Yes Minister
Season 2
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 2 of Yes Minister (1980–1984) on BBC Two as a mid listed season (2; 2 of 3) — 7 listed hours, 1981-02-23–1981-04-06 from “The Compassionate Society” (S02E01) to “A Question of Loyalty” (S02E07). Titles, dates, and synopses on file — no invented recaps.
Desk essentials in this season
- S02E01 The Compassionate Society
The Compassionate Society is season two's compassion title: workplace sitcom as chess, the pawn not yet promoted to Prime Minister.
-
S02E01 The Compassionate Society
Minister for administrative affairs Jim Hacker struggles to cut administrative staff in the Health Service.
-
S02E02 Doing the Honours
Humphrey's old school network come in handy when he wants to scupper Jim's budget plans.
-
S02E03 The Death List
The minister is shocked to discover that his department is responsible for supplying all of the government's electronic surveillance equipment.
-
S02E04 The Greasy Pole
Jim discovers that the outcome of scientific reports can be manipulated if needs be.
-
S02E05 The Devil You Know
The date of a cabinet re-shuffle coincides with Jim's appointment in Brussels.
-
S02E06 The Quality of Life
Jim's eco-friendly policies are compromised when plans are hatched to turn a city farm into a Civil Service car park.
-
S02E07 A Question of Loyalty
Hacker and Sir Humphrey are called to appear before a Select Committee looking into government expenditure, and Hacker must choose between toeing the party line and doing what the Civil Service want him to do.
More from the 1980s.