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In the computer game, Bernard warns Jim Hacker not to choose Scotland the Brave as a song for his Desert Island Discs radio interview as it might imply support for devolution. Judging from Humphrey's comments in The Official Visit, he has a low opinion of Scotland and its people so i would wager that he and Bernard didn't support the 1970s referendum on a Scottish Executive and Assembly, either

I'm writing a fanfiction where the United Kingdom of Yes Minister is transported to our world on the evening of September 11 2001. How will Hacker and the others who are from a fictional 1980s deal with the crisis, is the question that i hope to answer in this story. Also, in Yes (Prime) Minister, the Foreign Office, apart from being completely disconnected from what PM Hacker wants, has contempt for Americans, so i can't see them working well with the 2001 American government.

I think the UK Foreign Office has always had contempt for foreigners. Where will we be able to read your opus?

The FO holds everyone in contempt its the skill that gave them the edge in days of Empire and as they are charged with holding our place in the world they can and do over ride the PM and Chancellor if needs be.

I want to post on YPM but it doesn't have its own thread. Assuming this one covers both then just wanted to say after watching a superb Sir Humphrey deflating ep of YPM, which has lost none of its brilliance since I first saw it, how much of it was just three characters bouncing off each other to sitcom perfection.

A great lesson to scribblers, this and Hancock, Steptoe & Son, Likely Lads, much of Porridge centred around a bare minimum of characters and are all highly regarded for their scripts. In other words, you could hardly do better than watching these to learn your trade. YM or YPM can show you how clever snappy dialogue can transform any middling or confined setting or situation, imo, my advice give it a go.

If only this show was no longer relevant. Happy birthday.

Sir Humphrey would be horrified at Boris Johnson and Priti Patel's current attacks on the civil service.

I kind of want to write an AU where Hacker has a second daughter that's quite a bit younger than the series's Lucy. Young enough that Bernard always sneaks her biscuit or two from a tin he has in his desk. We never really saw Jim Hacker dealing with a young child or how Humphrey and the rest would use it.

Quote: Natalie Salat @ 31st March 2020, 4:14 AM

I kind of want to write an AU where Hacker has a second daughter that's quite a bit younger than the series's Lucy. Young enough that Bernard always sneaks her biscuit or two from a tin he has in his desk. We never really saw Jim Hacker dealing with a young child or how Humphrey and the rest would use it.

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Get writing!

Although in some ways Jim Hacker was the young child and Sir Humphrey and Bernard were his parents.

I'm pretty sure they did a contagious disease ep but can't remember if there was a national lockdown or not. If anyone knows if there was can they post the episode's outcome to the current PM as I'm sure it ended well. Just follow that would be my advice.

I've wanted to do a YPM fanfiction where Sir Humphrey is like Francis Urquhart from "House of Cards" - putting rat poison in Frank Wiesel's cocaine and arranging for Dorothy Wainwright to be blown up by a car bomb.

Watching YPM again on BBC 4. It seems better than ever to me, possibly because of all the news stories about bullying, personality clashes and crafty special advisers we get these days. These episodes seem to blueprint all the machinations we love hearing about now. They were obviously going on back then too, but the press was effectively kept from splashing them all over every media outlet as they do now.

I can't believe why most people say YM is the better series. Almost every episode I see of this later series is a belter, such as The Key shown the other day. Based on this rerun I'd have to pick YPM as the better series, just because I can't believe YM could have been this good each episode. And the fact he is now the PM gives it that extra edge, I'm much more engaged in the power struggles Hacker has with the meddling Sir Humphrey because he's the nation's leader.

Quote: Paul Wimsett @ 25th February 2020, 8:30 AM

If only this show was no longer relevant. Happy birthday.

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Yes it seems more relevant than ever right now.