A Very Courageous Decision: The Inside Story of Yes Minister Hardcover – November 1, 2014

Magnificent is really the only word which comes close to describing the classic BBC series Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. Beginning in the early 1980s and continuing on in various formats until 2013, the tale of the bumbling politician Jim Harker and the civil servants Sir Humphrey Appleby and Bernard Woolley was an instant classic. Margaret Thatcher herself was a fan, and after forty years the show remains sharply funny,This history by Graham McCann is a very complete account of the development, production, and growth of the series. As an American Anglophile, I have seen most if not all of the episodes several times, and I was pleased to learn so much new information about the goings on both in front and behind the camera. Each episode is summarized, along with a thorough accounting of the entire series' progress from idea to finished product. There is a thorough index and a lengthy Notes section, making this an essential reference for everyone who loves the series.

If you love the show you will love this book. Great insights into the writing, the production and the actors. Thoroughly enjoyed it and will read it again.

Thoroughly well researched and definitive 'biography' of this excellent British comedy. An absolute must read for any fan of this highly acclaimed show.

excellent book with so much information and insight to the two tv series....loved it!

The prose distracts from the content. It’s so bad I had to return it. No one sane wants Sir Humphrey to write! Such a shame.

Years ago some friends and I met an MP who said that Yes, Minister (and Yes, Prime Minister) wasn't a sitcom, it was a documentary. We all thought that he was joking. Having read this book I now know that he was serious. The amount of work done by the writers to make the series authentic would put some serious period dramas to shame. The pittance they were paid horrified me, but it was the BBC in the 1980s, so what do you expect? It also disappointed me that the writers didn't get much recognition in terms of awards, either. Read this book and you'll understand the writers' strike in 2023. Casting the various parts wasn't as straightforward as it should have been, considering the writers and producer wanted the same people. I won't say any more. Spoilers!I've been watching the series on DVD recently and the humour still works. It would be great if they could remake it, bringing it up to date post-Brexit, but I don't know where they'd find a cast to match Eddington, Hawthorne and Fowlds. This book is well worth reading if you've enjoyed the series and are interested in the story behind it.

This is an essential handbook for dedicated fans of the “Yes Minister”/ “Yes Prime Minister” series. It details the background to the creation of the show, from behind-the-scenes shenanigans revealed to Jay and Lynn by “informed sources” in Westminster and Whitehall (amazingly, many of the plots were based on reality) to the progression of the programme from a ”good idea” to finally appearing on screen.The development is traced from the original pilot episode, through the commissioning of a whole series, to the subsequent development of two more series, and then, when they thought they had exhausted the possibilities, the bright idea of making Jim Hacker Prime Minister which lent itself to two more series. We follow the commissioning, the casting, the writing and the reaction from the public, the politicians and the Civil Service. There is also analysis of many of the scripts with large sections of dialogue reproduced to illustrate a point. The book ends with a look at the re-emergence of the programme twenty-five years after the original finished. While McCann admits that in many ways it was clever, it never really caught on because Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne, although both were long dead, had become so ingrained in the public imagination as Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey that it was almost impossible for audiences to accept new actors playing the parts. Perhaps it might have worked had the writers created new characters instead of reincarnating the originals, but they didn’t.The book is also a source of fascinating snippets of background information. For example, Paul Eddington originally wanted to play Sir Humphrey, but was persuaded that Jim Hacker was the “star” and consequently he was paid more than Nigel Hawthorne; both men hated having to record the programme in front of a studio audience; Sir Nigel became increasingly embarrassed at winning four BAFTAs for his performance when Eddington was also nominated and never won any; and both actors, being left-of-centre politically, were appalled at having to do the “command performance” with Mrs Thatcher.Highly recommended for all fans of the programme!

This is a book about a TV series , conceived at the time of a Labour government in the late 1970's and finally aired in the Thatcher era in the 80'ss. This was a satire of the interaction of a government minister with the civil servica ( and probably even more relevant today). Scripts written by those with government experience - moderated to be party neutral. Marvellous examples of the obfuscations of government and their masters (ala civil service mandarins). Read the examples and weep as one can see a constant pattern when one observes our current politicians in action... Plus ca change?

I'm still reading bits and pieces of it from time to time, but I get the feeling that this book will be going to the same second-hand shop as StrictlyBruce.

Well worth a read, not just for how a complex and (by requirement) accurate sitcom was made, but also its social and political effects on Britain as a whole.