Customer Reviews
Sublime - By: I. Brown, 03 Oct 2008 
What can you say? The BBC's finest moment? Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister are political comedy that do not grow old. You can ignore the brown suits & the interiors, & still feel that the themes & issues are as relevant today as ever. You cannot feel anything but fondness for this brilliantly scripted, witty, sharp & gloriously acted classic.
Jim Hacker is a minister of the crown in a newly elected government. Reliant on his private secretary, Bernard Wooley, for help navigating the complexities of government. Hacker grows into the role, developing the occassional Churchillian conceit, but always remains an affectionate character, even in the depths of his pollitical paranoia. Wooley evolves through these series from a lamb, barely able to help himself never mind his minister, to a wolf cub: still young but growing teeth. The master is of course the cabinet secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, one of the greatest characters ever to appear on TV. Sir Humphrey is machiavellian & delights in the exercise of power. Slowly though the unthinkable evolves, Hacker, with tacit aid from Wooley (who has dual alllegiances), begins to exert some measure of authority. The man who studied Classics at Oxford graduallly realises that the minister, who studied at London School of Economics, which is almost as bad as Essex University, is worthy of respect.
Public Service at its best - By: Ms. Ajm Wameyo, 30 Jun 2007 My boss told me about this series & gave an example of the fully staffed hospital with no patients. I wasnt disappointed by the series & it taught me alot about office dynamics especiallly for a new comer & the difficulty in pushing through any reform agenda. I hope this series can be part of a taught course at Harvard's, Kennedy School of Government or Ecole Nationale D'Administration. Ofcourse we dont expect the scholars to learn from Sir Humphrey!! I work for a public sector organisation & there are so many similarities in the way busines is done,it is uncanny. I loved the humour too...I almost took notes. I like the Bernard character as He is reallly about your average person in the office caught between a rock & a hard place. How do you make an impact when you are not a major player & when you are between two antagonists..It aint an easy balance. I find Mr Hacker being cast as abit too daft, unrealisticallly so. So his rise to PM is rather abrupt for me as he hasnt matured sufficiently. I have ordered Yes Prime Minister & I hope it will not disappoint.
Fantastic - By: Mr. Ar French, 18 Apr 2007 First im just going to say im 18 so just goes to show that the old comedy is the best. Love this great classic comedy series & have just purchased yes prime minister series 1 & 2. Think Paul Eddington plays his part very well (same as the good life) & the script is hilarious & clever. I have many old comedy dvd's starting from 1960-2007 & this is one of my favourite. Its outstanding. Also if you didnt know Margaret Thatcher also loved this & aparently write a smalll script for it herself it icluded her, paul & nigel hawthorne i think it was nigel hawthorne but the old pm also liked it. If you like any comedy you will enjoy it.
Stupendously good - By: S J Buck, 26 Nov 2006 This is up there with the best TV comedy of alll time. Fawlty Towers, Dads Army, Seinfeld, Black Adder & The Office - it merits comparison with alll of these, its that good.
Paul Eddington is brilliant as Jim Hacker, the Minister of the title. A decent man who is destined to become Prime Minister, but who is greatly hindered by his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby. Appleby, as played by Sir Nigel Hawthorne IS one of the greatest TV comedy characters ever created. A man with only one interest; protecting the Civil Service & its staff. He also ensures that if anything is done by the Minister it is done exactly as the Civil Service wish it to be done, regardless of cost & damage to the Government.
Apart from the casts brilliance & the marvellous scripts, the reason this show is so successful is that it is very close to the truth, as was admitted by the writers many years after the series finished. The writers met & got inside information on the running of Government departments. So whilst there is some dramatic licence the essence of each episode probably has some basis in truth.
Derek Fowlds plays the lesser role of Bernard Woolley, a slightly innocent Private Secretary, but given some wonderful lines by writers Jay & Lynn. Bernards petty observations contrast wonderfully with the Machiavellian plotting going on between Hacker & Sir Humphrey.
This boxed set has no extras, which is a shame. However the quality of the writing & acting is such that it must get 5 stars.
Brilliant but--- why no subtitles? - By: J. L. Vergaert, 14 Nov 2006 
As a non native English speaker, I do enjoy the serie, & use it for the good purpose of confusing my Anglo-Saxon colleagues who would try to impress me in the corporate world. The humour & acting are definitively fantastic.
But why isn't there any subtitle (even in English)? This would have been helpful...
