Yes Minister

Yes Miniser is a British satircal comedy about the workings of a fictional department of the British government; the Department of Administative Affairs. Much of the humour is derived from the fact that Jim Hacker, despite being the Minister of the DAA is severely limited in his power; indeed, his Permanent Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby insists that it is his job to run the Department, and Hacker's is only to provide a public face for it.

Through the course of three seasons of Yes Minister, Hacker establishes himself in the DAA, and then in a Christmas episode "Party Games" succeeds in becoming the Prime Minister, backed by Sir Humphrey and the Civil Service, who believe he will be easily manipulated. A sequel series, Yes Prime Minister ran for a further two series.

Characters

James "Jim" Hacker

After backing the loser in a bid for the leadership of his party (it is deliberately ambiguous and to which one), James Hacker (Paul Eddington) is given the Department of Administative Affairs. Although considered around tenth highest in the Cabinet, it has a reputation for being a political graveyard. Hacker has never worked in government before, and is constantly suprised and frustrated that he holds little real power, and that regardless of his promises made in opposition, all policies tend towards maintaining the status quo. As the series goes on, he starts to become more politically skilled, and in a small number of episodes, succeeds in outwitting Sir Humprey.

Sir Humphrey Appleby

The Permanent Secretary of the DAA, Sir Humprey (Nigel Hawthorne) is arrogant and elitist and considers it his job to run the department on a common ground, regardless of which party is in power or the minister's own policy. He is shown to have little understanding of the world outside his upper-class, grammar-school educated bubble, but believes that what is best for the Civil Service is honestly best for Britain. He constantly lapoons the fact that Hacker has an "inferior" education from London School of Economics (compared to his own degrees in Greek and Latin from Oxford) and generally talks down to Hacker (and often Bernard). A lot of Sir Humphrey's humour comes from the euphenisms he uses when advising the Minister:

• "A controversial decision, Minister" (That'll cost you votes.)
• "A courageous decision, Minister" (That'll cost you the election.)
• "Have you considered all of the implications?" (That's a bad idea.)

Bernard Wooley

Hacker's Private Secertary, Bernard Wooley (Derek Fowlds) is trusted by both Hacker (who is supposed to be loyal to) and Sir Humphrey (who he depends on for his future in the Civil Service). This means that both characters confide in him, and thus the audience. Bernard is shown to be extremely pedantic, pointing out the shortcomings in Sir Humprey's and Hacker's metaphors. For example, when Hacker announced that the idea was to "cut through red tape with a sledgehammer" he points out that it is not possible to "cut" tape with a sledgehammer. Bernard often acts very childlile; when Hacker rhetoically asks what sort of a headline he'll get when the newspapers learn that he's hired more staff when he's supposed to be removing needless administration, Bernard suggests "Red Tape is Fun".