Yes Minister: Difference between revisions
Grammar fixed
(Trivia) |
(Grammar fixed) |
||
Line 12:
''...''
'''Jim Hacker:''' "Are you trying to say "Happy Christmas," Humphrey?"
'''Sir Humphrey:''' "Yes, Minister."
(These are all the more remarkable if you know that Hawthorne memorised these speeches. He ended up on anti-anxiety medication as a consequence.)
The original series was directly followed in 1986 by ''Yes, Prime Minister
Margaret Thatcher, the real-life PM at the time the series was first shown, was a huge fan and [[Self-Insert Fic|once wrote a sketch featuring herself, Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey]]. It can be read [[media:thatcher_script.jpg|here]]. The series has in fact been criticized as being [http://reviewsindepth.com/2010/03/yes-prime-minister-the-most-cunning-political-propaganda-ever-conceived/ powerful propaganda for the Thatcher administration], as it was written by one of her advisors, despite the show portraying civil servants ''and'' politicians as corrupt, the politicians caring only about votes, in spite of the left-leaning sympathies of the show's co-creator, Jonathan Lynn.
Line 29:
* [[Analogy Backfire]]: This exchange between Bernard and Sir Humphrey:
{{quote|'''Bernard:''' Well I can’t accept that, Sir Humphrey, no man is an island.
'''Sir Humphrey:''' I agree, Bernard, no man is an island, entire of itself, and therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee, Bernard.
* [[And There Was Much Rejoicing]]: In "Official Secrets
* [[Antiquated Linguistics]]: I inquire of your presence to place your distracted attention from the apparatus to which you view these aptly pages to a passage of text spoken before from another character. Sir Humphrey often used this technique to obfuscate issues, or, ironically, when he was having a hard time saying something. Similar to [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]] because of its usage.
** As seen above, Sir Humphrey's wish of "Happy Christmas" in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vShJa6GobFQ this Christmas sketch].
Line 68:
'''Jim''': Good. ''[[Beat]]''. Let's open another bottle.
'''Annie''': You haven't got one.
'''Jim''': That's what you think. *''Turns, opens a red box''* Who said nothing good ever came out of Whitehall?
* [[Expospeak Gag]]: Humphrey's overly long speeches are a hallmark of the series.
* [[Eye Take]]: Humphrey's reaction whenever Hacker has a particularly ambitious, unexpected, and ill-advised idea.
Line 85:
'''Humphrey''': Of course not, Prime Minister, I wouldn't dream of it.
''Cut to a visibly-distraught Humphrey taking a sip of wine.''
'''Humphrey''': So what do you think I should do, Arnold?
* [[Glasses Pull]]: Hacker suggests doing this during his first Prime Ministerial broadcast, so that he can look both formal and informal at different points in his speech. The broadcast's director talks him out of it, saying that it would just make Hacker look like an insurance salesman.
* [[Government Procedural]]
* [[Grey and Gray Morality]]- Sir Humphrey and Hacker, whilst both giving lip service to the good of Britain are both patently in it for their own ends, and the benefit of the Civil Service or the Party respectively. Hacker is lightly more sympathetic, as he actually posesses a conscience, but ignores it when it becomes politically inconvenient, as opposed to
* [[Gunboat Diplomacy]]: After getting caught up in a foreign policy mess about to cause substantial embarrassment and hearing about this trope being the approach in the "old days," Hacker briefly questions whether it is, absolutely, out of the question, much to the shock of his colleagues.
* [[Humphrey]]: Joint [[Trope Namer]].
Line 100:
* [[I Need a Freaking Drink]]: Hacker, fairly often. See also [[Drowning My Sorrows]].
* [[Insult Backfire]]: Hacker accuses Humphrey of being a moral vacuum. Humphrey is non-committal in the scene, but soon after Bernard asks if he'll end up a moral vacuum, too. Humphrey says he sincerely hopes so, if Bernard works hard enough.
* [[In Vino Veritas]]: Hacker spilling his guts after having had too much of the wine at Baillie College's High Table dinner in "Doing the Honours
* [[Invisible President]]: You never see the Prime Minister or even learn his name until Hacker himself gets the job.
