This show stands alone. It's the best comedy ever written as far as I'm concerned. So insightful, almost prophetic. The absolute gold-standard of comedy.
Agreed. The final series of Blackadder is up there too but for me it's Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister all the way. You can watch them over and again and not get bored.
@colinslant reminds me of the honors episode when bernard explained the nicknames for them in order : Call Me God, Kindly Call Me God, God Calls Me God
Where was Sir Humphrey when the Queen wanted to get a divorce for princess Margret approved by the Bishops? I am sure he would have taken great delight in informing them that the whole reason for the Church of England was so that Henry the 8th could get a divorce.
@@terence_k It is just a matter of protocol. However do not be fooled, Her Majesty maybe titled "Supreme Governor of the Church of England" but there is very little real power in that title anymore. That power went to the Archbishop of Canterbury by the time of King George I.
I am a theologian. This scene actually has had significant impact on my thinking on the nature of religion. One often gets more from the media and movies than reading ten books by renowned theologians.
Alas that’s the case today. There’s actually only one true religion, Catholicism. Like all Christian religions, it’s been significantly weakened by modernism but even so, only the fullness of the Truth can be found there.
Our local (ancient) parish church has been redesigned to provide space for all sorts of social activities - yoga, Pilates, choir, toddler group, messy church, public library, lunch, but happily has preserved the area for Holy Communion.
Yes, most religions have forgotten that the church building is the place to teach and preach God's truth, for giving discipline when necessary. It is not the place for secular activities.
In a show filled with great moments this is one of my favourite bits.Such is the quality of acting throughout that I can watch episodes again and again and again. Canon Stanford’s wife is eminently suitable, not because she does good works et cetera but because she is the daughter of the Earl of Chichester!
Sir Humphrey explains these things to the PM and somehow, Sir Humphrey seems less of an adversary. And then comes a scene when he tells the PM that in the church God is "optional." The shock on the face of a non-religious PM is obvious. And yet, this all is exactly how social, political and religious institutions are: the basic reason for them to exist is lost in the day-to-day operation of them. This show is, at once, painfully cynical, correct, and hilarious. It doesn't get any better.
Sir Humphrey was never an adversary to Hacker. His goal was always to carry out government policy and to promote stability. It is from this position he advised the PM
All religion was about power for the elites. It was usually the younger sons of the elite that became the vicars and so the elites had another way to control the masses when their laws didn't.
Reality is stranger than fiction, in light of the latest revelation that the disgraced Post Office boss Paula Vennells was on a 3-person shortlist to become Bishop of London. Revd Vennells was a village vicar in name, because she had to wear many hats - Post Office CEO, C of E Ethical Investments Committee Chair, Torturer of postmasters, etc.
The Church of England was set up to allow the English some outlet for their religious feelings without challenging or threatening the political status quo. Nobody in power had to think too hard about religion or morality because it had all been hived off into an arm of the State and therefore put beyond politics. Anyone who didn't accept that was either Catholic, Jewish or Puritan and could therefore be sidelined. Of course, at that point, John Wesley showed up, as did millions of Irish Catholic industrial workers.
anonUK rubbish. The C of E was set up so Henry Viii could divorce his missus, which theCatholic Church would not allow. Henry set up his own church, with his rules and with him as it’s head just so he could do what he wanted!!!
@@jeffking6286 That's what Henry VIII wanted- to get to marry Anne Boleyn and be head of a church. What his ministers who actually set up the Church of England, and those who followed them, was to have a church which could be put to the use of the English State without involving any Popes or foreign bishops.
@@anonUK That sounds like the sort of politics pictured here has been part of the Church of England from the start. Of course Henry VIII had a much stiffer spine not to mention a much sharper ax than this buffoon of a PM.
AnonUK - I don’t know where you draw your information from but Henry VIII set up the Church of England when the Pope would not agree to grant him a divorce from Catherine of Aragon so he could marry Anne Boleyn. Thank you for your note though.
The most hilarious series ever, in my opinion! Oh, and I was raised as a non-practicing Anglican in Australia. So non-practicing I became an atheist as a 10 year old after my only 3 church services I only went to because of a Christian youth club I briefly joined. 🤣
Well, Google says that there was a group protest organized there in the 80s, primarily by women; to protest the storage of nuclear weapons in the area en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenham_Common_Women's_Peace_Camp
The women of Greenham Common were female protesters in the 1980:s, who basically protested for nuclear disarmament. (Greenham Common was where the US had a military base for the Polaris missile, I believe) They were the prototype feminsts and activists. Precursers to the left-wing activist groups we see today, protesting: enviromentalists/anarchists/Black Lives Matter/multiculturalists etc. By and large, good hearted people ("liberals" mainly), but used as pawns and "useful idiots" by big league power brokers in geo-politics (globalists"/ideological marxists) for the purpose of "divide and conquer".
Absolutely brilliant - it has lost nothing of its currency since the time of filming. Although 'raves in the naves' of the cathedrals stolen from Rome after Henry VIII's apostasy were considered impossible when this episode of Yes PM was written and recorded. So if one does a 'fast forward' from there, then the state of the CofE is utterly dire now in direct comparison. 'Collapse' and 'Oblivion' are now the words to describe the process and outcome of the CofE. Once a formidable, even if heretical and protestant denomination, the CofE is finished - apart from in the Global South which will last a little longer, but where the end is assured. Ave Virgo Sanctissima! Exterminatrix of Heresies!
Well, it must be said that modern science and religion do mix. If it wasn't for the studies in DNA they may never have caught a certain number of catholic preists
Although this has amusing aspects I wonder if it’s appropriate to use humorous vilification of a subject which is vital to the eternal welfare of those who live in UK?
"Theology is a device for enabling atheists to stay within the Church" 🤣 hilarious of course, but the same for all religions...except Christian theology stands up to scrutiny for those who care.
@mandellorian presumably you have scrutinised all the arguments e.g. the case for the resurrection of Jesus before you make such comments. What do you think is the strongest counterargument and why? I.e. If Jesus didn't rise from the dead, then what happened?
As a believer, you learn in theology how to ignore or reinterpretate those parts which don't account for your worldview. Especially in theology taught by church organisations
Buddhist and Hindu theology aren't bad either, actually. It's pretty impressive that the Hindus aren't even Christian, but they still have developed a better understanding of the Holy Trinity than the Mormons and Oneness Pentecostals, and probably even the Catholic layperson. Zoroastrian theology is pretty logical, although some of its implications are absolutely awful and are arguably destroying the faith.
