Yes Minister stars Paul Eddington as Jim Hacker and Nigel Hawthorn as Sir Humphrey Appleby, with Derek Fowldes as Bernard Woolley.
This is a BBC situation comedy from the 1980s, written by Anthony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. The comedy derives from the characters and situation, the situation being the public and private life of a British politician.
The three principal characters are Jim Hacker MP, who recently has become the Minister for Administrative Affairs, a (fictional) post in the British Government; his chief antagonist, Sir Humphrey, a senior civil servant who is head of the Government Department for which Hacker is now responsible; and Bernard Woolley, a junior civil servant who is in charge of the day-to-day running of the Minister's office in the Department, who has a conflict of loyalties whenever (as is usually the case) Hacker and Sir Humphrey are at odds over some point of Government policy.
The comedy derives mainly from the shortcomings of the central character, Jim Hacker: his vanity, pomposity and cowardliness; all of which Sir Humphrey plays on to manipulate Hacker into doing what he wants him to do.
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Reviewer:whist - - December 17, 2008 Subject: Wicked political satire YM is probably better known in its TV incarnation. The radio version came out later, I believe, but the scripts are the same. I've watched YM so many times, on TV, on video, and on dvd, that I can see the actors' faces and visualize the sets. But if you've never seen it on TV, you can 'watch' YM on the radio with just as much pleasure. Sit back and be appalled pink as Jim Hacker and Humphrey Appelby take turns making a pig's breakfast of British democracy.
Reviewer:XMinusOne - - December 13, 2008 Subject: Radio Version of a Great British Television Show I remember the television show being broadcast in several British Commonwealth countries in the early 1980s; it was fascinating that some otherwise straight-laced countries laughed so much at the show as it parodied the operation of British Government; the show was funny in typical British humor style, very funny. It was a show that people made sure they watched, first because it was funny, and second because others would be talking about "last night's show" the following morning. The radio episodes are true to the television scripts; what's missing, obviously, is the visual, the look of the "Minister" as he faces his staff, etc.
If you've watched the television show, I don't think you'll like the radio show as much; if you've never watched the television show, you'll find the radio version humorous. While I loved the television show (if you can love a television show) and think it's funny even after repeated viewings, I don't think the radio version holds its humor after a second hearing.
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