The writers actually had 2 people within Government, at the time of writing, who were giving them examples of what was happening - and, in fact, some of the examples were SO outrageous, they couldn't use them :D
I ve said it before i think on another reaction to yes prime minister my brother is a fairly senior civil servant for the chancellor and he said basically if you could memorise most of the lines in this show and behave the same way essentially you would blend into the background in westminister.
The comic timing of these 3 actors was unreal. Nigel Hawthone in particular would go of on monologues often 2 mintues long all shot in one long take and was impecable. They are all gone now but by many will never be forgotten. I still say the funniest episode was how Jim Hacker went from MP to PM changing the series to Yes, Prime Minsiter (Thatcher was a huge fan)
The two writers had very different politics and only included material if it made them both laugh. They kept the standard up in each episode of both versions of the show. (The other being "Yes Prime Minister".) I was highly impressed with it all.
This original is so good and so terribly accurate about the real attitudes of the time. They tried to do a remake a few years ago, but it never took off because it didn't seem real enough in my opinion. The scary thing is I really don't think parliament has really changed all that much.
"I really don't think parliament has really changed all that much." It has ! It has more opinionated nonentities than ever before, an almost total absence of 'characters', a timid reluctance to 'offend' anyone, and few memorable speeches - dreary backbenchers often reading _directly_ from their 'notes'. And as for the Common's lickspittle obedience to the latest cruel and absurd dictates of their Globalist Masters......................(supply your own examples).
I have the full box sets of both series, and I cannot express how much viewing hours of pleasure they have given me. E.B covers some of the finest British comedy we have and has done so much for USA/UK hands across the water friendship, I advocate we contact the Home Office to get him a " Honoury British Citizenship ".
I’m afraid the minister isn’t being 100% honest here. He doesn’t want the directive because he planned to place a huge order for word processors in his own constituency (gaining votes).
Having worked in at least two companies which for the number of nationalities represented it was like the league of nations, one was a smallish company in south london the other a pan national division of a state run enterprise. We had printed up in the tea room at one "Heaven is where: The police are British The chefs Italian The mechanics are German The lovers are French and it's all organised by the Swiss Hell is where: The police are German The chefs are British The mechanics are French The lovers are Swiss and it's all organised by the Italians. (other versions exist)
of the same era as Yes Minister I would highly recommend Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy and it's sequel Smiley's People, both starring Alec Guiness as a spy catcher in the British Secret Service. Not a comedy but a great slow burn intelligent Cold War spy drama and insight of Government machinations of the time.
Takes me back to working in the 1980s when dumb terminals on mini-computers only did one thing, like word processing. So you had a standalone "electronic" typing pool to do your documents. We had the same thing in the 1990s to do programming, and another system to do data entry. I think in the real world before the Internet, you had common EU electronic document file standards. So you could easily share documents. The EU rules on hardware purchasing were that over a certain value, you had to open the bidding to all other EU countries, and not write the specifications so nobody else could bid on it.
This is one of the cleverest and funniest comedy shows ever produced in the UK. It was massive in the UK and around the world at the time. When Paul Eddington ( The actor who played Prime Minister Jim Hacker) visited Australia, he was greeted as and treated like the actual PM! BTW, if you want to delve into the lesser know UK comedies, try "Drop The Dead Donkey", another clever and hilarious comedy.
Yes I loved Drop the Dead Donkey. The scripts were about current news stories and were so up to date that the actors only got the final script a couple of hours beforehand which was really impressive. For this reason some of it would probably go over the head of someone not familiar with the news stories of the time if they watched them now.
So glad you enjoyed this. Possibly our greatest ever comedy series. Exquisite writing and expert performances, just brilliant. Funny and intelligent satire. The last time we had any of that here was a series called "Brasseye". You should watch that. It's another contender for the "Greatest UK satire ever" prize.
There’s another scene where Humphrey talks about why the British went in to the EU in the first place. All about the same plan the Brits have had for the last 500 years. Really worth looking for.
Yes, Minister / Prime Minister is a phenomenal series. If you want a more recent take on British politics and government then I highly recommend The Thick of It
Absolutely. I love the fact that we didn’t get more series from The Thick Of It because the writers felt they couldn’t come up with anything nearly as crazy as what was actually happening
This was one of my father's favourite shows (and Yes Prime Minister). He was a civil servant for about 50 years and scenes like this would have had him in stiches... :)
Peter Hitchens has hit the nail on the head worth watching his lecture. The EU is the continuation of Germany by other means. You can download it on youtube.
The late great Mrs Thatcher’s favourite programme. enough said. timeless brilliant searingly relevant in 2021. to truly understand the LEVELS of humour and way beyond that encapsulated in this micro-segment and the entire series itself you really HAVE to be born here in England , to have worked in Govt or the City or Big Business. you can watch it from USA just as a comedy but it’s so so much more. So true to reality it’s unique it’s scary too. brilliant acting in a typically understated English way with the humour is as dry as a Gordon’s &Tonic 🍸 you gotta realise what is said is not what is REALLY said or meant and behind each line or so many layers which any political Brit is familiar with. It’s from 1970s but is as relevant in 2021 Britain as 1961 1971 or 1981 Britain.
This is one of Britains finest sitcom's, also the follow up series Yes Prime Minister. The series deep political jargon and even some situations were real as the writers had two high profile politicians at the time consult with them over the scripts and that was kept a secret for years.
To this day we in the UK dismiss senior civil servants as "Sir Humphry's" such was its impact. You need to watch whole episodes, these scenes are often cut before they've even finished.
The irony of an American reflecting on the flaws of a large number of diverse and independant states ceding a portion of their sovereignty to a continent-spanning super-state authority.
I have a friend who's a very highly placed senior analyst in the Australian govt. He assured me a couple of years ago, that 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' are extremely accurate portrayals of the way politics works in Australia to this day.
The British Civil Service adopted a number of phrases from the show which are still in use. Probably the most famous is "That's a courageous decision, minister," meaning "Go with that one, mate, and your political career is at an end."
