JUST A MINUTE goes from strength to strength. After 42 years it not only maintains its high standard and huge popularity, I believe it is funnier. The regular players have sharpened their skills and techniques of playing the game, and with the rapport and interplay between us all, we are sometimes surprised how the show can generate even more audience reaction and laughter than previous recordings.

It is my favourite job. It is professionally most demanding, but tremendous fun. I have to be alert and concentrate harder than in any other engagement I indertake. It's my responsibility to make instant decisions, generate fun, control the show and listen to every word spoken and remember, so I can judge if a challenge is correct - especially if it is for repetition. There is no technical backup. I was in the original pilot show in 1967, and am amazed to discover I have taken part in over 700 recordings.

In 2008 the BBC brought out a second CD and cassette, JUST A CLASSIC MINUTE, which includes a recording from the 60s, 70s, 80s and the 90s. I wrote and recorded an introduction to each show, and it is amazing to discover how the programme has progressed and evolved over the years, which I highlight in my introductions. In 2009 the BBC produced another CD and cassette of four classic recordings, which were introduced by Paul Merton and myself talking about each recording and the programme in general. If you enjoyed the previous four, you will love this one and the next.

I agreed to return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with THE NICHOLAS PARSONS HAPPY HOUR - my comedy chat show - this summer, in which I do some stand-up and have celebrity guests. I thought after eight successive years I might be overstaying my welcome, but the business last August was better than ever, so I have agreed to go back to The Pleasance in 2010. It will be at the same time, 5.10pm in the Cabaret Bar in the Pleasance Courtyard. I love the whole atmosphere of the Festival Fringe and am looking forward to returning.

I am still working on cruise ships, I enjoy the work and the different places the ship visits. In February 2007 I returned to work for Fred Olsen for two weeks on the Black Watch, cruising in the Middle East and up the Suez Canal, in July with P&O in the Eastern Mediterranean, and in October with Saga all along the North African coast on Saga Rose. I perform my One Man Comedy Show which is really stand-up, and my cultural show devoted to the life and work of the great nonsense poet Edward Lear, and a Cabaret Evening.

I have been involved in a number of individual one-off shows for BBC Radio 4. Following the success of CLYDESIDE COMICS, which I wrote and presented, there was MASTERS OF THE QUIZ - a programme about every aspect of quizzing. I then devised a programme about memory, called THANKS FOR THE MEMORY, that I made with All Out Productions, in which we explore every aspect of memory, and illustrated what an important part it plays in our lives, whatever our profession. This programme was transmitted in the Spring of 2006. Later in the year I visited India to record a programme I had devised about quizzing in that country, and the popularity of JUST A MINUTE over there. It was called QUIZ EXCHANGE and was transmitted in March 2007.

In October and November 2007 I completed an amazing tour around this country with my One Man Show devoted to Edward Lear, visiting a different venue nearly every night; a lot were literary festivals. It was a demanding experience which I won't repeat in a hurry. In 2008 and 2009 I was more selective and performed the show at a number of individual dates spread out through the year in between other work, and of course when working on cruise ships.

In 2008 I had engagements with my One Man Comedy Show in Norwich in the Spring, and a tour in Teesdale from September 11th to 17th - five different venues in the Barnard Castle area, and of course the summer series of Just A Minute, the recordings of which take me all over the country.

On 22 September 2008 I began a 2 week cruise on the Saga Rose in the Mediterranean, flying back from Malaga. I wrote and appeared in a new radio show for the BBC Archive Hour - a fascinating subject which I titled How Radio Comedy Changed a Nation. It was transmitted in October and repeated on Christmas Eve.

2009 has been a hectic year - guesting in television and radio shows, three weeks on Saga Rose in April doing five shows. I recorded another series of Just A Minute. There were after dinner engagements, single nights with my comedy show at various theatres around the country, as well as fitting in many charity engagements. In August I returned to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe to present my other one man show for three weeks - The Nicholas Parsons Happy Hour. In November I returned from two two weeks entertaining again on Saga Rose. Since then it has been recordings of Just A Minute for the new series that began on 4 January 2010. We also have recordings scheduled for this year. I have more one man show dates and personal appearances, as well as corporate quizzes up to April 2010.

I hope to find time to take my wife Ann on a relaxing holiday, attend to my garden after the snow and get on with the follow-up book to my autobiography, which is now work in progress and I am due to deliver in April 2010. Watch this space!

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