I used to drive taxis while at university and often waited in line at the Victorian State Parliament for passengers. A regular fare was a high ranking public servant and I asked him once did he ever watch "Yes Minister" or "Yes Prime Minister" and he said "rarely". When I inquired why - he said his job was the equivalent to Sir Humphrey, and he "didn't like to see himself on television". I joked that it was just a satire. He laughed and said it was "uncomfortably close" to reality. If that's not an endorsement of the show - I don't know what is!

"We were going to be repeating ourselves. If we didn't have anything more to say, I wanted to stop." Hollywood has absolutely no idea what language you're even speaking in...

RIP Nigel, Derek, and Paul. Your work on these two TV shows has made you immortal.

I was not even born when the show started and only discovered it a few years ago. I believe it is one of the wittiest and funniest shows ever made on TV or on film. It is a masterpiece of comedy with absolutely the finest cast ever. All of them are comedy geniuses, writers and actors alike.

14:35 [People were] "so sick of the politicians. They were so sick of the hypocrisy and the lying and the evasion." Thank goodness we don't have that any more in 2022...

40yrs old and still as relevant today. Genius

Paul Eddington was a rare human being, unusual in his nobility, humility, sense of responsibility and compassion. I still recall an interview he gave near the end of his life: When asked how he would like to be remembered, he replied to the effect "I would like to have only done a little harm. It seems to me that most people do a great deal, but I hope I have only done a little."

My grandfather worked as civil servant from the early 50s to the late 80s and he always said that the show was worrying very accurate

Even here in New Zealand our own mps still make references to this show when berating the opposition or policy.😆

nothing has changed in the world of politics. The relevance is still there, even here in Sweden. I watched the series from the start in the early eighties and it still works beautifully. 👍

Everyone involved in this series is a superstar in my eyes and has more credibility than any British Politician then and since!

MY favorite character was Sir Humphrey. I loved that series. I still watch old episodes here on UKposts.

Poor Derek Fowlds. Consistently had some of the best lines best delivered in the show, but was always in the shade of Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne. Hammered home by the abrupt ending in the middle of his last comment in the doco.

Absolutely, hands down the best and highest standard situation comedy the Brits have ever produced.

Sir Humphrey was an encyclopedic guide to political double-dealing. Politicians ever since seem to have referred to the series as a kind of guide but they fail to realise that it was meant to be a guide about what NOT to do. Amazing comedy but in a way sad that it is so accurate.

"I couldn't stop him." "Why not?" "He's bigger than me."

Might be the best written show ever

I'm buying the complete box set now that I'm jaded enough, old enough to appreciate it.

it's all still true in the year 2023 they all deserve and are worthy of a CBE

During lockdown I watched every episode of each series pretty much back to back.. Not only has it not aged, but you forget just how bloody amazing the timing was on this program. The one liners by Bernard has me in stitches... but of every episode, every speech there is only one, mentioned here in this video that stands out for all time. Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country. The Times is read by the people who actually do run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who own the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country. And The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is. HUMPHREY: Prime Minister, what about people who read The Sun? BERNARD: Sun readers don't care who runs the country as long as she's got big tits.

This will always be my absolute favorite show EVER.

I remember giggling to Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister decades ago.

one of the best comedy series ever made. Great characters, great actors and great writers. For a series to be successful, all these elements have to come together. In this series all of them meshed perfectly. The actors complemented each other to produce the best comedy. Being non British, it gives me a great but a funny window into the workings of the UK govt. I love watching the episodes. Funny thing is, after so many years, it is still relevant in today's context. I guess, somethings never change.

I read Philosophy and Politics at University (not Oxford or Cambridge, or even the LSE!) and I simply quoted parts of YM/YPM and walked out with an Upper Second. The whole series is a documentary, even today: trouble in Europe, cancelling Trident, budget cuts, defence cuts, trouble with Russia, trouble in the Middle East...

I met John Nettleton when he was performing in Sheffield a very nice man.