4:16 is local to the time and place : olive mountain and retsina lake reference the "butter mountain" of the time, which was the metaphor for the unintended consequence of EEC quotas leading to large amounts of food going to waste. "some of your friends are Greeks" is a reference to the fact that Prince Consort (the queen's husband) is from a Greek family
Much as I appreciate an American appreciating our general appreciation I would give the episode “moral dimension” a go just cos It’s as close as this show goes for slapstick. Basically “hacker gets drunk”. After you’ve done that move on to “Yes Prime Minister”
I often see clips of this scene, but the funny thing is how they completely reverse positions on Europe part way through the episode! Great series, gets better with every watch.
One of best Political Comedy Series Britain produced......funny thing is its so true, we are not European we are an island. Fast forward to Brixit...🤣🤣
Those lucky English don't have to worry about EU bureaucracy anymore! They have broken supply chains, Scottish Independence, Irish reunification, and the rise of fascism caused by terminal economic decline to look forward to now. Good times!
The Greeks have defaulted on debts numerous times. When they went into the Euro, the books were like potatoes that had been boiled - for a day and a half.
Ah, 1980...when 'word processors' were actual machines, not an app. Mind you, I'd been using a Telex machine and a hand-cranked photocopier barely 3 years earlier so they probably seemed like magic to me. A time when one could enjoy slamming the receiver down to end a call...there's no app to replicate that...yet.
Try to imagine as an American how it would feel if you were part of an institution that dictates how you run your country from let’s say Mexico City where they have their headquarters part of the year the other part of the year they will all shift off down to Buenos Aires. How would you feel about losing control of your country and at the same time you would be paying vast amounts of money into the common pot where much of the money simply disappears. The accounts for the EU have never been signed off because of this disappearance of money. Boris Johnson has made a cock up of so many things but at least he took us out of the EU
Is it really that different from the US federal government dictating terms to US states or the UK government dictating terms to its members in the union? Yes I know two of them are countries whiles the EU is not but the fact remains that decisions are being made by a power far away. But like all things, there's a balance of power from country and EU or from the US to states. But the argument you are using could also apply to the US and UK, but in any case, if done right, there is a lot of benefits to being in the EU just like there is for US states being in the US. As for the UK, we've been a joke ever since we left the EU and things don't look to be getting better with the civil war that's been building in the Tory party thanks to Brexit, in other words, don't expect any real change once the new leader is in power because the leadership isn't the problem, the party is, especially the ERG part of it and until us Brits get that, we're just going to keep lurching from one mess to another that will in the long run lead to Scotland and Northern Ireland wanting to leave the UK, after all, would you want to be ruled by this Tory lot? What's funny about it, the Tories pushed for Brexit with the aim of keeping the party together and yet Brexit has created more divisions for the party that they could be heading for a slaughter at the next election.
If you liked this clip, I suggest you watch another one, where Humphrey explains what Britain is ACTUALLY doing inside the EEC! ua-cam.com/video/ZVYqB0uTKlE/v-deo.html
I highly recommend you watch 'The Thick of It' if you enjoyed this. The writer, Armando Ianucci was regularly asked by people within UK government how he was so accurate and predicted real events. You'll love it. Give this a like to let the boss man see...
When they're talking about the word processor format, you have to remember that this was made in 1986. There wasn't any standard format back then and cross-compatibility was limited. There were multiple different operating systems and many brands came with their own OS and WP.
The word processing standard is something that actually went through the EU and they settled on ODF (Open Document Format) as opposed to Microsoft Word. Microsoft had to add ODF as an option to Word after complaining bitterly about it (actually they did it quite quickly). It was to make sure that the various governments could pass documents amongst themselves digitally without any compatibility problems and not force people to make Mr Gates richer as a result.
ODF was a necessary choice since not everybody uses a Microsoft OS or word processor (I never would). Governments, wanting to put stuff on line increasingly, could not use a proprietary format obliging people to purchase a commercial product.
The EU has set up many of those standards, which has an impact on the whole world. A recent one is forcing the use of USB-C as a common charger for ALL mobile devices. This will make life much easier for the consumer. Apple will moan about it, but they will have to adopt it. If you buy an iphone in the future in the US, and it has a USB-C port, you can thank the EU for introducing/forcing that standard.
@@janickpauwels3792 another one the EU are claiming when the market is going that way anyway - the proposed a standardised charger about 7/8 years ago and never mentioned it again. Apple have had USB-C on iPads since 2018.
@@janickpauwels3792 The EU is currently fining Poland £1M per day for not accepting diktats on how their own judicial system should work. The EU demanded they do what they say, the EU accused them of running their own affairs, the EU oversaw the court ruling, and the EU found them guilty and the EU issued the fine which is directly payable to them. And remainers still don't understand it is there to destroy sovereignty and a huge criminal protection racket?
@@janickpauwels3792 never knew that was EU thing. Stupidity of brexit. We'll end up having to comply with most EU regulations anyway but will have no say in writing them and def no veto like only us, the French and Germans had.
The character playing “Sir Humphrey” is Nigel Hawthorne*, an absolutely amazing actor. He had to memorise various long winded, long worded speeches for every episode and every one of them was funny as heck and unfortunately very, very accurate. Looking back at the stories as told in Yes, Minister and later on, Yes, Prime Minister it was an incredible insight into the workings and thought processes used by our politicians and their enemies aka the Civil Service. * that’s not to say that Paul Eddington as the Minister, or Derek Foulds as Bernard the PPS were anything other than amazing in this series.
There's a minor, original reason for the European experiment. At the time of the USA was playing its minor local disagreement, Europe was having to deal with Napoleon. A hundred years and countless deaths later in interminable, wars still following eternal precedent, humans got so good at it that for the sake of effeciency they mechanised it! Twenty years later, in keeping with the schedule, Europe was at it again. This time mechanisation and technology were vastly improved, birth of cruise missiles, invention of ICBM etc. So come the end of the second half of the WW the leaders of the UK, France and W Germany had decided that the fixture couldn't be retained, not even if the schedule was extended from the approximate 2 decade time scale, it just wasn't viable any more. Churchill lost His job, Labour had other priorities, France and W Germany got started. By the time that the UK was ready De Gaulle, to experienced to be an Anglophile, had influence and a veto. When the UK were eventually allowed to join it was to late to manipulate a controlling interest, engineering petty squabbles was still possible though. The other one I like is the UK problem with its gristle filled fat tube, a perfectly contrived drama for local/media consumption that was inconsequential everywhere else.
