Ian Cassan Messiter was a BBC Radio

BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...

 producer and the creator of a number of panel game

Panel game

A panel game or panel show is a radio or television game show in which a panel of celebrities participates. Panelists may compete with each other, such as on The News Quiz; facilitate play by guest contestants, such as on Match Game/Blankety Blank; or do both, such as on Wait Wait.....

s, including Just a Minute

Just a Minute

Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....

, and Many a Slip

Many a Slip

Many a Slip was a BBC Radio 4 panel game created by Ian Messiter that ran from 1964 to 1979. It was chaired by Roy Plomley, with a musical mistakes round supplied by musician Steve Race....

. He was also the Programme Associate on Family Fortunes

Family Fortunes

Family Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002 before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes...

. Messiter was born in Dudley

Dudley

Dudley is a large town in the West Midlands county of England. At the 2001 census , the Dudley Urban Sub Area had a population of 194,919, making it the 26th largest settlement in England, the second largest town in the United Kingdom behind Reading, and the largest settlement in the UK without...

, Worcestershire

Worcestershire

Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...

 and educated at Sherborne School

Sherborne School

Sherborne School is a British independent school for boys, located in the town of Sherborne in north-west Dorset, England. It is one of the original member schools of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference....

 in Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

. He acted as whistle blower on both One Minute Please and Just a Minute

Just a Minute

Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 radio comedy panel game chaired by Nicholas Parsons. Its first transmission on Radio 4 was on 22 December 1967, three months after the station's launch. The Radio 4 programme won a Gold Sony Radio Academy Award in 2003....

. He published his autobiography My Life and Other Games in 1990.

Family

Ian Messiter married Enid, née Senior. They had two children; a daughter Susan, who owns a campsite in Wimblington, Cambridgeshire and a son, Malcolm Messiter

Malcolm Messiter

Malcolm Messiter is a British oboist, particularly well known for his recording of the virtuosic 'La Favorita' Concerto by Antonio Pasculli...

, who is a world-renowned oboist, and four grandchildren; James, Toby and Emily Beaumont and Helen Messiter.

External links

• Messiter's game show magic, Obituary of Ian Messiter BBC News
• Obituary of Ian Messiter in The Guardian