The cleverest, most insightful, superbly written satire ever

best documentary series ever!

Still love this show.

Rip Mr Derek.

My SIL was an ambassador for 10 years and we gifted her the complete series to watch . She absolutely loved it. It is timeless and rings true for every western European country, I would say.

This Is probably the best sitcoms ever made. Its relevant even today and will probably be for a long time.

I love British comedy💕

Absolutely brilliant scripts, brilliantly acted.

Genius British satire

In far away Australia it was very well-received. We have all the DVDs and a couple of my grandsons loved to watch them with me in their early teens. .

Probably the best show on TV. The characters were marvelous, the writing was witty, and the tension between them all made for a great production. Bless them all.

it was a wonderful series, full of convoluted monologues, mainly by Sir Humphrey. the rapport between the 3 main actors was wonderful, with Bernard usually having the punchline. it must be very difficult for writers to maintain the quality of their scripts during a long-running series, but Lynn and Jay somehow managed it. every episode was a gem and millions tuned in every week to watch. Oh, that we had such quality now in these days of multi-channel mediocrity

Hands down the best tv comedy ever

One of the top best shows.

Wonderful, and still relevant... and still very funny!!!

Pure genius and timeless.

My all time favourite TV sitcom. Pure genius, both in the script and the acting.

Genius, up there with the best.

'All tiem comedy gold. YM/YPM are up there with the very best of sitcoms. They combine superb writing with perfect comedic acting.

The writing, wordplay and acting is phenomenal. It’s so witty and precisely delivered it surpasses time yet still holds a certain level of nostalgia which brings warmth to seemingly flat subject matter. Excellent tv.

The absolute best series ever... Ever... Ever.

and I still love to watch the episodes! And laugh a lot! So absolutely right and wonderful script! Best comedy show......EVER!

Scarily close to the current situation in Australia with Scotty from Photo Ops in charge.

26:25 An amazing comedic skill that Paul had (particularly visually), and I’m so glad that that otherwise generally underrated quality of his was so aptly highlighted in this documentary!! Yes Nigel Hawthorne had immense skill and deservingly won various awards for portraying Sir Humphrey, but surely Paul also deserved some too for portraying Jim.

So much Genius in this show, great acting and great writing, god bless them all for giving us this comedy classic

Great video...Sir Humphrey was divine. My favorite TV character ever.

I still see things every day that remind me of one episode or another! It's completely timeless with themes that recur again and again, and you realise that nothing changes in politics! The dialogue is also absolutely spot on every time, and delivered perfectly. I will never tire of watching it. :-)

It's a real shame it ended so abruptly without a proper finale. The whole last season was building up to an election. It should have at least finished with the election. That's my only complaint with an otherwise brilliant 5 seasons.

"who fixed it for Jim" oof now there's a reference that dates this episode.... Doubt the BBC would reference Saville anymore 😅

In the late 70s, my father's cousin came to stay who was an MP here in New Zealand, We were all outside enjoying a summer evening and yes minister came on, we all went inside except Dads cousin, I went out and said are you coming in, he stated that it was far too close to the realities of government for him to find it amusing.

Thanks for uploading this 🙏

Yes, Yes, Yes, Amazing, Creative , Funny, Thank you !!!!!!!!!!!

Wonderful episodes .. those were the days...memories of watching in hotel lounges when "on the road 40 years ago.

Got the box set for Christmas and will watch it over and over again, love it

An absolute masterpiece that's stood the test of time. I'm so glad the bbc filmed this interview to explain the journey of the cast before, during and after the show. It's interesting to see the process they went through to create this comical genius of a show

Thank You for uploading this. A superb series, one of the crowning jewels in British Television.

‘Allo ‘Allo, Cheers, Dad’s army, Frasier, Yes minister - all brilliant comedy. But the last two are pure genius, and in the same way: they are intelligent. Binge watch them - the way the characters develop and their personas are woven into the scripts is comedy magic.

Great comedy. Wonderful scripts and brilliant acting.

