'' is a
Satirical British Sitcom written by
Antony Jay and
Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by
BBC Television and
Radio between 1980 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series. The sequel, '''''Yes, Prime Minister''''', ran from 1986 to 1988. In total this made 38 episodes, all but one of which last half an hour.
Set in the private office in
Whitehall of a British government cabinet minister (and, in the sequel, in
10 Downing Street ), the series follows the
Ministerial career of
James Hacker MP , played by
Paul Eddington . His various struggles to bring in legislation or departmental changes are opposed by the will of the
British Civil Service , in particular his
Permanent Secretary (senior civil servant),
Sir Humphrey Appleby , played by
Nigel Hawthorne . His
Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley , played by
Derek Fowlds is usually caught between the two, although heavily influenced by Sir Humphrey. Almost every programme ends with the line "Yes, Minister" (or "Yes, Prime Minister"), uttered (usually) by Sir Humphrey as he quietly relishes his victory over his "political master" (or, occasionally, acknowledges defeat).
A huge critical and popular success, the series received a number of awards, including several
BAFTAs and in 2004 came sixth in the ''
Britain's Best Sitcom '' poll. It was the favourite television programme of the then
British Prime Minister ,
Margaret Thatcher .
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As the series revolves around the inner workings of central government, most of the scenes take place in private locations, such as offices and exclusive lounges. Lynn says "here was not a single scene set in the
House Of Commons because... government does not take place in the House of Commons; some politics... and much theatre takes place there. Government happens in private. As in all public performances, the real work is done in rehearsal, behind closed doors. Then the public, and the House, are shown what the government wishes them to see."
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The dominant running theme is the struggle between (
The Rt Hon. )
James "Jim" Hacker , the newly-appointed
Minister in the (fictional) Department of Administrative Affairs, and his civil servants and ministerial colleagues. Chief among his officials are
Sir Humphrey Appleby ,
KCB ,
MVO ,
MA (Oxon) , who is the department's Permanent Secretary, and
Bernard Woolley , Hacker's Principal Private Secretary. "Behind the scenes" influence is also exerted when Sir Humphrey consults (or is summoned by) the Cabinet Secretary (or in the second series, ex-Secretary) at their St James's gentlemen's club.
The different ideals and self-interested motivations of the characters are frequently contrasted. Whilst Hacker occasionally approaches an issue from a sense of idealism and a desire to be seen to improve things, he ultimately sees his re-election as the only endorsement of his success. In order to achieve this he must appear to the voters as effective, and responsive to the public will, and to his party (and in the first series, the Prime Minister) as a loyal and effective party animal. Sir Humphrey, on the other hand, genuinely believes (along with most of the other civil servants who are depicted) that it is the Civil Service that knows what is best for the country, which is usually "coincidentally" what is best for the Civil Service. Most of Sir Humphrey's actions are motivated by his wish to maintain the prestige, power, and influence he enjoys inside a large, bureaucratic organisation, and also to preserve the numerous perks of his position: automatic honours, a substantial income, a fixed retirement age and a large
Index-linked pension, and the practical impossibility of being made redundant or being sacked. In fact, a good deal of the tension in their relationship comes from Hacker being aware that it is the politicians who are liable to lose ''their'' jobs if civil service ineptitude comes to public attention. In the episode "
Doing The Honours " he says, "In private industry if you screw things up you get the boot; in the civil service if you screw things up I get the boot."
Hacker, then, sees his task as the initiation of reforms and economies in the department, a reduction of the level of bureaucracy and staff numbers in the Civil Service, and the government of the country according to his party's policies. To do so, or to at least look as if he has, would be a vote-winner. Conversely, Sir Humphrey sees his role as ensuring that politics is kept out of government as much as possible, and that the ''status quo'' is upheld as a matter of principle. He will block any move that seeks either to prevent the further expansion of the civil service or to reduce the complexity of its bureaucracy.
