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Yes Minister/Yes Prime Ministe | 
| Studio: BBC Warner
Category: DVD
List Price: CDN$ 153.99
Buy New: CDN$ 107.99
You Save: CDN$ 46.00 (30%)
New (9) Used (1) from CDN$ 107.99
Rating:  6 reviews
Sales Rank: 2465
Format: Ntsc
Language: English (Original Language)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.6 x 1.7
MPN: 1901
ISBN: 0790786958
UPC: 794051190123
EAN: 9780790786957
ASIN: B0000DI88E
Release Date: October 28, 2003
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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From Amazon.com
BYes, Minister/Bbr The elegant sitcom-cum-farce-cum-sophisticated political satire IYes, Minister/I sets off Paul Eddington's Jim Hacker, Minister for Administrative Affairs, against Nigel Hawthorne's discreetly obstructive civil servant Sir Humphrey. The pilot episode, "Open Government," is curious in that it contains opening and closing credits different from and distinctly inferior to the rest of the series. You also sense that Mrs. Hacker was originally intended to have a larger role, with comedy focusing on the clash between political and domestic commitments, until the writers wisely decided to focus on the stand-off between Jim and Sir Humphrey, with Derek Fowlds's mousy private secretary Bernard making occasional interjections. While Sir Humphrey is at times a little too sinister for sitcom consumption, all the series' classic features quickly show up: Hacker's occasional Churchillian bombast, followed by panicky double-takes when flummoxed, and Sir Humphrey's unflappable verbosity as he brings the dead weight of civil service bureaucracy to bear against Hacker's naively optimistic schemes for open government and slashing red tape in episodes like "The Economy Drive." It's ironic that when IYes, Minister/I was first screened in the '80s, it was during the rampages of early Thatcherism in which government had never been less like the ineffectual politicking satirized here. br BYes, Prime Minister/Bbr Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's superb sitcom IYes, Prime Minister/I entered 10 Downing Street with Jim Hacker now Prime Minister of Britain, following a campaign to "Save the British Sausage." Whether tackling defense ("The Grand Design"), local government ("Power to the People"), or the National Education Service, all of Jim Hacker's bold plans for reform generally come to nothing, thanks to the machinations of Nigel Hawthorne's complacent Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey (Jeeves to Hacker's Wooster) who opposes any action of any sort on the part of the PM altogether. This is usually achieved by discreet horse-trading. In "One of Us," for instance, Hacker relents from implementing defense cuts when he is presented with the embarrassingly large bill he ran up in a vote-catching mission to rescue a stray dog on an army firing range. Only in "The Tangled Web," the final episode of series 2, does the PM at last turn the tables on Sir Humphrey. Paul Eddington is a joy as Hacker, whether in mock-Churchillian mode or visibly cowering whenever he is congratulated on a "courageous" idea. Jay and Lynn's script, meanwhile, is a dazzlingly Byzantine exercise in wordplay, wittily reflecting the verbiage-to-substance ratio of politics. Ironically, IYes, Prime Minister/I is an accurate depiction of practically all political eras except its own, the 1980s, when Thatcher successfully carried out a radical program regardless of harrumphing senior civil servants. I--David Stubbs/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Without a doubt, the best of british comedy September 14, 2007
Mrs. Jane E. O'brien (Brockville, Ontario)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sir Nigel Hawthorne seemed to be born with the purpose of playing Sir Humphrey Appleby. When you start watching these shows, it takes no time at all to be hooked. I have been watching them since I was 15 and now my children watch them. They are timeless. All performances are in their own way top rate. But, it was still Sir Humphrey who caught so many people's attention and funny bone, sky rocketing Nigel Hawthorne to fame. The only reason that you would not like these shows is that you had your sense of humour surgically removed.
Five star comedy January 4, 2007
dejesko
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you're looking for no frills comedy this show delivers. I can't believe I waited so long to give this show a chance- Without question, some of the finest acting you'll ever see. The writing for this show is hands down, the finest ever produced. Comedy dosen't get "smarter" than this. A must have for any Britcom collection.
Yes Prime Minister November 18, 2005
Paul (Ontario)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
Although this review is officially of Yes Prime Minister, I would be happy to recommend Yes Minister as well (I just haven't seen the DVD version of that latter).brSir Humphrey Appleby may be the ideal civil-servant, which makes the Right Honourable Jim Hacker look even worse as the most inept MP and PM in history (?!). In the behind-the-scenes doco in the Prime Minister DVD, the writers speak of the fact that Hacker had to win some of the time, and if you're rooting for old Jim, open up The Key and you'll see some fine work.brIf you love the English language and enjoy phrases like The person [who is the centre of the current discussion] is the one whom your present interlocutor is the habit of descibing with the perpendicular pronoun. Wow! (by-the-way, that means It is I - get it?)brIf you're a real fanatic, look for the companion books, which have simulated documents which make the journey even more fun and, unlike the famous Churchill quotation, well worth making more than once!
 No subtitles July 18, 2004
1 out of 21 found this review helpful
It's amazing that such great series don't include subtitles on the DVD set...
The Government as a Dysfunctional Family Sitcom March 8, 2004
Andrew H. Macpherson (Derry, New Hampshire USA)
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This is a HILARIOUS sitcom from Britain from the late 1980's-early 1990's. It is full of very sarcastic, cynical humor between the antagonist bureaucrats against [Prime] Minister Hacker, who is only trying to reform Britain in ways he believes would be improvements. It does take some knowledge/appreciation of government--particularly the British--to fully get the most out of the jokes though. Namely, British ministers are assigned cabinet levels as status symbols, not for any particular background in the field, so they are often at the mercy of the lifers that staff the ministry--meanwhile, the former are often due to change within a couple of years at most, so the Secretaries tend to just go around them ayways. Second, the British Parliament is much more closed and secretive than the American government. With these in mind, my two favorite jokes come from the first episode Open Government on the original Yes, Minister disc:brThere are 2 types of chairs for two types of ministers: the kind that are very rigid but fold up, and the kind that are soft and go round-and-round in circlesbrandbrHe is trying to create an open governmentbrThat's proposterous! You can either have 'OPENESS' or you can have 'GOVERNMENT'!
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