France required the original basis of the European coal and steel community for an even narrower reason -to have sight of and some control over German industry and the thrrat that Germany would rearm again, Russian occupation of East Germany and NATO with forces from the US, France and Britainin west Germany solved that problem after about 1950 , but the original idea grew into the EU, and still was seen as a way of controling Germany after the experience of 1870, 1914 and 1939.
It was VERY accurate to real life. That is because 2 of the shows advisors (secret) were working in government at the time. They not only told them of the dynamics between the civil service and the MP's, but of real life situations they had experienced. Most of the episodes are based on real events, with just enough twisting to obscure their origin. One great example of this is the episode "The official visit" - totally based on real events. lol
Don't forget that the basic point they were discussing was "word processing standards". Why is the font you use in printed documents worth fighting over? Most documents are online now anyway.
I'll make a prediction now: in two or three hundred years, episodes of this show will not only still be watched and enjoyed (goodness only knows what devices people will be watching them on), but in the ranks of great English political satire, they'll enjoy the same status that the works of Swifte and Chaucer do nowadays.
The eec or eu as it is now operates similarly to states in the US. The states try to operate in the best way for the people that live in those states whilst the federal gov seems bent on issuing edicts which it then expects the states to carry out which seem designed to make life as difficult as possible.
It was never a show that was for or against any political movement or ideal. But poked fun at the whole establishment with the basis of a lot of truth. A comedy that has not aged a day.
This is so true Brussels is a massive gravy train for bureaucrats National identity has been dying for years in Europe hence Brexit Yes Minister was 30 years ahead of everybody else
Completely wrong in every way. This is what the British media have told you for 40 years. 1) the actual decisions in the EU are made by the (democratically elected) parliament and the (democratically elected) 27 national governments. The Commission does only 2 things: enforce already existing agreements, and propose new laws. Nobody in the EU is "ruled by Brussels". The existence of the EU also doesn't have any impact on national identity. Do you think Germans feel less German, or the French feel less French? Brexit is a disaster in every way. It brings zero advantages, only disadvantages. One simple example: UK companies will still follow all EU rules in the future, otherwise their products cannot be sold in the EU anymore. At the same time, the UK government has zero influence in these rules anymore. How is this situation better than what it was? The same can be said of about everything. You talk about vague principles like "identity" and "sovereignty", and you probably think that the damage to your economy is a price worth paying. The reality is that nobody took away your identity or sovereignty, but that the livelihoods of UK people and businesses have been severely impacted. Brexit is building huge walls between the UK and its closest neighbours. You are allegedly "opening up to the world" but you are forgetting that the (rest of) the world is a whole continent away. Brexit is cutting the lifeline between your island and the rest of YOUR OWN continent, in return for more SoVrEnTy.
@@janickpauwels3792 remember Germany and France run the EU try asking the other countries Brussels are draining away their sovereignty The European Court of Justice runs everything what countries don’t have to obey it remember a year ago Germany Supreme Court overruled the European court and got away with it. France just ignores it. Look at the lavender ruling for one. They refuse to obey and get away with it no one else can so France and Germany don’t count they have a golden ticket. Now what about the other countries?
@@MikeSmith-ye9ho You are wrong virtually everywhere. Apparently you have no clue how the EU actually works. Yes, Germany and France have more influence than Belgium or Malta. Do you REALLY expect all countries to have equal power?? That would be ridiculous. The UK was the second biggest member, so it had a LOT of influence in what happened in the EU.The matter with the German supreme court is not yet resolved, so they did NOT get away with anything. It's not because you don't hear about it in your biased newspapers that nothing is happening.
@@janickpauwels3792 Balls ! The single market was never established for Services, because of the British dominance in this sector ... France and Germany constantly delayed it's completion. If the UK had refused to agree to free movement of people until the Services single market was completed, then we'd still be a member ... The EEC/EU was a means by which the humbled, invaded, and embarrassed French could still maintain some clout on the world stage, which their arrogant politicians and technocrats still do, backed by the German cheque book ... The EU laws and rules are ignored by both the French and Germans when they don't suit them ...
Watch the whole episode... actually I think the funniest bit in the entire episode is later when he's sitting at home with his wife. He gets a phone call from Brussels asking him if he wants to put his name up for consideration for one of the EU commissionerships. He gives the reasons why it would be the end for him in British politics and then he explains what it would entail and in the process convinces himself and his wife that it might be worth a shot.
The permanent secretary (Humphry) would be a highly educated Oxford or Cambridge graduate (Harvard Yale equivalent). The most senior ministers would normally have just as good an education. There's a lot of clever people in government (both the civil servants and many of the M.P.s - lawmakers). Here, it's implied that the minister (Jim Hacker) might be the secretary's intellectual underling for comedic effect.
The story in this episode is based on the difference in perspective between civil servant and politician. Brussels is code for Civil Service, road-blocking, and bureaucracy. towards the end of the story, Humphrey and Hacker change positions. The humour comes from them changing sides of the argument.
Hello Alan. I probably commented this before, but I used to watch this in fits of laughter at university with Alok Sharma, who is the UK minister organising the Glasgow climate conference. Still so funny.
Yes Minister was one of the cleverest and funniest things on British tv. It showed politics as it really is….baffling, ludicrous and self-serving! Everyone should watch it. True class! 🤣👏👏👏
Hey Allen, the funny thing is when it comes to Brexit most of the older generation voted leave because we lived through these times, we understood what it like to join the EEC/EU and realised what we had already lost and what we stood to lose by remaining, although this is an "old" comedy series it is incredibly accurate to what was going on in the country at the time, there was actual insiders in parliament who would pass the information to the writers and believe it or not, only the most ridiculous of incidents were not used as it was thought they were too unbelievable. Both series are an open window into the political side of the UK.
