Yes Minister
Season 1
7 listed hours · 1980–1984 · BBC Two
From the desk
How this season is filed
Civil-service comedy as chess: Paul Eddington's minister, Nigel Hawthorne's Sir Humphrey, and doublespeak so precise that real cabinets quoted it. Yes, Minister, with a knife behind the smile — then Yes, Prime Minister when the pawn gets promoted. Thatcher reportedly loved it, which is either the joke or the warning. Still the smartest workplace sitcom about power.
TV Flash files Season 1 of Yes Minister (1980–1984) on BBC Two as the first listed season of 3 — 7 listed hours, 1980-02-25–1980-04-07 from “Open Government” (S01E01) to “Jobs for the Boys” (S01E07). Titles, dates, and synopses on file — no invented recaps.
Desk essentials in this season
- S01E01 Open Government
Open Government is Eddington versus Hawthorne: the minister, Sir Humphrey, a knife behind the smile. Openness as the first joke.
- S01E06 The Right to Know
The Right to Know is early-run title as the war: doublespeak so precise real cabinets quoted it, Thatcher-love already the warning.
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S01E01 Open Government
The Rt Hon Jim Hacker, newly appointed Minister for Administrative Affairs, finds his idealism challenged from the start.
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S01E02 The Official Visit
Jim receives an African President, who turns out to be a friend from his university days.
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S01E03 The Economy Drive
Jim attempts to initiate an economy drive within the Civil Service.
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S01E04 Big Brother
Sir Humphrey is concerned about a new National Integrated Database.
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S01E05 The Writing on the Wall
Jim Hacker MP is considering the introduction of identity cards.
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S01E06 The Right to Know
Sir Humphrey is bothered by the controversy surrounding an endangered badger colony.
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S01E07 Jobs for the Boys
Jim seeks help from a banker when a pet project seems near to collapse.
More from the 1980s.