This is a list of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister episodes.
Thirty-eight episodes were made in total, running from 1980 to 1988. The dates listed are when a particular episode was first transmitted on the BBC.
Yes Minister
Series One (1980)
# | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Open Government" | 25 February | The new Minister's idealistic commitment to open the windows of his department faces its first hurdle: Sir Humphrey and the Civil Service. |
2 | "The Official Visit" | 3 March | Jim Hacker welcomes the visit of the President of Buranda, an old university chum who has his own agenda. |
3 | "The Economy Drive" | 10 March | Hacker plans to slim down the civil service — but Sir Humphrey forces him to set a personal example. |
4 | "Big Brother" | 17 March | Sir Humphrey drags his feet over a new National Integrated Database. |
5 | "The Writing on the Wall" | 24 March | The threat of the abolition of the DAA forces Hacker and Sir Humphrey to work together. |
6 | "The Right to Know" | 31 March | A threatened badger colony demonstrates that Sir Humphrey must be selective in what he tells his Minister. |
7 | "Jobs for the Boys" | 7 April | Hacker is kept in the dark over a doomed building project, and discovers that it takes two to quango. |
Series Two (1981)
# | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Compassionate Society" | 23 February | Hacker is concerned about a brand new, fully staffed hospital that has no patients. |
2 | "Doing the Honours" | 2 March | Hacker plans to withhold honours for civil servants who do not reduce their budgets. |
3 | "The Death List" | 9 March | The Minister is forced to re-appraise his views on bugging and phone tapping after a death threat. |
4 | "The Greasy Pole" | 16 March | Plans for a new chemical factory hinge on the outcome of a so-called "independent" report. |
5 | "The Devil You Know" | 23 March | A Cabinet reshuffle coincides with a vacancy in Brussels. Hacker wonders whom the PM has in mind to fill it. |
6 | "The Quality of Life" | 30 March | Hacker vows to keep open a city farm that Sir Humphrey has enabled to be bulldozed to make way for a car park for inland revenue inspectors. |
7 | "A Question of Loyalty" | 6 April | Hacker and Sir Humphrey are tested by a Select Committee on their commitment to ridding government bureaucracy. |
Series Three (1982)
# | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Equal Opportunities" | 11 November | Sir Humphrey doesn't see eye to eye with the Minister's plan for sexual equality. |
2 | "The Challenge" | 18 November | Fallout shelters upset Hacker's crusade to make local authorities responsible for their expenditure. |
3 | "The Skeleton in the Cupboard" | 25 November | Details of a 1950s defence contract are about to be made public — and Sir Humphrey seems unaccountably nervous. |
4 | "The Moral Dimension" | 2 December | After signing a huge export order in Qumran, Hacker is upset to discover it was obtained through bribery. |
5 | "The Bed of Nails" | 9 December | Hacker is made Transport Supremo — and soon wonders if it is a title worth having. |
6 | "The Whisky Priest" | 16 December | Hacker faces a moral dilemma when he learns that British bombs are ending up in the hands of Italian terrorists. |
7 | "The Middle-Class Rip-Off" | 23 December | Sir Humphrey is incensed that Hacker plans to subsidise his local football club. |
Christmas special (1984)
# | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|
– | "Party Games" | 17 December | The unexpected resignation of the PM prompts a race for the succession, and as Party Chairman, Hacker is in a key position. |
Yes, Prime Minister
Series One (1986)
# | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "The Grand Design" | 9 January | With his finger now on the nuclear button, Hacker plans his first act as Prime Minister to be a radical new defence policy. |
2 | "The Ministerial Broadcast" | 16 January | Hacker is groomed for his first television broadcast as PM, but Sir Humphrey is more concerned with the content. |
3 | "The Smoke Screen" | 23 January | Hacker uses his Health Minister's plan to eliminate smoking as a bluff against the Treasury. |
4 | "The Key" | 30 January | The PM decides to clip Sir Humphrey's wings when he engages in a territorial battle with Hacker's political advisor. |
5 | "A Real Partnership" | 6 February | Sir Humphrey has to get through a civil service pay claim while at the same time discrediting its proposer. |
6 | "A Victory for Democracy" | 13 February | Hacker has difficulty discovering if the Foreign Office is there to carry out government policy or vice versa. |
7 | "The Bishop's Gambit" | 20 February | A troubled British nurse in Qumran and a vacant bishopric combine to provide an opportunity for Sir Humphrey. |
8 | "One of Us" | 27 February | The former head of MI5 is revealed to be a spy (despite Sir Humphrey clearing him), while a dog strays on to Salisbury Plain... |
Series Two (1987–88)
# | Title | Broadcast | Synopsis |
---|---|---|---|
1 | "Man Overboard" | 3 December | Sir Humphrey fights the Employment Secretary's plan to relocate service personnel by casting doubt over the Minister's loyalty. |
2 | "Official Secrets" | 10 December | Hacker's attempt to suppress an unflattering chapter of his predecessor's memoirs is leaked to the press. |
3 | "A Diplomatic Incident" | 17 December | The death of Hacker's predecessor provides a chance for some negotiations with the French over the Channel Tunnel at his state funeral. |
4 | "A Conflict of Interest" | 31 December | Hacker can avoid a City scandal if he appoints a Bank of England Governor whose honesty isn't beyond reproach. |
5 | "Power to the People" | 7 January | Sir Humphrey and the leader of Houndsworth Council become strange bedfellows when Hacker tries to reform local government. |
6 | "The Patron of the Arts" | 14 January | Hacker's invitation to the British Theatre Awards dinner becomes a hot potato when the size of the Arts Council grant is revealed. |
7 | "The National Education Service" | 21 January | When the Department of Education and Science stands in the way of reform, Hacker decides to abolish it. |
8 | "The Tangled Web" | 28 January | When Hacker unwittingly lies to the House of Commons he is helped by Sir Humphrey's unfortunate indiscretion. |