Sir Clement Freud

[DanaC]

It comes to us all, and yesterday it came to Clement Freud at the age of 84.

Grandson of Sigmund Freud, he'd been a politician in his day. A writer, commentator, broadcaster, cookery expert and regular contestant on a number of (mainly radio) panel games.

He was clever, witty and urbane, and gentle in his delivery. There was something about him that spoke of an older England. I liked his voice. I was always pleased when I heard him introduced on one of the panel games, most of which are bbc radio4 programmes. He was a long running regular contestant on one of my all time favourite game shows: Just a Minute.

There aren't so many of his lot left now. As they leave us, the sound and the cadences of radio are changing. I wonder if we'll retain much of their gentler and less frantic ways of entertaining?

Rest in Peace Sir Clement.



[eta] as an added extra: here's the first 9 mins of a documentary about the radio show Just a Minute, including Sir Clement and Paul Merton and a host of other cool cats:P For those not familiar with the game, contestants have to talk for one minute on a given subject for one minute without hesitation, repetition or deviation. Incidentally, Linda Smith, shown here as a regular contestant is no longer with us. She was a brilliant comedian and a sad loss to British comedy.



this show (Arena) has the best opening credits. I love 'em :P