Yes Minister, more reality than comedy


Forgot to mention one really cool thing that occurred after the BBC Showcase meeting last week. Spent some time at the House of Commons watching the Q&A session as party leaders from the Opposition Party answered questions from the ruling party Members of Parliament (MP’s). In a word, it was a fascinating afternoon. As I watched the rapid-fire Q&A exchange and “the requests for an argument” on all sorts of topics, I felt like I immediately understood all aspects of the inner-workings of the Government simply by knowing both Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister so well. There was never a scene from either series that took place in the House of Commons as both series revolved around the ‘workings of government’, not the theatre of the House. Knowing how the government “works” from the series made the afternoon theatre of the House of Commons all the more interesting.

yesminister_1585353cWidely known to be Margaret Thatcher’s favorite program, it’s hard to believe that the original series is celebrating its’ 30th anniversary this week instead of its 1st. To me, it’s as timely and relevant today as it was 30 years ago. It’s classic British comedy. Excellent scripts by Anthony Jay and Jonathon Lynn combined with the perfect casting of Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker, Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humphrey Appleby and Derek Fowlds as Bernard Wooley make this, perhaps, my favorite Britcom of all-time.

Top Yes Minister moments

In honor of the 30th anniversary, Michael Hogan of the Telegraph in the UK brings us his top-ten funniest ever moments from Yes Minister. If that’s not enough here’s a list of famous series quotes from writer, Jonathan Lynn. If you need more of a fix, here’s all you need to know about the series from The Yes Minister Files. And, after all this, if you still need more….I leave you with this reminder of just how great this series is. Happy 30th, Yes Minister!


In: Actors/Actresses,Comedy

  • Cora Latta

    An Absolutely brilliant program! Has it been 30 years? Still relevant today!