ANOTHER big name is preparing to entertain audiences at the Worcester Festival.

Actor and comedian Ricky Tomlinson opened the fortnight of festivities and now, helping to close them in style, is veteran entertainer Nicholas Parsons.

The 83-year-old actor, presenter and all-round television personality brings A Laugh A Minute to the Swan Theatre on Sunday, August 27.

Parsons is set to talk about his experience of life working in showbusiness. His ability to laugh at himself and see the humour in his early life and struggles to be an actor will be shining through and his anecdotes about show business will undoubtedly keep the audience entertained.

Parsons started out as the straight man to comedian Arthur Haynes and he is probably best known for being the host of the BBC Radio 4 panel game, Just a Minute, was first broadcast in December 1967. The same year, he was voted Radio Personality of the Year for his satirical show Listen To This Space.

His television work includes appearances on The Benny Hill Show as well as presenting the long-running quiz show Sale Of The Century for 14 years.

He also appeared in Doctor Who and alongside Rik Mayall and Ade Edmondson in Mr Jolly Lives Next Door. On stage he has played the narrator in the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Parsons has written, produced and directed five short comedy films for the cinemas and written two books - Egg On The Face and his autobiography The Straight Man - My Life In Comedy. Last year, he was the guest presenter on the TV quiz Have I Got News For You.

It is rumoured that team captain Paul Merton, a regular panellist on Parsons's Just A Minute, said on choosing a presenter: "I have two contenders for the job, who represent the best possible choices. One would be Nicholas Parsons. The other would be Bagpuss."

Nicholas Parsons - A Laugh A Minute is showing at the Swan Theatre at 7.30pm, Sunday, August 27. Tickets, priced at £13.50, with concessions £12.50, are available from the box office on 01905 611427.