Yes, Prime Minister

Jim Hacker the former minister for administrative affairs has been shot along the corridors of power and he is now residing in Number 10 Downing Street. Now he is the PM he firmly believes he can change things, make things better and change policies. Unfortunately for Jim, Sir Humphrey Appleby has also been promoted and is now cabinet secretary so he is now in charge of the whole civil service. Humphrey is of the firm opinion that on no account should the PM be allowed to change things or, god forbid, be allowed to actually run the country after all that is Humphrey's job. Most of this comedy, like the original 3 series of 'Yes Minister' comes from just how ...  Read the complete review

Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are two of British televisions true classics. They concerned the tales of The Right Hon. Jim Hacker MP (Paul Eddington) and his time in government in the 1980’s (they ran from 1980-84 and 1986-88 respectively). In the first episode he is put in charge of the running of the Department of Administrative Affairs (a fictional ministry) and daily matched wits with the civil service, represented by his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne) and Private Secretary Bernard Wooley (Derek Fowlds, better known these days as Blaketon in Heartbeat). Eventually due to Humphrey’s promotion to Cabinet Secretary Hacker ...  Read the complete review

Having made a name for itself in the series Yes Minister the programme got promoted to Yes Prime Minister and was just as stunningly funny in higher office. Some will say that it is a true reflection of what happens in the corridors of power whilst those people in those corridors deny any similarity. My gut feeling tells me that it is far closer to the truth than any politician would be prepared to admit. Now Prime Minister, Jim Hacker MP played by Paul Eddington continues to be bamboozled by the ways of the Ministry and its Civil Servants like Sir Humphrey Appleby who bears a striking resemblance to that brilliant actor Nigel Hawthorne. Ably supported ...  Read the complete review

Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington), the Minister for Administrative Affairs, is every one's idea of the typical minister. Apart from the odd occasion, he is completely baffled and bamboozled by Sir Humphrey Appleby (stunningly played by Nigel Hawthorne) at every turn. Eventually, from the humble position of minister he gets the opportunity to unite his party and run for Prime Minister. He gets his party and the nation to rally around the high fat offal tubing, or sausage as it's more commonly known to us. If you ever wanted to know how a government really works, then this series is an absolute must. And, like the great series it was, it knew when to stop. ...  Read the complete review

If anything reflects the behind-scenes goings on during Thatcher's terms, this programmme surely should give a worryingly accurate historical account. Based around minister (and later on, Prime Minister), Jim Hacker's thorough ineptness in office, the majority of the punchlines arise from the great influence his civil servants seem to exercise. Although it's never actually mentioned, there are insinuations that the situation mirrored the then Tory Government who were facing controversy over the workings of the Civil Service, much to the same extent as the present Government is suffering under the backlash to 'spin'. As I say in the ...  Read the complete review