Have you seen/Read Yes Minister!

[betazed]

Have you seen/read Yes Minister (and Yes Prime Minister)?

I believe not many Americans have (since British comedy does not fair well this side of the pond) but I maybe wrong.

Somehow Sir Humphrey's cynicism rings so true in the current American poplitical climate.

I was watching them again last night and wondered how many in this forum liked this serial.

 

[betazed]

To illustrate some of Sir Humphrey's insightful comments to those who have not seen or read it here is one.

"The purpose of the official secrets act is not to protect secrets but to protect officials!"



Does this ring as having some truth value nowadays? To me it does.

 

[Achinz]

I love it!

One of the funniest and wittiest of TV shows. A wonderful insight into the world of politics and the administration that supports it.

Sir Humphrey, the wily secretary (civil servant) often wins with his intrigues over the ingenuous Minister Hackett but when the tables are turned it becomes particularly hilarious eg the episode when Sir Humphrey gets locked out of the minister's chambers.

Lots of play on words and puns. One I remember is the scene where a prime minister from a fictitious African country was trying to get some leverage for acceding to UK requirements.

"This is blackmail, " says Minister Hacker
"Are you talking about me or my policy," comes the reply.

Edit: Hacker.

 

[betazed]

@Achinz: Not to nitpick But the minister's name is "Hacker".

Another one goes like this:

Humphrey: "Our policy should be understable to anyone with the IQ of Winnie the Pooh".

The Master of Bailey: "Does Hacker have the IQ of Winnie the Pooh?"

Humphrey (hesitates) : "Yes... I suppose so... On his days!"

 

[Achinz]

@betazed: quite right - and more appropriate sounding too!

Another scene:
Minister Hacker's a bit tipsy, after attending a function. The press photographers are there in full force. He staggers to his car, drops his keys which fall into the slits in the gutter. He tries to retrieve them but slips and lies recumbent. The photo opportunity is not missed and the photographers flash away.

"Gutter press!" groans the Minister.

 

[col]

It was a terrific series - followed Jim Hacker through from his position of Minister for Administrative Affairs to becoming Prime Minister - and of course Sir Humphrey Appleby came along with him. Great writing from Peter Jay - ex Mp himself.

I particularly like the 'irregular verbs'.

Sadly Paul Eddington - a much underrated actor died a few years back.

 

[Kinniken]

Loved it It's been some time since I watched that though...

 

[Achinz]

Originally posted by col
Sadly Paul Eddington - a much underrated actor died a few years back.

Ditto. First saw him in the successful early series "The Good Life" which launched both him and Penelope Keith.

BTW Nigel Hawthorne (knighted in late life) who played Sir Humphrey Appleby also died in 2001 after a distinguished career which included roles in the Shakepearean classics.

 

[MrPresident]

I am the proud owner of series 1 to 3 on DVD. A brillant sitcom that actually told us the truth about who runs the British government. There follows some of my favourite quotes:

'The matter is under consideration' means we have lost the file. 'The matter is under active consideration' means we are trying to find the file."

"Politicians must be allowed to panic. They need activity. It is their substitute for achievement."

"There has to be a nuclear bunker in Whitehall. Government doesn't stop merely because the country has been destroyed. Annihilation is bad enough. Without anarchy to make it even worse."

"The Prime Minister doesn't want the truth, he wants something he can tell Parliament."

"Almost anything can be attacked as a failure, but almost anything can be defended as not a significant failure. Politicians do no appreciate the significance of 'significant'. "

"The perfect representative on a government committee is a disabled black Welsh woman trades unionist."

"Why should we close a hospital because it has no patients? We don't disband the Army just because there isn't a war."

"Foreign Office Honours: CMG - 'Call Me God'. MCMG - 'Kindly Call Me God'. GCMG - 'God Calls Me God'."

"The Letters JB in capitals are one of the highest Commonwealth honours. They stand for Jailed by the British. The order includes Gandhi, Nkrumah, Makarios, Ben Gurion, Kenyatta, Nheru, Mugabe and many other world leaders."

