Jaybird-UK

Ive just been watches the recent re-runs of Yes Minister on UK Gold and found them hilarious! - I remember my parents watching this and as a child thinking it a pile of dross but now I love it

anc-sti

Sir Humphry was brill when he went on one. Classic

David Lock

Well I'm a parent who loved it and now my kids can see the humour. Brilliant writing.

Dracoro

I've got all the Yes Minister and Yes Prime Ministers on dvd. One of, if no the, best sitcom ever. It's somewhat intelligent humour though so don't expect much of SN to agree with this

Jaybird-UK

Sir Humphrey: If there had been investigations, which there haven't, or not necessarily, or I'm not at to say whether there have, there would have been a project team which, had it existed, on which I cannot comment, would now have been disbanded, if it had existed, and the members returned to their original departments, if indeed there had been any such members.

Hacker: When you give your evidence to the Think Tank, are you going to support my view that the civil service is overmanned and feather-bedded, or not? Yes or no? Straight answer!
Sir Humphrey: Well Minister, if you ask me for a straight answer, then I shall say that, as far as we can see, looking at it by and large, taking one thing with another in terms of the average of departments, then in the final analysis it is probably true to say, that at the end of the day, in general terms, you would probably find that, not to put too fine a point on it, there probably wasn't very much in it one way or the other as far as one can see, at this stage.

STi-Frenchie

^^^ I know a bloke talks just like that ^^^

CrisPDuk

I bought the books when the three series were published in the form of Jim Hacker's memoirs. IMO these are even better as the have additional notes as recollected by Sir Bernard Ingham.

ChrisB

Superb stuff.

I had Yes Prime Minister as a computer game on my Spectrum!

Brendan Hughes

I think the fact that Maggie Thatcher liked it so much suggests, as many said, that not only was it funny but it was remarkably accurate satire. I think that makes it comedy genius.

I've also got the book (memoirs).

Never saw it when it first came out, but now I've seen a number of episodes, and as I work in the civil service, I find it absolutely biting.

Brendan Hughes

On one of scoobynet's favourite throw-away "solve-all" comments (usually against chavs) "Bring back National Service":

Sir Humphrey: "You know what happens: nice young lady comes up to you. Obviously you want to create a good impression, you don't want to look a fool, do you? So she starts asking you some questions: Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the number of young people without jobs?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Are you worried about the rise in crime among teenagers?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Do you think there is a lack of discipline in our Comprehensive schools?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Do you think young people welcome some authority and leadership in their lives?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Do you think they respond to a challenge?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Would you be in favour of reintroducing National Service?"
Bernard Woolley: "Oh...well, I suppose I might be."
Sir Humphrey: "Yes or no?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Of course you would, Bernard. After all you told you can't say no to that. So they don't mention the first five questions and they publish the last one."
Bernard Woolley: "Is that really what they do?"
Sir Humphrey: "Well, not the reputable ones no, but there aren't many of those. So alternatively the young lady can get the opposite result."
Bernard Woolley: "How?"
Sir Humphrey: "Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the danger of war?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Are you worried about the growth of armaments?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Do you think there is a danger in giving young people guns and teaching them how to kill?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Do you think it is wrong to force people to take up arms against their will?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "Would you oppose the reintroduction of National Service?"
Bernard Woolley: "Yes"
Sir Humphrey: "There you are, you see Bernard. The perfect balanced sample."

Brendan Hughes

Whereas, for a typical civil service discussion, you could always enjoy this as a bit of light banter:

Sir Humphrey: "It's clear that the Committee has agreed that your new policy is really an excellent plan. But in view of the doubts being expressed, may I propose that I recall that after careful consideration, the considered view of the Committee was that, while they considered that the proposal met with broad approval in principle, that some of the principles were sufficiently fundamental in principle, and some of the considerations so complex and finely balanced in practice that in principle it was proposed that the sensible and prudent practice would be to submit the proposal for more detailed consideration, laying stress on the essential continuity of the new proposal with existing principles, the principal of the principal arguments which the proposal proposes and propounds for their approval. In principle."




...all from http://www.yes-minister.com/

David Lock

Bet Donald Rumsfelt couldn't say that

Leslie

One of the really clever and funny shows, I love watching the repeats.

Les

Chris L

That rare commodity - intelligent humour

Johnny50

Brilliant show.
Never seen it the first time round, and now love it.

Why cant they make programs like that nowadays ?