As someone who has taught C1 and C2 (Advanced and Proficiency levels) English with the aid of this gem of the first water, this is probably my single most used scene.
it explains a lot about the EU and UK and even now decades later.. the EU once tried to pass a law to make the banana size a standard, no none standard banana;s In truth, the European Union does have a banana law. Regulation 2257/94 decrees that bananas should meet minimum quality standards such as being 'free from malformation or abnormal curvature of the fingers'. The law does not outright ban bendy bananas.5 Oct 2020
The EU fruit classification regulations refer only to the size and appearance of the fruit. They are therefore worse than useless because all that matters is what the fruit tastes like. English Russet Apples are delicious, for example, but can never be EU Class 1 because they do not naturally grow to sufficient size.
@@allenwilliams1306 Why does it matter that these apples are not class 1? These classes are meant to be just that: classifications of fruit. This way, if you buy bananas sight unseen, and they are supposed to be class 1, you know what you should get. If you get something else, you can complain. If your English Russet apples do not comply to class 1 then just don't sell them as class 1. Just describe how the apples really are and why they are delicious and different, and people who know their stuff will still buy them. These rules are absolutely not useless, if you run a supermarket and want to buy all kinds of stuff from all kinds of suppliers. It is vital that there are standards and classifications so that you can quickly agree what you are selling/buying, without having to negotiate with each supplier about how many bruises are acceptable per banana. These rules don't stop the supermarket from buying specialty fruits/products with different properties.
@@allenwilliams1306 while you are correct in that the class system only relates to the overall size and appearance of a fruit not it's acual quality you are wrong when you say that an english russet apple can't be a Class 1 as the classification is given to each variety of apple not just apples in general.
@@janickpauwels3792 I have never read such complete nonsense. Any bulk purchaser of fruit can simply issue their own specification for size and appearance if they are so inclined. There is absolutely no need for some bureaucrat to intervene with their own specification. Producers should be free to grow and pack their fruit without wasting time and money classifying them according to some absurd EU criteria. As for the consumer, the EU classification is completely irrelevant, because, as I said, all that matters is the taste, and the EU standard is completely unconcerned with this.
I've just looked in your archives and am quite surprised there's no Rab C Nesbitt. Anything will do really. Just watch episode 1 if you're unsure. If you ever thought you knew what people in schotland sound like, let me shake the foundations of your world with thid one.
As someone who is not British it's interesting to see how little the British understood then and now the idea of countries working together for the greater good. No country has to accept anything it doesn't want but most decisions are for the benefit of the member countries. Indeed many of the regulations were British innovations.
The dynamic is that of a politician trying to effect change and a senior civil servant trying to maintain the status quo. Like Basil Fawlty, who thought that his hotel would run beautifully were it not for the guests, Humphrey believed that government would work perfectly if not for politicians.
The best British sitcom ever made. Brilliantly written. Every damn episode.
I'll second that love from Derbyshire.
You misspelled "documentary"
@@89Keith Ware?
@@davidcook7887 where you wrote "sitcom" it's clearly a documentary :p
Hear hear
The writers actually had 2 people within Government, at the time of writing, who were giving them examples of what was happening - and, in fact, some of the examples were SO outrageous, they couldn't use them :D
I ve said it before i think on another reaction to yes prime minister my brother is a fairly senior civil servant for the chancellor and he said basically if you could memorise most of the lines in this show and behave the same way essentially you would blend into the background in westminister.
One of them was the PPS to the PM... Wow
Wales
@@fathertedcrilley3988 Is an endangered species.
@@Nounismisation who were they?
There is a great accompanying clip "Why The UK Is In The EU" beyond brilliant dialogue.
Yes..React to that clip..its hilarious..
ua-cam.com/video/ZVYqB0uTKlE/v-deo.html
@@johncaddick5075 Definitely yes;)
The comic timing of these 3 actors was unreal. Nigel Hawthone in particular would go of on monologues often 2 mintues long all shot in one long take and was impecable. They are all gone now but by many will never be forgotten. I still say the funniest episode was how Jim Hacker went from MP to PM changing the series to Yes, Prime Minsiter (Thatcher was a huge fan)
Was that the one about nukes? If so, I agree. If not, it will still be an amazing episode!
It was not the comic timing but the sheer genius of writer Jonathan Jay
USA and UK may speak the same language, broadly speaking, but when it comes to comedy, there's a cultural chasm, half a millennium wide.😂
The two writers had very different politics and only included material if it made them both laugh. They kept the standard up in each episode of both versions of the show. (The other being "Yes Prime Minister".) I was highly impressed with it all.
This original is so good and so terribly accurate about the real attitudes of the time. They tried to do a remake a few years ago, but it never took off because it didn't seem real enough in my opinion. The scary thing is I really don't think parliament has really changed all that much.
It's same today nothin ever changes, give with one hand take with another
They actually had insiders in the parliament feeding the script writers info.
You were watching the wrong remake, try 'In The Thick Of It'.
It seems the EEC (EU) as seen at the time still relates exactly the same today! The gravy train continues for now anyway… 👎👀
"I really don't think parliament has really changed all that much."
It has ! It has more opinionated nonentities than ever before, an almost total absence of 'characters', a timid reluctance to 'offend' anyone, and few memorable speeches - dreary backbenchers often reading _directly_ from their 'notes'. And as for the Common's lickspittle obedience to the latest cruel and absurd dictates of their Globalist Masters......................(supply your own examples).
Wonderful series, with wonderful actors sadly none of them are with us anymore. Miss these well thought, well acted out comedies.
Mhmm, there hasn't been another comedy to match yes minister & yes prime minister.
The guy in the grey suit is still alive, he's in a series on Sky 1 called COBRA - He plays the Prime Minister
@@Ben-Hollingbery
Sadly all 3 are dead. Paul Eddington in 95, Nigel Hawthorne in 2001 and Derek Fowlds in 2020.
I have the full box sets of both series, and I cannot express how much viewing hours of pleasure they have given me. E.B covers some of the finest British comedy we have and has done so much for USA/UK hands across the water friendship, I advocate we contact the Home Office to get him a " Honoury British Citizenship ".
Totally agree....maybe an honorary knighthood from Her Maj,s people, or maybe an honorary Scouser award like Jurgen Klopp...