"The surprising things about academics is not that they have their price, but how low that price is."

"It is only totalitarian governments that suppress facts. In this country we simply take a democratic decision not to publish them."

"The Common Market: We went into it to screw the French by splitting them off from the Germans. The French went in to protect their inefficient farmers from commercial competition. The Germans went in to purge themselves of genocide and apply for readmission to the human race."

 

[betazed]

@MrPresident: I too am the proud owner of the collection in DVD.

And I loved your quotes.

My favorite among the ones you quoted is

"It is only totalitarian governments that suppress facts. In this country we simply take a democratic decision not to publish them."

I see this going around too much lately.

 

[Mrogreturns]

A wonderful series- a little scary though, if you dwell on it. Isn't that right Humphrey? Yes (Prime) Minister.

 

[Archer 007]

Ive wanted to see, but it is not aired stateside.

 

[Achinz]

I like the parody on administration-speak too - something also very relevant today in the field of information by gobbledygook as practised by the likes of Rumfeld:

'Sometimes one is forced to consider the possibility that affairs are being conducted in a manner which, all things being considered and making all possible allowances is, not to put too fine a point on it, perhaps not entirely straightforward.'

Translatied as: 'You are lying'.

 

[CivCube]

I'll need to order this sometime.

 

[Goober]

Ya, these look good, I shall get to "acquiring" these ASAP. Thanks for pointing these out, i always enjoy some comedy!!!

 

[Hawkster]

Loved it! Esp Yes Prime Minister 'The Tangled Web' and 'The Key' being my particular favorites. BTW the books are excellent as well.

Excellent writing and great acting made for a , to use a much overused word, 'classic' series, which has never been bettered in it's field.

 

[Illustrious]

Originally posted by col
Great writing from Peter Jay - ex Mp himself.

Sorry col, but it was in fact Antony Jay (former speechwriter to margaret Thatcher) who co-wrote yes Minister.

I particularly like the 'irregular verbs'.

Agree 100%. My personal favourite is:

I hold informal briefings
You leak
He has been prosecuted under section 2 of the Official Secrets Act

 

[Suppersalmon]

i love it its being nominated in britans 10 best sitcoms of all time

 

[betazed]

I am actually surprised that one person actually voted that he/she has seen it and did not like it.

Can you say why?

{ I was under the impression that this series was universally enjoyed. }

 

[betazed]

So after seeing a few more episodes yesterday night I quote a few more of Sir Humphrey's pithy comments.

-----

"All governments departments are lobbies for the pressure groups they deal with. The Department of Education lobbies the government on behalf of teachers, the Department of Health lobbies for the doctors and hospital unions, the Department of Energy lobbies for oil companies and so on. Each department of State is actually controlled by the people it is supposed to be controlling."

{ Think about FDA and the American Farm Lobby, DoE and the oil lobby... }

-----

"When anybody says 'It's not the money, it's the principle' they mean it's the money."

{ what was that thing about war and oil again... }

-----

"Being an MP is a vast subsidized ego-trip. It's a job that needs no qualifications, it has no compulsory hours of work, no performance standards, and provides a warm room, a telephone and subsidized meals to a bunch of self-important windbags and busybodies who suddenly find people taking them seriously because they've got the letters 'MP' after their name."

{ Replace MPs by Senators... }

-----

"The public aren't interested in foreign affairs. All they want to know is who are the goodies and who are the baddies."


{ There ain't much difference between the British "public" and the American "public" }

------

"The Treasury does not work out what it needs and then think how to raise the money. It pitches for as much as it can get away with and then thinks how to spend it."

{ Treasury, DoD "same" difference }

------

"There is a moral principle involved in the government's attitude to smoking. But when four billion pounds of tax revenue is at stake, we have to consider very seriously how far we are entitled to indulge ourselves in the rather selfish luxury of pursuing moral principles."

{Think NRA and firearms revenues here... }


I was laughing heartily till I realized how true these rang