* [[Jade-Colored Glasses]]: Hacker eventually gets these, but he has the heart (or lack of head) to take them off once in a while. Bernard follows a similar trajectory, while Sir Humphrey doesn't need them, as the lenses in his eyes were made of jade from birth.
Line 116:
* [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]: Premise of series (with special award given for civil service). Exemplified by Humphrey's admission that there are often complications:
{{quote|'''Hacker''': Humphrey, can you ever give me a straight answer? A plain "yes" or "no"?
'''Sir Humphrey''': Well... yes and no.
* [[Only Sane Man]]: Varies from episode to episode, and on whether one sides with Humphrey or Jim Hacker. Humphrey is often coldly calculating and opposed to any kind of change on principle, but he also tries to rein in overtly politically based (and often ill thought out) moves from Hacker. Hacker, for his part, is earnest about reducing some of the bureaucratic insanity that Humphrey tries to pull.
* [[OOC Is Serious Business]]: In "The Writing on the Wall", Hacker is dead set on a course of action that won't do anyone any favours, and won't be swayed. It's serious enough that Sir Humphrey even drops his incredibly elaborate [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]] and tells him "If you're going to do this damn silly thing, don't do it in this damn silly way." This stops Hacker in his tracks.
Line 126:
* [[People's Republic of Tyranny]]: [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] in the following dialogue from [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpUD7ZRTx4s&feature=player_detailpage#t=200s "A Victory for Democracy"]:
{{quote|''Sir Humphrey'': East Yemen, isn't that a democracy?
''Sir Richard Wharton'': Its full name is "The Peoples' Democratic Republic of East Yemen
''Sir Humphrey'': Ah, I see, so it's a communist dictatorship.
* [[Plucky Comic Relief]]: Bernard to a certain degree, a very slight degree as he was more than just the comic relief. Often seemed to have the funny thing to say at the least appropriate times as well as his acting out of animals or to visually show Hacker why his metaphors were wrong (see this clip [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnaZQYPd_40#t=126s "The Challenge"], in this case it was actually Sir Humphrey) and also see [[Metaphorgotten]] example above. Often found puncturing a hole in tension you could cut with a knife.
* [[Put on a Bus]]: Frank Weisel, Hacker's political advisor in the first series of ''Yes, Minister'', was written out of the show by the end of that season because the authors couldn't find much use for his overtly political character in a show that was supposed to focus on the conflict between government and administration.
** The same thing happened to Vic Gould, the government's Chief Whip, who was originally supposed to be Sir Humphrey's opposite number, and would try and terrify Hacker into getting the government's policies pushed through his department. The writers found him to be too one-dimensional though, meaning that he never even made it past the pilot episode.
* [[Qurac]]: In "The Moral Dimension
** In "The Bishop's Gambit", a British nurse was sentenced to several lashes for possessing a bottle of whiskey, which provokes a miniature crisis as the government does not want to push too hard as the Qumranis are described as great friends of Britain, letting them know what the Soviets were up to in Iraq, allowing listening posts to be set up for Britain's use, and even sabotaging Opec agreements for them.
** Another possible [[Qurac]] in "A Victory for Democracy" is "[[People's Republic of Tyranny|The People's Democratic Republic of East Yemen]]" (as well as its twin, West Yemen), although the name suggests that it is rather a Marxist dictatorship than an emirate or a theocracy.
*** Not quite. At the time of production there was, in fact, a "People's Democratic Republic of Yemen" which was a Marxist/Socialist state and was to the east of "Yemen Arab Republic
*** M'yes, although that "People's Democratic Republic of Yemen" was generally known as ''South'' Yemen, not ''East'' Yemen.
* [[Reassigned to Antarctica]]: Bernard (and occasionally Sir Humphrey) is occasionally threatened with reassignment to the Vehicle Licensing Centre in Swansea -- not that Hacker would send him there (not having the power to do so), but Humphrey's inevitable Fate if they cannot jointly avert various impending crises.
** The most common threat is being sent [[Oop North]]. One episode resolves around a mass reassignment of defence personnel there, uniting every senior officer and civil servant who wanted to be near Harrods and Wimbledon against it. Bernard reacts in horror at being even a head of department in Lossiemouth. He thought it was [[Lassie|a kind of dog food]].
