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Yes Minister is a classic British Comedy series by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, and starring Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Fowlds. This DVD contains seven episodes from Series One, each running for approximately 28 minutes. The series was first screened in England between the 25th February and 7 April, 1980.
Episode 1 - Open Government
Mr James Hacker (Paul Eddington) is the newly appointed Minister for Administrative Affairs. In this first pilot episode we are introduced to his private secretary Bernard Woolley (Derek Fowlds) and Secretary of State Sir Humphrey Appleby (Nigel Hawthorne).
Anyway, it seems that the previous Minister didn’t do all the work he was meant to do during his term in office, so Jim is faced with the daunting task of completing all his paperwork in his first week. Worse still is the fact that his eagerness to carry out his job could see him land in some hot water, when a press release sees him having to meet with the Prime Minister
Episode 2 - The Official Visit
The African President is due to pay a visit to England, but a change of government means a new President-elect. As it turns out, Jim actually knows the new President, the two of them attended University together. However, Jim has to smooth things over when he receives an advance copy of the President’s speech, which contains statements about British colonialist oppression.
Episode 3 - The Economy Drive Jim has decided that it’s time to slim down the civil service, which currently has some 23,000 employees. Sir Humphrey is not too keen on the idea, so Jim decides to set an example by having an economy drive and making some cuts, including his chauffer driven car and his drinks cabinet. They couldn’t possibly get rid of the tea ladies though, could they?
Episode 4 - Big Brother
Jim has a television interview regarding the new National Integrated Database, which will mean that civil servants may be able to gain access to anyone’s personal details. Jim needs to get some legislation passed to safeguard information and allow public to view their own information. Should be relatively simple but not with Sir Humphrey around.
Episode 5 - The Writing On The Wall
The civil service is still over manned, and now the department of Administrative Affairs is under threat so both Jim and Sir Humphrey could lose their jobs and Bernard could spend the rest of his career at the vehicle licensing center in Swansea. What are they going to do to save their department, perhaps the introduction of European Identity Cards may help them.
Episode 6 - The Right To Know
Sir Humphrey wants Bernard to keep the Minister busy so he can get on with the business side of things. So when Bernard tells him about the threatened badger colony, Sir Humphrey thinks this might provide the perfect distraction he needs to keep Jim out of the way. Trouble is that Jim’s daughter plans on protesting when she reads about her fathers involvement in the newspaper.
Episode 7 - Jobs For The Boys
Sir Humphrey begs Jim not to discuss a new project on air but he does anyway. It is a collaboration between private industry and government. Little does he know that the project is having some financial problems. So in desperation, to save face, Jim turns to a banker for help to rescue the project.
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