Yes, Minister (Television program)

Yes Minister is a British political satire sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. It comprises three series of seven episodes each, first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, ran for 16 episodes from 1986 to 1988. All but one of the episodes lasted half an hour, and almost all ended with a variation of the title of the series spoken as the answer to a question posed by Minister (later, Prime Minister) Jim Hacker. Several episodes were adapted for BBC Radio; the series also spawned a 2010 stage play that led to a new television series on Gold in 2013. Set principally in the private office of a British cabinet minister in the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs in Whitehall, Yes Minister follows the ministerial career of Jim Hacker, played by Paul Eddington. His various struggles to formulate and enact policy or effect departmental changes are opposed by the British Civil Service, in particular his Permanent Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by Nigel Hawthorne. His Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, played by Derek Fowlds, is usually caught between the two. The sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, continued with the same cast and followed Hacker after his unexpected elevation to prime ministerial office. There were 21 half-hour episodes in three series, a two-minute Christmas sketch in The Funny Side of Christmas, and a one-hour Christmas special of Yes Minister. There were 16 episodes in two series of Yes, Prime Minister, bringing the combined number of full episodes to 38. The series received several BAFTAs, and in 2004, was voted sixth in the Britain's Best Sitcom poll. It was the favourite television programme of Margaret Thatcher, the then-British prime minister. The series was also a big hit on Public Broadcasting System (PBS) stations throughout the United States.