** Hacker's worry about being assigned to [[The Troubles|Northern Ireland]] is not an example of this, as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland was and is based in London, but the post was regarded as one of the most troublesome in the cabinet and one of the few which carried a significant risk of assassination, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s.
** In "The Bishop's Gambit", it's revealed that the bishopric of Truro is a similar position for the Church of England; because it's 'very remote' it's where they like to send their more troublesome or irritating bishops (such as those who are either utterly incompetent or actually vocally believe in God).
* [[Revival]]: As a [[Theater|stage show]] in 2011.
* [[Running Gag]]:
* [[Self-Deprecation]]: The Permanent Secretaries talking about merging department responsibilities:
{{quote|Arts and Television together? What do they got to do with each other?}}
Line 154:
** In the pilot episode, it's mentioned that the Department of Administrative Affairs is a political graveyard, and it's implied that the reason is that Humphrey was too good at blocking the Ministers' policies for them to ever advance any further.
* [[Story Arc]]: None were done in the ''Yes Minister'' phase, but a few were tried during ''Yes, Prime Minister'': Hacker's "Grand Design" had three episodes dedicated to it, and was at least mentioned in passing during every episode of the first season; his predecessor's memoirs the following season lasted for two episode.
* [[Take a Third Option]]: In "Party Games
** Also played with when Hacker, initially believing the 'third option' Bernard is pushing him towards is Home Secretary, makes it clear that even ''he's'' aware that that option isn't worth it:
{{quote|'''Hacker:''' Home Secretary? Responsible for every race.}}
* [[Tender Tears]]: Hacker, apparently, as he starts crying in "Party Games" when he believes Humphrey is telling him that he's dying, and then wears an embarrassed [[Tearful Smile]] once the misunderstanding is cleared up. (It's more hilarious than it sounds.)
* [[Throw the Dog a Bone]]: Every so often, when the moon was right and the writers were feeling kind, Hacker would win out over Humphrey. This became gradually more frequent during ''Yes, Prime Minister'' as Hacker's power and experience grew. In "The Key", he has Humphrey at the brink of madness.▼
* [[Title Drop]]: At the end of almost every episode.
* [[Title Sequence Replacement]]: The pilot had a different title sequence, not drawn by Gerald Scarfe. In reruns (but not on DVD), it was replaced with the titles used for the rest of the series.
▲* [[Throw the Dog a Bone]]: Every so often, when the moon was right and the writers were feeling kind, Hacker would win out over Humphrey. This became gradually more frequent during ''Yes, Prime Minister'' as Hacker's power and experience grew. In "The Key", he has Humphrey at the brink of madness.
* [[Translation: "Yes"|Translation: Yes]]: Frequently, especially after one of Humphrey or Bernard's long-winded explanations leaves Hacker confused.
* [[Truth in Television]]: Many politicians have admitted that it is, effectively, their version of [[This Is Spinal Tap]]. The writers also frequently got into trouble for featuring "entirely hypothetical" situations that bore a remarkable similarity to real life events. The aforementioned sneaking drinks into Qumran was one such example. It wasn't until (relatively) recently that the writers openly admitted (and named) their mole. On a somewhat scarier note, they also admitted that they never used a lot of the stories they were fed as they were simply too unbelievable, proving once again that [[Reality Is Unrealistic]].
Line 174:
* [[Work Com]]
* [[Xanatos Backfire]]: Humphrey's gambit in "Man Overboard" to get rid of the Employment Secretary in order to foil his plan to move half of the [[Brits With Battleships|armed forces]] [[Oop North]] backfires spectacularly in the very last minute of the episode when {{spoiler|Hacker decides that now that the Employment Secretary is gone, he can implement the plan anyway and take the credit for it himself. It's only then that Humphrey realises that he spent so much time engineering the Employment Secretary's downfall that he never bothered to discredit the actual plan, leaving him with no counter argument -- and as Hacker unwittingly points out, he's actually unwittingly strengthened several of the arguments ''for'' it}}.
** In "The Key
{{reflist}}
| |||