@@eamonnclabby7067 Or we could just crowd fund, and buy his title like 60% of the House of Lords have done. : )
me too , and yet I hate politics
I agree EB should also be given an honoury knighthood.
I’m afraid the minister isn’t being 100% honest here. He doesn’t want the directive because he planned to place a huge order for word processors in his own constituency (gaining votes).
Glad you got back to looking at more of Yes Minister . A brilliant show! 👍
It makes it even funnier years later due to it being spot on
Having worked in at least two companies which for the number of nationalities represented it was like the league of nations, one was a smallish company in south london the other a pan national division of a state run enterprise. We had printed up in the tea room at one
"Heaven is where: The police are British The chefs Italian The mechanics are German The lovers are French and it's all organised by the Swiss
Hell is where: The police are German The chefs are British The mechanics are French The lovers are Swiss and it's all organised by the Italians.
(other versions exist)
I have that saying on a T-shirt...
as long as its not London Metropolitan.
The show is about 35 years old and is surprisingly relevant today
...Great comedy!
One 'Yes Minister' short you would like is explaining why England joined the EEC - ua-cam.com/video/37iHSwA1SwE/v-deo.html
of the same era as Yes Minister I would highly recommend Tinker Tailer Soldier Spy and it's sequel Smiley's People, both starring Alec Guiness as a spy catcher in the British Secret Service. Not a comedy but a great slow burn intelligent Cold War spy drama and insight of Government machinations of the time.
Takes me back to working in the 1980s when dumb terminals on mini-computers only did one thing, like word processing. So you had a standalone "electronic" typing pool to do your documents. We had the same thing in the 1990s to do programming, and another system to do data entry. I think in the real world before the Internet, you had common EU electronic document file standards. So you could easily share documents. The EU rules on hardware purchasing were that over a certain value, you had to open the bidding to all other EU countries, and not write the specifications so nobody else could bid on it.
yes minister and yes prime minister is the best show ever
should be compulsory viewing to vote haha
Agree. Theyre on my chrimbo list to be fair
They've got all the series in Tesco for a tenner. Well worth it.
This is one of the cleverest and funniest comedy shows ever produced in the UK.
It was massive in the UK and around the world at the time.
When Paul Eddington ( The actor who played Prime Minister Jim Hacker) visited Australia, he was greeted as and treated like the actual PM!
BTW, if you want to delve into the lesser know UK comedies, try "Drop The Dead Donkey", another clever and hilarious comedy.
Yes I loved Drop the Dead Donkey. The scripts were about current news stories and were so up to date that the actors only got the final script a couple of hours beforehand which was really impressive.
For this reason some of it would probably go over the head of someone not familiar with the news stories of the time if they watched them now.
So glad you enjoyed this. Possibly our greatest ever comedy series. Exquisite writing and expert performances, just brilliant. Funny and intelligent satire. The last time we had any of that here was a series called "Brasseye". You should watch that. It's another contender for the "Greatest UK satire ever" prize.
There’s another scene where Humphrey talks about why the British went in to the EU in the first place. All about the same plan the Brits have had for the last 500 years. Really worth looking for.
EEC
ua-cam.com/video/ZVYqB0uTKlE/v-deo.html
That strategy is solid too. Why would we want a united Europe just across the channel?
European hegemony has never worked out well in history....
@@Si_Mondo The irony is, now that us Brits are not in the EU any more, a united EU is more likely because the UK always tried to put the brakes on it.
The only hegemony there ever will be is one country controlling it. @@Si_Mondo
Priceless and so relevant even today, you need to watch them all my friend.
You have been saying that would be doing this again. The best British sitcom ever!
This was Margaret Thatchers favourite comedy tv sitcom, cleverly written and enough truth to be credible.
Yes, Minister / Prime Minister is a phenomenal series. If you want a more recent take on British politics and government then I highly recommend The Thick of It
Absolutely. I love the fact that we didn’t get more series from The Thick Of It because the writers felt they couldn’t come up with anything nearly as crazy as what was actually happening
@@keatsmeister same with The Day Today from the same writers, well Armando at least
This was one of my father's favourite shows (and Yes Prime Minister). He was a civil servant for about 50 years and scenes like this would have had him in stiches... :)
Peter Hitchens has hit the nail on the head worth watching his lecture. The EU is the continuation of Germany by other means. You can download it on youtube.
Glad to see you back up and running EB- you make every viewers day a little brighter.
The late great Mrs Thatcher’s favourite programme. enough said. timeless brilliant searingly relevant in 2021.
to truly understand the LEVELS of humour and way beyond that encapsulated in this micro-segment and the entire series itself you really HAVE to be born here in England , to have worked in Govt or the City or Big Business. you can watch it from USA just as a comedy but it’s so so much more. So true to reality it’s unique it’s scary too. brilliant acting in a typically understated English way with the humour is as dry as a Gordon’s &Tonic 🍸
you gotta realise what is said is not what is REALLY said or meant and behind each line or so many layers which any political Brit is familiar with. It’s from 1970s but is as relevant in 2021 Britain as 1961 1971 or 1981 Britain.
The late, but not great Thatcher.
This series should be readily available on BritBox, no DVD player necessary.
Thanl you!
The dvds are better, as Britbox is guilty of cropping episodes of classic comedies for "pc"/"woke" reasons.
This is one of Britains finest sitcom's, also the follow up series Yes Prime Minister. The series deep political jargon and even some situations were real as the writers had two high profile politicians at the time consult with them over the scripts and that was kept a secret for years.
To this day we in the UK dismiss senior civil servants as "Sir Humphry's" such was its impact.
You need to watch whole episodes, these scenes are often cut before they've even finished.
The irony of an American reflecting on the flaws of a large number of diverse and independant states ceding a portion of their sovereignty to a continent-spanning super-state authority.
As an ex-Civil Servant, though at a more lowly level, I can say with experiance that this portrayal is spookily accurate.
I have a friend who's a very highly placed senior analyst in the Australian govt. He assured me a couple of years ago, that 'Yes Minister' and 'Yes Prime Minister' are extremely accurate portrayals of the way politics works in Australia to this day.