Much of the show's humour thus derives from the antagonism between
Cabinet ministers (who believe they are in charge) and the members of the British Civil Service who really run the
Country . A typical episode centres on Jim Hacker's suggesting and pursuing a reform, and Sir Humphrey's ingenious blocking of all Hacker's lines of approach. More often than not Sir Humphrey prevents him from achieving his goal, while mollifying Hacker with some positive publicity, or at least a means to cover up his failure. However, Hacker occasionally gets his way, as in "
The Greasy Pole ."
Initially Woolley naïvely sees his job as the disinterested implementation of the Minister's policies, but he gradually finds that this conflicts with his institutional duty to the department and sometimes, since Sir Humphrey is responsible for formally assessing Woolley's performance, his own potential career development.
The first series featured Frank Weisel, Hacker's political advisor, played by
Neil Fitzwiliam . While his name is pronounced W-"eye"-sel, Sir Humphrey and Bernard persistently call him "Mr Weasel". Weisel does not appear after the first series, following his convenient acceptance of a position on a
Quango (Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation) tasked, appropriately, with investigating the appointment of other quangos. After the third series, following Sir Humphrey's promotion to
Cabinet Secretary , Hacker becomes Prime Minister and requests that Bernard Woolley continue as his Principal Private Secretary. The first series of ''Yes, Prime Minister'' introduced Dorothy Wainwright (played by
Deborah Norton ) as a highly able Special Political Advisor to the Prime Minister. Her experience and insight into many civil service tricks ensures a lasting mutual distrust between her and Sir Humphrey.
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Hacker's home life is shown occasionally throughout the series. His wife, Annie (
Diana Hoddinott ), is clearly frustrated by the disruptions caused by her husband's political career and is at times somewhat cynical about her husband's politics. Meanwhile, his sociology student daughter, Lucy (
Gerry Cowper ), becomes an environmental activist in one episode (her only on-screen appearance, despite several other mentions), campaigning against one of her father's departmental policies.
Sir Humphrey's personal characteristics include his
Complicated Sentences , his cynical views on government, and his superciliousness. Hacker's attributes include occasional indecisiveness, and a tendency to launch into ludicrous
Churchillian speeches. Bernard is apt to linguistic pedantry. Sir Humphrey often discusses matters with other Permanent Secretaries, who appear similarly sardonic and jaded, and the Cabinet Secretary (whom he will eventually succeed in ''Yes, Prime Minister''), Sir Arnold Robinson (
John Nettleton ) an archetype of cynicism, haughtiness and conspiratorial expertise. This fairly counter-intuitive view of government administration is not only Sir Humphrey's: it is completely taken for granted by the civil service.
The ''Yes, Prime Minister'' episode "
The Bishop's Gambit " parodied
Liberal Theology and politics in the
Anglican Church . Hacker thought that the church is a Christian institution, but Sir Humphrey gleefully informed him that most of the
Bishop s do not believe in
God , and that a
Theologian 's job is partly to explain why an
Agnostic or
Atheist can be a church leader.
Almost all the episodes end with one of the characters (usually Sir Humphrey) saying "Yes, Minister" or "Yes, Prime Minister". Each episode of the former series was more or less self-contained, but ''Yes, Prime Minister'' had a loose
Story Arc .
Lynn joined the ;
John Selwyn Gummer ;
Kenneth Clark . I thought at that point that the only that I could ever contribute to politics is making fun of the politicians."
The series, then, intended to satirise politics and government in general, rather than any specific party. The writers placed Hacker at the centre of the political spectrum, and were careful to identify his party headquarters as "Central House" (a combination of
Conservative Central Office and Labour's Transport House). The terms "
Labour " and "
Conservative " are scrupulously avoided throughout the series, favouring terms such as "the party" or "the Government" and "the opposition." In the first scene of the first episode, "
Open Government ", Hacker is shown at the declaration of his constituency result wearing a white
Rosette , with other candidates sporting the red and blue rosettes associated with the two leading British parties. The one exception to this neutrality occurs very briefly in "
The National Education Service ", when Sir Humphrey explains to Bernard how the policy of
Comprehensive Education is retained through successive governments, using different arguments according to which party is in power. Despite this, the overall thrust was towards government reduction rather than government expansion. The episode "
Jobs For The Boys ", for example, rejected
Corporatism .
