"Well You Must Resign From The Government" | Yes, Minister | BBC Comedy Greats 

I would agree with your summary of the comedy! It is unfortunate but it is true!

I would say 'A how-to' manual for civil servants

👏👏👏

No... A comedy for the public, a documentary for the politicians and a tragedy for the service.

This is politician studies 101🤣✌️❤️🤘

yep, you could do reruns today and it'd still work...

Depressing I would say. The more times change the more things stay the same.

That’s because it’s a documentary

As far as I can tell as a non-British, this is exactly how a tory government works.

If you think the past's an alien place wait until you see the future... :D

Have Russia or Soviet Union ever invaded or attacked the U.K.? How many times have France did?

Look at Macron. He hates us.

For most of those 900 yrs, Eng-Gr Brit.- UK fought France to prevent its continental domination or alliance with any or of all of the German states. In another episode Humphrey explains that the UK is in the EU to stymie France. Turns out the French and Germans got the best of UK, hence Brexit.

@@jeromefitzroy Neither France nor Russia directly attacked Britain very much, nobody did because it's very difficult to invade an island nation, especially when that nation maintains the world's most powerful navy. There were a number of wars over trade access, but the fighting was mostly done at sea or in mainland europe. Britain has a very long history of trying to maintain a divided Europe. France was historically the most powerful European nation a lot of the time, because it is quite big, has quite abundant natural resources and has existed for a long time. It's much older than Germany for example, and a much greater threat than a loose collection of independent germanic states. So Britain was often trying to stop France swallowing up her neighbours. Britain would fight Russia on occasion, particularly when Russia sided with the French but would also often ally with Russia against France or other powers. Most British expansionist wars in Europe were naturally against France, being the nearest target. Interestingly, Scotland would often ally with France against the English back before the unification, so the anti-French attitude expressed by sir Humphry here is a more stereotypically English view than a British one.

@@TestTestGo Normans.

Too right, I saw the remake in 2011/12, with David Haig as the Prime Minister, he was definitely wrong for the casting, too shouty. The original show was basically lightning in a bottle

Indeed.

Meet Jacob Rees Mogg . What's not to dislike? His Company Made £103 million but paid no Cooperation tax in the last 5 years His parent company is based on the Cayman Islands even though they operate in GB No contribution to the NHS, Police, Schools , Welfare, Defence. This is why he wanted out before the EU forced him to pay tax on new legislation they introduced. Did you really think he cares about the people of the UK? BTW he managed to scrounge £6.7Million in grants to refurbish their 300 bed ancestral home The ultra catholic Somerset MP is against abortion even in rape cases (but that didn’t stop him profiting from investments in a company that makes abortion pills )

Well said Glen. I've never seen Yes, Minister's genius described so well.

You are correct

It would mean Change, Humphrey's greatest bogeyman.

It's the thin edge of the wedge, you see. Once they start implementing such systems for local government, it's only a matter of time before they implement them for the national government, and that means for him.

Merci

You think he was joking?

@@UmarWazir i mean the Russians had never directly attacked the British Islands, the French on the other hand. 🤣

I am like 90% sure the French also have this mentality and the only other reason why they wouldn't is because they're too focused on their other nominal ally, the United States/Americans.

Humour?? Where?

And those that don't, like my former local MP (now Liverpool Metro Mayor), are the actually competent ones, who realize Westminster is a complete joke, and avoid it at all costs....

It's a pretty accurate description of the entire human race.

@@Cryptonymicus Probably true, but here he refers to certain group who are there to represent the ordinary people.

"and the other half are in it to see what they can get out of it''. Indeed. I'm reminded of my former (Labour) MP who decided it was time to retire from Parliament after she got her husband a job with a 6-figure salary on the European Commission. Coincidence ?

@@mattevans4377 Joe Anderson is a criminal.

You mean the line about giving the Frenchies a good licking? (There mere idea of licking a German is too revolting for Melchett to even contemplate)

This is an allusion to the British commander in the Crimea Lord Raglan, a veteran of the Napoleonic Wars, who was in the habit of referring to the enemy as"the French" when in fact the French were his allies and the enemy were Russian!

@@stuartm2106 I know, I just didn't feel like writing a long post.

@@stuartm2106 Thanks, didn't know that

@@stuartm2106 During the Spanish-American War, a former Confederate general was appointed to high command in the force invading Cuba. he had a tendency to refer to the Spanish as damn Yankees.

you killed humpy?

He was a great actor and a perfect gentleman in the mould of Sir Alec Guinness, NOT Sir Ian McCellen and Sir Derek Jacobi!