One of the best written series ever and only gets more relevant with time
The British Civil Service adopted a number of phrases from the show which are still in use. Probably the most famous is "That's a courageous decision, minister," meaning "Go with that one, mate, and your political career is at an end."
You’re gonna love both series. The word play is amazing. Best comedy series I’ve seen and its still relevant today.
4:16 is local to the time and place : olive mountain and retsina lake reference the "butter mountain" of the time, which was the metaphor for the unintended consequence of EEC quotas leading to large amounts of food going to waste. "some of your friends are Greeks" is a reference to the fact that Prince Consort (the queen's husband) is from a Greek family
Congrats on 70k subs your deserved all the subs and praise you get ive been here since 25k subs and i've enjoy every minute of it 👍👏☺
Much as I appreciate an American appreciating our general appreciation I would give the episode “moral dimension” a go just cos It’s as close as this show goes for slapstick. Basically “hacker gets drunk”. After you’ve done that move on to “Yes Prime Minister”
I often see clips of this scene, but the funny thing is how they completely reverse positions on Europe part way through the episode! Great series, gets better with every watch.
One of best Political Comedy Series Britain produced......funny thing is its so true, we are not European we are an island. Fast forward to Brixit...🤣🤣
Brexit - no regrets
Margaret Thatcher said this was her favorite TV show, because it was so true to life.
Yes Minister (and it’s sequel Yes Prime Minister) were Margaret Thatchers favourite shows. We even have stage play versions which are very funny 😁
There's no foul language, no sex, no violence and yet it's screamingly funny. Americans can't seem to do that.
"I expect some of you best friends are Greeks". Bernard got the subtle joke about homosexuality even if the minister didn't
Those lucky English don't have to worry about EU bureaucracy anymore! They have broken supply chains, Scottish Independence, Irish reunification, and the rise of fascism caused by terminal economic decline to look forward to now. Good times!
Fascism is on the rise in france and other european countries. We tend to tell them to get back in their baskets in this country
This and the thick of it are the best two shows to understand British politics.
The Greeks have defaulted on debts numerous times. When they went into the Euro, the books were like potatoes that had been boiled - for a day and a half.
Yes minister is my favourite documentary!
Without doubt,the best written and performed show ever on British T.V....untouchable.
Glad you did this one. The whole "on screen format " business is looking very tidy now, good job Alan, be well.
Ah, 1980...when 'word processors' were actual machines, not an app. Mind you, I'd been using a Telex machine and a hand-cranked photocopier barely 3 years earlier so they probably seemed like magic to me. A time when one could enjoy slamming the receiver down to end a call...there's no app to replicate that...yet.
I asked my parents for a word processor in the 1980s, but they got me a food processor by mistake. I ended up mincing my words.
Try to imagine as an American how it would feel if you were part of an institution that dictates how you run your country from let’s say Mexico City where they have their headquarters part of the year the other part of the year they will all shift off down to Buenos Aires. How would you feel about losing control of your country and at the same time you would be paying vast amounts of money into the common pot where much of the money simply disappears. The accounts for the EU have never been signed off because of this disappearance of money. Boris Johnson has made a cock up of so many things but at least he took us out of the EU
Is it really that different from the US federal government dictating terms to US states or the UK government dictating terms to its members in the union?
Yes I know two of them are countries whiles the EU is not but the fact remains that decisions are being made by a power far away.
But like all things, there's a balance of power from country and EU or from the US to states.
But the argument you are using could also apply to the US and UK, but in any case, if done right, there is a lot of benefits to being in the EU just like there is for US states being in the US.
As for the UK, we've been a joke ever since we left the EU and things don't look to be getting better with the civil war that's been building in the Tory party thanks to Brexit, in other words, don't expect any real change once the new leader is in power because the leadership isn't the problem, the party is, especially the ERG part of it and until us Brits get that, we're just going to keep lurching from one mess to another that will in the long run lead to Scotland and Northern Ireland wanting to leave the UK, after all, would you want to be ruled by this Tory lot?
What's funny about it, the Tories pushed for Brexit with the aim of keeping the party together and yet Brexit has created more divisions for the party that they could be heading for a slaughter at the next election.
@@paul1979uk2000NONSENSE
In a word, this is a perfect example of satire. Wonderfully executed too.
It’s almost like the NI protocol which we signed was just a smoke screen too get it past parliament 😂🤷♂️
If you liked this clip, I suggest you watch another one, where Humphrey explains what Britain is ACTUALLY doing inside the EEC!
ua-cam.com/video/ZVYqB0uTKlE/v-deo.html
deffinately, i actually thought thats what this video was going to be!
Well done for taking this on 👍. There's a lot British subtlety in this than many a Brit will miss ....
I highly recommend you watch 'The Thick of It' if you enjoyed this. The writer, Armando Ianucci was regularly asked by people within UK government how he was so accurate and predicted real events. You'll love it. Give this a like to let the boss man see...
When they're talking about the word processor format, you have to remember that this was made in 1986. There wasn't any standard format back then and cross-compatibility was limited. There were multiple different operating systems and many brands came with their own OS and WP.
The word processing standard is something that actually went through the EU and they settled on ODF (Open Document Format) as opposed to Microsoft Word. Microsoft had to add ODF as an option to Word after complaining bitterly about it (actually they did it quite quickly). It was to make sure that the various governments could pass documents amongst themselves digitally without any compatibility problems and not force people to make Mr Gates richer as a result.
ODF was a necessary choice since not everybody uses a Microsoft OS or word processor (I never would). Governments, wanting to put stuff on line increasingly, could not use a proprietary format obliging people to purchase a commercial product.
The EU has set up many of those standards, which has an impact on the whole world. A recent one is forcing the use of USB-C as a common charger for ALL mobile devices. This will make life much easier for the consumer. Apple will moan about it, but they will have to adopt it. If you buy an iphone in the future in the US, and it has a USB-C port, you can thank the EU for introducing/forcing that standard.
@@janickpauwels3792 another one the EU are claiming when the market is going that way anyway - the proposed a standardised charger about 7/8 years ago and never mentioned it again. Apple have had USB-C on iPads since 2018.
@@janickpauwels3792 The EU is currently fining Poland £1M per day for not accepting diktats on how their own judicial system should work.
