Yes Minister

"Yes, Minister" was an impeccably written, masterfully witty British political satire.

The late Paul Eddington was very funny as James Hacker, a bumbling minister who is constantly at odds with his civil servant, Sir Humphrey Appleby, played masterfully by Oscar winner Nigel Hawthorne.

This show provided perhaps the most insightful and interesting look behind the scenes of the British, or any political system. This show gives new meaning to the saying, "Red Tape."

It's a shame it's not on in the US much anymore, but it's still available on video.

I really do not have words to describe this masterpiece! This must be kept as the series to compare with! Excellent writing and excellent acting! I'm a huge, HUUUUGE fan of YES MINISTER (and YES PRIME MINISTER of course). If you are even a bit interested about politics, you will adore it! I think you will adore it even if you are not! This is British humor at its absolute best!

This British series has been a perennial favourite in Canada, where I saw it, due no doubt to the similar Parliamentary form of government. Nigel Hawthorne, as the consummate slippery civil servant, is wonderful, a perfect foil for the politician on the make played by Paul Eddington. On of my favorite exchanges involved the Minister berating his Permanent Secretary for some particularly cynical manipulation: "If you believe that, Humphrey, then when you die, you will go to Hell." A suitably awful pause, then Humphrey smoothly replies, "Ah, Church of England question." There never really were any heroes in this series - everyone had a price. The writers' message seemed to be that contact with politics would always involve touching pitch, and in the words of Falstaff, "this pitch, as ancient authors do report, doth defile." But the wit and cleverness of this series could make even corruption something to laugh at.

Yes Minister is Britain after three hundred years of Democracy.

As an assessment of Democracy it is hard to surpass, and so I believe that every one studying for a degree in political science should watch this serial, or better still, read the books.

I watched this programme with my parents who are civil servants (in India), and they tell me that every bit is true.

If one had to nitpick, then I should observe that the initial episodes had more of a serious strain than the later ones. They are better because they concentrate on the politics, rather than on the comedy as is the case in the later episodes. Yes Minister became massively popular very quickly, and so the authors naturally tried to enhance its comic appeal. The last few episodes are a bit feeble in comparison to the initial ones, though they are, of course, still much, much better than any other television comedy.

Crossman's diaries are the real antecedents of this programme, and some of the incidents, such as moving the contents of the in tray to the out tray come directly from Crossman.

This is the best programme on television that I have seen, and the the standard by which one should judge all others.

I love the way the writers, Anthony Jay and Jonathon Lynn, wrote the characters of Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby. Jim is shown to be a weak, indecisive politician eager to change his mind to keep the voters happy, yet the audience love him. Humphrey is shown as a dominating, power-mad, scheming civil servant and yet the audience love him too! It's wonderful. And of course poor Bernard who is stuck in the middle, always a little unsure as to where his loyalties lie. As well as the excellent writing, the programmes wouldn't work without the wonderful talent of Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds. After watching just one or two episodes one thinks that the actors were born to play their parts! A must for future politicians!