One wonders why he would be going to Australia when he's old and in pain. Even Clive James, who said he'd dearly have loved to be able to die in Australia, decided to stay in England so as not to aggravate his pain. Some people just need to remain busy, I suppose. At least he didn't die in the seat next to you.

"You never done anything before"

exceptions? Surely not...

We hate each other civility

Brexit has proven the French hate us and how much they love our fish, we've never asked for a share of the French grape share

English : The English and French hate each other equally. French : Yes, but we hate you more.

Actually, most French don't care or they mostly like the British today.

@@rca168 that's not disproven the point at all

The French aren't powerful.

We are only allied with the French because they are an enemy. Wiseman once said keep your enemies close and your friends even closer(or was it the other way round?). Humprey is right though. The French are not a friend of Britain. I think that one point in time the Brits, French and Germans virtually owned most of the world together. The only bits none of them ever controlled was Russia.

@@jameswatsonatheistgamer Dont underestimate a vain man with a very big army. We should know that ourselves from Mr Blairs actions

@@daviniarobbins9298 there’s all of the America’s except Canada and the British and French Guiana’s and Belize was also not owned if we don’t count Liberia, Siam, Ethiopia and China and obviously not most of Europe

@@jameswatsonatheistgamer Militarily they are not to be sniffed at. WW2 made them determined to have a world class armed force.

Derek Fowlds aka Bernard had the most difficult part in YM/YPM as he usually had to sit quietly listening to Sir Humphrey's and Jim Hacker's verbal jousting, then come in with the punchline. Sublime, sadly this type of erudite comedy will not be made anymore. We can still enjoy the high point of British comedy in reshowings and clips such as this though.

A corpse wouldnt set off the mines. Mines by definition are victim operated. A corpse by definition doesnt move. Non moving corpses couldnt set them off.

@@fishyc150 They would if they were zombies.

Bernard is an easy self-insert for us, the audience. we both are the third party observing this madness in our front-row seats, and knowing our sheer powerlessness at the moment, all we can do is to crack a few jokes

@@johnyrevenge6356 good point!!! 🤣

Especially the French.... :-)

Two generations ago - and counting!

Much worse (I'm an Aussie, if you know what I mean). How do you say AUKUS in french?

The writers got the idea for the show, by going through newspapers from their day, and looking at the newspapers form the 1950s, and saw that the stories were all essentially the same.

​@@brett22bt"Les Anglo-Saxones"

The issues it satirizes haven't aged. And great writing and acting are timeless.

@@soulsphere9242 You could clean it a bit and upscale it professionally at the very least. Heck I've seen results rendered by people using normal graphic cards to do AI upscaling stuff that looked decent (there's a notable Star Trek DS9 project going out there), surely professional film editors and graphic artists can do better...

Indeed.

@@soulsphere9242 you want it on Bluray becsue it stops them changing it as the mob or their workers demand.. So many streaming shows and movies get regular cuts or changes now whenever some SJW complains.. Sombody in the BBC will watch this and find some line they says negative things about comunism and then they line will be cut... Try and watch the movie Van Wilder streamed on RU-vid.., it's like a 3rd of the movie is missing.. So the people watching only get the SJW approved version compared to the real one... Look at Little Britain, they banned all sales and streaming of it forever after the BUM mob complained and called it racist.. So now the only people who can see it are those with the BlurRays etc..

You can have the past in HD only if it was recorded on film, not on magnetic tape. Check "Film: the reason some of the past was in HD" by Technology Connections

@@tolep Again, they could take the original tape, professionally clean it and upscale it to HD. There is AI upscaling right now that looks REALLY good being made by people at home, never mind what a professional studio can do.

Presumably you mean she didn't know how to operate the VCR.

Had you seen the price of a Betamax in 1982? It was more prudent to postpone the meetings.

@@RoninofRamen The French would use Betamax and the English VHS because it is superior.

At the time France was a nuclear power that was not fully part of NATO (since DeGaulle pulled out in 1966). It had observer status on major committees and boards, but was not part of the integrated command structure. Foreign NATO troops garrisoned in France (including the US Air Force) were removed by 1967. France participated in the Gulf War (1990-1991) and was involved in NATO peacekeeping operations in the 1990s, but only under their own command. This changed gradually from 2004, when France started attaching staff officers to NATO permanent staffs and headquarters. In 2009 France began returning to full integration.

@@SidneyBroadshead All of which is true, but none of it guarantees the French wouldn't backstab the English today. At least not to the satisfaction of an Englishman.

@@SidneyBroadshead true, but it was a joke that was not reliant on that fact. But the reason France is back in is probably so it can exercise veto over any new potential members: that's why they had to admit both Greece and Turkey at the exact same time.