The EU demanded they do what they say, the EU accused them of running their own affairs, the EU oversaw the court ruling, and the EU found them guilty and the EU issued the fine which is directly payable to them.
And remainers still don't understand it is there to destroy sovereignty and a huge criminal protection racket?
@@janickpauwels3792 never knew that was EU thing. Stupidity of brexit. We'll end up having to comply with most EU regulations anyway but will have no say in writing them and def no veto like only us, the French and Germans had.
The character playing “Sir Humphrey” is Nigel Hawthorne*, an absolutely amazing actor. He had to memorise various long winded, long worded speeches for every episode and every one of them was funny as heck and unfortunately very, very accurate. Looking back at the stories as told in Yes, Minister and later on, Yes, Prime Minister it was an incredible insight into the workings and thought processes used by our politicians and their enemies aka the Civil Service.
* that’s not to say that Paul Eddington as the Minister, or Derek Foulds as Bernard the PPS were anything other than amazing in this series.
This was such a good show and so funny because it so mirrored the truth.
There's a minor, original reason for the European experiment. At the time of the USA was playing its minor local disagreement, Europe was having to deal with Napoleon. A hundred years and countless deaths later in interminable, wars still following eternal precedent, humans got so good at it that for the sake of effeciency they mechanised it! Twenty years later, in keeping with the schedule, Europe was at it again. This time mechanisation and technology were vastly improved, birth of cruise missiles, invention of ICBM etc.
So come the end of the second half of the WW the leaders of the UK, France and W Germany had decided that the fixture couldn't be retained, not even if the schedule was extended from the approximate 2 decade time scale, it just wasn't viable any more.
Churchill lost His job, Labour had other priorities, France and W Germany got started. By the time that the UK was ready De Gaulle, to experienced to be an Anglophile, had influence and a veto. When the UK were eventually allowed to join it was to late to manipulate a controlling interest, engineering petty squabbles was still possible though.
The other one I like is the UK problem with its gristle filled fat tube, a perfectly contrived drama for local/media consumption that was inconsequential everywhere else.
France required the original basis of the European coal and steel community for an even narrower reason -to have sight of and some control over German industry and the thrrat that Germany would rearm again, Russian occupation of East Germany and NATO with forces from the US, France and Britainin west Germany solved that problem after about 1950 , but the original idea grew into the EU, and still was seen as a way of controling Germany after the experience of 1870, 1914 and 1939.
Imagine if the OAS had a congress in Panama and tried to tell the rest of the Americas what to do all the time.
Hi, You missed the best bit of that scene ..it comes next ! Made in the 1980s and is still relevant in the most today
It was VERY accurate to real life. That is because 2 of the shows advisors (secret) were working in government at the time. They not only told them of the dynamics between the civil service and the MP's, but of real life situations they had experienced.
Most of the episodes are based on real events, with just enough twisting to obscure their origin.
One great example of this is the episode "The official visit" - totally based on real events. lol
Don't forget that the basic point they were discussing was "word processing standards". Why is the font you use in printed documents worth fighting over? Most documents are online now anyway.
I'll make a prediction now: in two or three hundred years, episodes of this show will not only still be watched and enjoyed (goodness only knows what devices people will be watching them on), but in the ranks of great English political satire, they'll enjoy the same status that the works of Swifte and Chaucer do nowadays.
It's also timeless. The same things are still being said today as they were then, and in the same way.
The eec or eu as it is now operates similarly to states in the US. The states try to operate in the best way for the people that live in those states whilst the federal gov seems bent on issuing edicts which it then expects the states to carry out which seem designed to make life as difficult as possible.
It was never a show that was for or against any political movement or ideal. But poked fun at the whole establishment with the basis of a lot of truth.
A comedy that has not aged a day.
This is so true Brussels is a massive gravy train for bureaucrats National identity has been dying for years in Europe hence Brexit
Yes Minister was 30 years ahead of everybody else
Completely wrong in every way. This is what the British media have told you for 40 years. 1) the actual decisions in the EU are made by the (democratically elected) parliament and the (democratically elected) 27 national governments. The Commission does only 2 things: enforce already existing agreements, and propose new laws. Nobody in the EU is "ruled by Brussels". The existence of the EU also doesn't have any impact on national identity. Do you think Germans feel less German, or the French feel less French? Brexit is a disaster in every way. It brings zero advantages, only disadvantages. One simple example: UK companies will still follow all EU rules in the future, otherwise their products cannot be sold in the EU anymore. At the same time, the UK government has zero influence in these rules anymore. How is this situation better than what it was? The same can be said of about everything. You talk about vague principles like "identity" and "sovereignty", and you probably think that the damage to your economy is a price worth paying. The reality is that nobody took away your identity or sovereignty, but that the livelihoods of UK people and businesses have been severely impacted. Brexit is building huge walls between the UK and its closest neighbours. You are allegedly "opening up to the world" but you are forgetting that the (rest of) the world is a whole continent away. Brexit is cutting the lifeline between your island and the rest of YOUR OWN continent, in return for more SoVrEnTy.
@@janickpauwels3792 True, and well said.
@@janickpauwels3792 remember Germany and France run the EU try asking the other countries Brussels are draining away their sovereignty
The European Court of Justice runs everything what countries don’t have to obey it remember a year ago Germany Supreme Court overruled the European court and got away with it. France just ignores it. Look at the lavender ruling for one. They refuse to obey and get away with it no one else can so France and Germany don’t count they have a golden ticket. Now what about the other countries?
@@MikeSmith-ye9ho You are wrong virtually everywhere. Apparently you have no clue how the EU actually works. Yes, Germany and France have more influence than Belgium or Malta. Do you REALLY expect all countries to have equal power?? That would be ridiculous. The UK was the second biggest member, so it had a LOT of influence in what happened in the EU.The matter with the German supreme court is not yet resolved, so they did NOT get away with anything. It's not because you don't hear about it in your biased newspapers that nothing is happening.
