List of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister episodes
This is a list of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister episodes.
Thirty-nine episodes were made in total, running from 1980 to 1988. This includes a brief 3-minute sketch that aired in 1982, and a one-hour special that aired in 1984. All other episodes were a half-hour in length. The dates listed are when a particular episode was first transmitted on the BBC.
Yes Minister
Series One (1980)
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
"Open Government" |
25 February |
The new Minister's idealistic commitment to open the windows of his department faces its first hurdle: Sir Humphrey and the Civil Service. |
| 2 |
"The Official Visit" |
3 March |
Jim Hacker welcomes the visit of the new President of Buranda, an old university chum who has his own agenda. |
| 3 |
"The Economy Drive" |
10 March |
Hacker plans to slim down the civil service — but Sir Humphrey forces him to set a personal example. |
| 4 |
"Big Brother" |
17 March |
Sir Humphrey drags his feet over a new National Integrated Database. |
| 5 |
"The Writing on the Wall" |
24 March |
The threat of the abolition of the DAA forces Hacker and Sir Humphrey to work together. |
| 6 |
"The Right to Know" |
31 March |
A threatened badger colony demonstrates that Sir Humphrey must be selective in what he tells his Minister. |
| 7 |
"Jobs for the Boys" |
7 April |
Hacker is kept in the dark over a doomed building project, and discovers that it takes two to quango. |
Series Two (1981)
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
"The Compassionate Society" |
23 February |
Hacker is concerned about a brand new, fully staffed hospital that has no patients. He learns however just how powerful the unions are. |
| 2 |
"Doing the Honours" |
2 March |
Hacker plans to withhold honours for civil servants who do not reduce their budgets. |
| 3 |
"The Death List" |
9 March |
The Minister is forced to re-appraise his views on bugging and phone tapping after a death threat. |
| 4 |
"The Greasy Pole" |
16 March |
Plans for a new chemical factory hinge on the outcome of a so-called "independent" report. |
| 5 |
"The Devil You Know" |
23 March |
A Cabinet reshuffle coincides with a vacancy in Brussels. Hacker wonders whom the PM has in mind to fill it. |
| 6 |
"The Quality of Life" |
30 March |
Hacker vows to keep open a city farm that Sir Humphrey has enabled to be bulldozed to make way for a car park for inland revenue inspectors. |
| 7 |
"A Question of Loyalty" |
6 April |
Hacker and Sir Humphrey are tested by a Select Committee on their commitment to ridding wasted government expenditure. |
Series Three (1982)
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
"Equal Opportunities" |
11 November |
Sir Humphrey doesn't see eye to eye with the Minister's plan for sexual equality. |
| 2 |
"The Challenge" |
18 November |
Fallout shelters upset Hacker's crusade to make local authorities responsible for their expenditure. |
| 3 |
"The Skeleton in the Cupboard" |
25 November |
Details of a 1950s defence contract are about to be made public — and Sir Humphrey seems unaccountably nervous. |
| 4 |
"The Moral Dimension" |
2 December |
After signing a huge export order in Qumran, Hacker is upset to discover it was obtained through bribery. |
| 5 |
"The Bed of Nails" |
9 December |
Hacker is made Transport Supremo — and soon wonders if it is a title worth having. |
| 6 |
"The Whisky Priest" |
16 December |
Hacker faces a moral dilemma when he learns that British bombs are ending up in the hands of Italian terrorists. |
| 7 |
"The Middle-Class Rip-Off" |
23 December |
Sir Humphrey is incensed that Hacker plans to subsidise his local football club. |
Christmas Sketch (1982)
A brief Christmas-themed sketch, featuring only Eddington, Hawthorne and Fowlds, was aired on BBC1 as part of a Christmas special entitled The Funny Side Of Christmas.
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| - |
Untitled |
27 December |
Sir Humphrey has a special end-of-year message for the Minister, delivered -- even for him -- in an especially circumlocutory style. |
Christmas special (1984)
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| – |
"Party Games" |
17 December |
The unexpected resignation of the PM prompts a race for the succession, and as Party Chairman, Hacker is in a key position — and the Civil Service, now headed by Sir Humphrey, has its own agenda. |
Yes, Prime Minister
Series One (1986)
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
"The Grand Design" |
9 January |
With his finger now on the nuclear button, Hacker plans his first act as Prime Minister to be a radical new defence policy. |
| 2 |
"The Ministerial Broadcast" |
16 January |
Hacker is groomed for his first television broadcast as PM, but Sir Humphrey is more concerned with the content. |
| 3 |
"The Smoke Screen" |
23 January |
Hacker uses his Health Minister's plan to eliminate smoking as a bluff against the Treasury. |
| 4 |
"The Key" |
30 January |
The PM decides to clip Sir Humphrey's wings when he engages in a territorial battle with Hacker's political advisor. |
| 5 |
"A Real Partnership" |
6 February |
Sir Humphrey has to get through a civil service pay claim while at the same time discrediting its proposer. |
| 6 |
"A Victory for Democracy" |
13 February |
Hacker has difficulty discovering if the Foreign Office is there to carry out government policy or vice versa. |
| 7 |
"The Bishop's Gambit" |
20 February |
A troubled British nurse in Qumran and a vacant bishopric combine to provide an opportunity for Sir Humphrey. |
| 8 |
"One of Us" |
27 February |
The former head of MI5 is revealed to be a spy (despite Sir Humphrey clearing him), while a dog strays on to Salisbury Plain. |
Series Two (1987–88)
| # |
Title |
Broadcast |
Synopsis |
| 1 |
"Man Overboard" |
3 December |
Sir Humphrey fights the Employment Secretary's plan to relocate service personnel by casting doubt over the Minister's loyalty. |
| 2 |
"Official Secrets" |
10 December |
Hacker's attempt to suppress an unflattering chapter of his predecessor's memoirs that has been leaked to the press. |
| 3 |
"A Diplomatic Incident" |
17 December |
The death of Hacker's predecessor provides a chance for some negotiations with the French over the Channel Tunnel at his state funeral. |
| 4 |
"A Conflict of Interest" |
23 December[1] |
Hacker can avoid a City scandal if he appoints a Bank of England Governor whose honesty isn't beyond reproach. |
| 5 |
"Power to the People" |
7 January |
Sir Humphrey and the leader of Houndsworth Council become strange bedfellows when Hacker tries to reform local government. |
| 6 |
"The Patron of the Arts" |
14 January |
Hacker's invitation to the British Theatre Awards dinner becomes a hot potato when the size of the Arts Council grant is revealed. |
| 7 |
"The National Education Service" |
21 January |
When the Department of Education and Science stands in the way of reform, Hacker decides to abolish it. |
| 8 |
"The Tangled Web" |
28 January |
When Hacker unwittingly lies to the House of Commons he is helped by Sir Humphrey's unfortunate indiscretion. |
References
External links
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Episodes
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| Yes Minister S1 |
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| Yes Minister S2 |
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| Yes Minister S3 |
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| Special |
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| Yes, Prime Minister S1 |
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| Yes, Prime Minister S2 |
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