I love yes Minister I have these on DVDs

Excellent series- both of them. Favourite joke/theme: "We must do something. This is something, therefore we must do it'. As an ex public servant, manys the time this was true.

Wouldn't have watched this in my 20's, but now in my 60's it's pure gold.

Phenomenal show

Thank you just absolutely brilliant.

Just so clever and fabulous!

Everyone was so good in this show, but Nigel Hawthorne was just breathtaking. He was enthralling in every scene he appeared in.

I loved it then and still love it today. Genius writing, impeccable comedy acting and exquisite directing never ever gets old. For me it could never be remade with other actors. How can you replace the perfection of Paul, Nigel and Derek who are the holy trinity of the series.

I first watched the entire run about 15 years ago, and love catching an individual episode still. And there is still an air of truth to it…

I really enjoyed watching this. Thank you Ben.

Thank you for this. These characters have entered British folklore and legend; everyone will know what's meant as soon as their names are mentioned. There was an audiobook "How to beat Sir Humphrey" - narrated, naturally, by Derek Fowlds - on how to beat officialdom when it's being obstructive. it might still be around in book or audio format.

Love this show !

The amazing thing about this series was that it was 'politically incorrect', thankfully. The comedy won over so well because of he characters, while the 'politics' were just a stage.

Spot on with readers of The Guardian as regards “Who reads the papers”.

Quite simply a magnificent programme!

Thanks for posting.

Clever point. Antony Jay and John Cleese went into business together specialising in funny training films. 4:08 "All training films had been really boring, hitherto, because they show people how to do a job right. And Tony realised the way to make them entertaining was to show them how to do it wrong." 21:40 "Yes Minister is a series of training films for politicians. It's 'How Not to Run the Government'. If they would only view it in that light, we might generally all be better off."

Wonderful share, thank you

One of the best comedy’s I have ever seen

I worked for 7 years in the 90's in various capacities for a minister and vice prime minister (advisor,press and translator) and the show was spot on, depresssingly so. At first viewing, I was more quiet than laughing. To the annoyance of my wife, I Often hit the pause button explaining that these things DID and DO happen. Now 20 of 30 years later, I still watch the series. Timeless quality and eternally real. And extremely funny.

One of my favorite series ever. Lol

Paul Eddington was in some Benny Hill shows as well.

Without doubt , one of the greatest shows ever to be written, superb in every aspect…👍. Closely followed by “ The New Statesman, starring Rick Mayall 😉

A true work of genius. And proves the point, along with fawlty towers and the second series of black adder, that most works of genius are the products of more than the single life experince of just one mind. Which goes a long way in enforcing the idea that shakespeare was more than just one man

I absolutely loved all 5 series of this show ... I still do. Brilliantly acted and awesome scripts. Bernard definitely deserved his K, too! 😊

Perhaps it is one of the best documentary series ever produced by the BBC.

It's hard to believe the British people could be disillusioned with politician's! In retrospect it wasn't nearly silly enough!

"Yes Minister" "Yes Prime Minister" and "Only Fools and Horses" are the three greatest and funniest shows of all time.

THE SMUGNESS on Nigel's face was so authentic its really really hard to understand why he struggled 30 yrs to get his big break. They could have taken him much earlier in other films and shows

can't beat the actual comedy now ongoing in the House of Commons

(Heavy sigh!)...Yes, Prime Minister, Fawlty Towers, and Mister Bean. Far and away some of the best comedy the world has EVER known!

Absolutely top top comedy series! I’ve never tired watching Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister despite watching and rewatching it over the years!

loved it and still do.

Brilliant show.

I love Sir Humphrey's long winded monologues, and the Minister's efforts to follow them ! There's a classic one here , around 17.50.! 🇬🇧😊🇬🇧😊🇬🇧💕 😊💕🇬🇧💕😊🇬🇧

A brilliant series

One of the best British TV sitcoms ever. Up there with Blackadder (except Series 1) and Fawlty Towers. I'm biased; I have the DVD box set of all three.