@@janickpauwels3792 Balls ! The single market was never established for Services, because of the British dominance in this sector ... France and Germany constantly delayed it's completion. If the UK had refused to agree to free movement of people until the Services single market was completed, then we'd still be a member ... The EEC/EU was a means by which the humbled, invaded, and embarrassed French could still maintain some clout on the world stage, which their arrogant politicians and technocrats still do, backed by the German cheque book ... The EU laws and rules are ignored by both the French and Germans when they don't suit them ...
Watch the whole episode... actually I think the funniest bit in the entire episode is later when he's sitting at home with his wife. He gets a phone call from Brussels asking him if he wants to put his name up for consideration for one of the EU commissionerships. He gives the reasons why it would be the end for him in British politics and then he explains what it would entail and in the process convinces himself and his wife that it might be worth a shot.
@EB Got to dig out that DVD and watch FULL episodes.
Europe isn't a gravy train, its a gravy boat, its much bigger and goes much slower.
The permanent secretary (Humphry) would be a highly educated Oxford or Cambridge graduate (Harvard Yale equivalent). The most senior ministers would normally have just as good an education. There's a lot of clever people in government (both the civil servants and many of the M.P.s - lawmakers). Here, it's implied that the minister (Jim Hacker) might be the secretary's intellectual underling for comedic effect.
I loved the episode about UK defence and nuclear arms. Well worth a watch.
To translate into American: Just replace 'Brussels' with 'Washington' and 'nations' with 'states'.
But in the American Union, Washington has a shorter leash on States and aren't allowed to secede.
@@uncommon_name9337 Pretty much what I said and you could extend that to London for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The actor who played Bernard - younger of them was also in Heartbeat.
Are you thinking this is a documentary ?
One of the most cutting political comedy ever written. Ministers of the time had said it was uncomfortable because it was so accurate.
Very, very clever writing and an amazing cast made this outstanding tv.
The story in this episode is based on the difference in perspective between civil servant and politician. Brussels is code for Civil Service, road-blocking, and bureaucracy. towards the end of the story, Humphrey and Hacker change positions. The humour comes from them changing sides of the argument.
Glad you enjoyed that. Please embrace Blackadder, you'll giggle and laugh. Anyhow much joy.
i remember watching this when it first hit the tv,
When you going to put up some "Drop The Dead Donkey"?
Hello Alan. I probably commented this before, but I used to watch this in fits of laughter at university with Alok Sharma, who is the UK minister organising the Glasgow climate conference.
Still so funny.
Yes Minister was one of the cleverest and funniest things on British tv. It showed politics as it really is….baffling, ludicrous and self-serving! Everyone should watch it. True class! 🤣👏👏👏
Hey Allen, the funny thing is when it comes to Brexit most of the older generation voted leave because we lived through these times, we understood what it like to join the EEC/EU and realised what we had already lost and what we stood to lose by remaining, although this is an "old" comedy series it is incredibly accurate to what was going on in the country at the time, there was actual insiders in parliament who would pass the information to the writers and believe it or not, only the most ridiculous of incidents were not used as it was thought they were too unbelievable. Both series are an open window into the political side of the UK.
Well put sir....
The whole line about the Germans is so brutal lol
As someone who has taught C1 and C2 (Advanced and Proficiency levels) English with the aid of this gem of the first water, this is probably my single most used scene.
Check out "The New Statesman" starring Rik Mayall (of "Bottom") - hilarious 1980s comedy show about a Tory MP!
it explains a lot about the EU and UK and even now decades later.. the EU once tried to pass a law to make the banana size a standard, no none standard banana;s In truth, the European Union does have a banana law. Regulation 2257/94 decrees that bananas should meet minimum quality standards such as being 'free from malformation or abnormal curvature of the fingers'. The law does not outright ban bendy bananas.5 Oct 2020
The EU fruit classification regulations refer only to the size and appearance of the fruit. They are therefore worse than useless because all that matters is what the fruit tastes like. English Russet Apples are delicious, for example, but can never be EU Class 1 because they do not naturally grow to sufficient size.
Beyond belief....
@@allenwilliams1306 Why does it matter that these apples are not class 1? These classes are meant to be just that: classifications of fruit. This way, if you buy bananas sight unseen, and they are supposed to be class 1, you know what you should get. If you get something else, you can complain. If your English Russet apples do not comply to class 1 then just don't sell them as class 1. Just describe how the apples really are and why they are delicious and different, and people who know their stuff will still buy them. These rules are absolutely not useless, if you run a supermarket and want to buy all kinds of stuff from all kinds of suppliers. It is vital that there are standards and classifications so that you can quickly agree what you are selling/buying, without having to negotiate with each supplier about how many bruises are acceptable per banana. These rules don't stop the supermarket from buying specialty fruits/products with different properties.
@@allenwilliams1306 while you are correct in that the class system only relates to the overall size and appearance of a fruit not it's acual quality you are wrong when you say that an english russet apple can't be a Class 1 as the classification is given to each variety of apple not just apples in general.
@@janickpauwels3792 I have never read such complete nonsense. Any bulk purchaser of fruit can simply issue their own specification for size and appearance if they are so inclined. There is absolutely no need for some bureaucrat to intervene with their own specification. Producers should be free to grow and pack their fruit without wasting time and money classifying them according to some absurd EU criteria. As for the consumer, the EU classification is completely irrelevant, because, as I said, all that matters is the taste, and the EU standard is completely unconcerned with this.
This is my favourite show when i was a teenager, and unfortunately it is still true and relevant today, about the EU and other things.
I've just looked in your archives and am quite surprised there's no Rab C Nesbitt. Anything will do really. Just watch episode 1 if you're unsure. If you ever thought you knew what people in schotland sound like, let me shake the foundations of your world with thid one.
I second that. Rab C. is one of THE philosophers of our times
This show was soooooo far ahead of it’s time!
It doesn't need any explanation. It explains itself.
As someone who is not British it's interesting to see how little the British understood then and now the idea of countries working together for the greater good. No country has to accept anything it doesn't want but most decisions are for the benefit of the member countries. Indeed many of the regulations were British innovations.
Thanks Mr E.B.
The dynamic is that of a politician trying to effect change and a senior civil servant trying to maintain the status quo.
Like Basil Fawlty, who thought that his hotel would run beautifully were it not for the guests, Humphrey believed that government would work perfectly if not for politicians.