@@danieldickson8591Macron is quickly moving towards that direction over Russia in the Crimea. History repeating itself.

This show has never been ahead of it's time. It has always been ON time. And will always be on time. As long as we have politicians.

Na, it wasn't ahead of time. It's just that some things never change.

Nothing can live up to Yes Minister.... Not even Yes Minister.

You don't respect Yes Minister by disrespecting today's comedy.

Interesting, some chuckled but you're right it didn't land with many. Speculation time! (comedy is hard) but I'm going to suggest they cut from Humphrey too quickly, they needed a beat longer on his face. If you pause on his face right at the end of it, you get a bit of the effect. Letting the moment breathe before taking the audience attention. Also, I'm not an editor. So, whatevs but I think the acting was spot on.

You'll find no better place to be honest :)

Watched 9 episodes 3 days before my gcse English safe to say paper went astoundingly well

@@anonymousaardvarkinnigeria8721 'Appointment to view TV' is a thing though... so not always.

Also, I think it can't be translated. Making Polish subtitles to House MD was easy, even with all that medical jargon. For Yes (Prime) Minister - it can't be done, full stop.

@@tolep When Humphrey launches into one of his eruditely obfuscating monologues, you can see his joy at displaying the full glory of the English language.

If you think history affects matters in Europe...try the Middle East!

its normal. you are where you are because of what happened yesterday and also, you have experience how and why the other party will behave, also from the past. History is the teacher of life.

I'm a bit late, I know, but as the saying goes, the main difference amongst our two continents is, in Europe 100 kilometers is a long distance; in America 100 years is a long time...

You mean reality shows? 😂

@@criticsatlarge0073 well you could be right.

Yeah but u have to go back to how many decades to find one now? Sad, just sad. All gone.

@@deesplaylists6941 exactly my point.

If you want them to make better comedies send in some scripts, comedy doesn't just grow on trees.

Still are

Read the standing orders, READ THEM!

They’re all available on DVD and well worth watching over and over again.

You could try DailyMotion. They have an app. I know they have at least some full episodes.

And they're all on BritBox as well.

@@johnsurrey7426 totally agree!

They were also released as audio plays on radio 4.

I disagree. "I have a cunning plan" should strike terremoto level terror.

Yes, that is even worse.

I came to the comments looking for AUKUS. I was not disappointed! :)

Remarkable considering the scope and scale of political change in the near 40 years since.

@@dcarbs2979 Same tunes, different singers and words.

@@dcarbs2979 Or lack thereof. Or then again, “...ministers come and go, but your career depends on those in charge of appointments.....”.

Humphrey was winding him up.

Yes well known. In fact we developed an enormous amount of things before the French.

Nah, the British got most of the tech from the yanks (by asking nicely), the Soviets stole most of the tech from the yanks, the French actually figured it out more or less on their own (At massive expense).

@@ragzaugustus The British were working on 'Tube Alloys' *with* the Yanks to develop fission weapons. When we started on our own program to develop fusion weapons, they and we came to an ergonomic agreement. I believe the French analytical tools as applied to thermonuclear detonations are less adept than British and American applications, so they are a little behind.

@@ragzaugustus hmm ignorance is bliss, bless. Shut up, you're proving an embarrassment. You're aware that British scientistic brought the Americans up to speed and worked with them to develop the bombs used in ww2?

"It is my intention to write a book that will be useful, at least to those who read it intelligently" - The Prince Ch.15 You failed at that task and that's why you didn't get what Il Principe was all about. Humphrey Appleby would never make that mistake.

no wonder brexit

Nothings changed!

@@roxannac8059 My thoughts exactly, even more so today!!!!

@@vzxvzvcxasd7109 Nothing wrong with Brexit. The EU on the other hand. It will burn.

Sir Humphrey was right. The Russians were only a British enemy since 1918 (and would soon stop being such in 1991). The Germans weren't an enemy until the Prussian saber-rattling of the 1870s led up to World War One. (Leading Britain into alliance with the French and Russians against the Italians, Germans, and Austro-Hungarians). France has been a British enemy since 1066. Sir Humphrey would point out today that the Chunnel isn't a tunnel from Britain leading into France, but a tunnel from France leading into Britain.

Brexit will turn out fine.

And Police!

@Ed by everyone including the day players and main actors. The mood was set to perform well

Well, actually....

Sadly, the answer has to be "no". Most people watching TV are doing something else as well (or trying to!) & with YM/YPM, you do need to pay attention to the details. Today's audiences demand easily digested pap rather than erudite comedic wordplay.