i have watched the series over and over again and can never figure out where his loyality lies. sometime he will help the minister with information or guidance and then turn around and tell sir humphrey about it to thrawt him and vice versa?
is there something i am missing about his character?
I don't think Bernard expresses any particular loyalty. He does seem to have an affection for the Minister and to take a certain delight in thwarting Humphrey. Not because of any dislike of Humphrey, rather it's the delight anyone might take in seeing the smart-arse taken down a peg or two by someone as "harmless" as Hacker.
But essentially, Bernard's an innocent bystander, with no ambition for himself in government that might lead him to scheme on his own behalf, so he's left to deploy his intelligence to protect the interests of his superiors, which he seems to do out of his own basic good nature. His job is seldom at real risk (it's only ever threatened by Humphrey) so it's nothing to him whether Jim remains in Administrative Affairs or whether they have a new Minister: he seems to take whichever option, at any given time, seems most likely to avoid the lion's share of stress and to maintain a comfortable status quo for all concerned.
I love Bernard, personally, precisely because he's so utterly without his own agenda.
Now cure me of my madness or I won't put my shoes on, ever.
It's tempting to think that Bernard has no loyalty, per se, but in truth he is one of the more conflicted characters on a day to day basis. Whilst Hacker and Sir Humphrey each stick to their personal agenda's like glue, Bernard has an indivisible tie to both of them.
If Hacker is seen to harm the Civil Service position unduly, with Bernard's support, it will make Bernard appear unsound. Equally, if his Minister is a complete failure it will make him seem incompetent. That the Minister's goals and the goals of the Civil Service are frequently diametrically opposed is seen as the right sort of test for someone in line to become a senior Civil Servant.
This is made much of in the books of the series. To understand the relationship between Sir Arnold, Sir Humphrey and Bernard, you have to understand that Sir Humphrey is to Sir Arnold as Bernard is to Sir Humphrey. Both Sir Humphrey and Bernard are 'high flyers' albeit at different stages in their respective careers.
In the fullness of time (as Sir Humphrey would say "At the correct juncture") Sir Humphrey becomes the head of the Civil Service and his protege to replace HIM in turn is Bernard. Either of them could fall off their 'high flyer' perch at any moment, during the series. For illustration see Arnold 'not reprimanding' Sir Humphrey and Sir Humphrey threatening Bernard with Agriculture and Fisheries or the DVLA.
hear, hear, Well said!
*waves copy of hansard*
Yes I agree. Yet we do tend to see him give infomation to Humphrey more than we do to Hacker. Again I don't think this has to do with loyalty more than it has to do with Humphrey dangling his promtion prospects or more immediate, his review. Take 'The Skeleton In the Cupboard'. Humphrey demands of Bernard to tell him where Hacker has gone. Bernard is initially reluctant, but acquiesces when Humphrey reminds him that his annual review is due. In a round about way and eventually directly, Bernard tells him Hacker has gone to see Cartwright, even giving him the office number.
When Hacker returns he asks Bernard how Humphrey knew where he was and Bernard gives him a convoluted answer about confidentiality, essentially not answering him.
In short he likes to see Humphrey squirm and not always get his way (in this episode we see him laughing as he leaves the office having discovered it was Humphrey who cocked up the Scottish Island lease), but in the end, he's more afraid of Humphrey than he is of Hacker and so tends to side with Humphrey more than Hacker.
Bernard's ultimate loyalty is with the Civil Service, esp when Sir Humphrey is so indomitable.
In the book Yes Minister, the Editorial states in its last two paragraphs,
'A final word of thanks. We were most gratefull to have had a few conversations with Sir Humphrey himself before the advancing years,
without any way impairing the verbal fluency, disengaged the operation of his mind from the content of his speech.
And we should like to express our thanks to the staff of St Dympna's Hospital for the Elderly Deranged, where he resided for his last days.
Above all, we are grateful to Sir Bernard Woolley, GCB, former Head of the Civil Service, who was Hacker's private secretary. has given generously of time and checked our selection against his own memory and records'
The editorial was signed by the authors
Jonathon Lynn
Antony Jay
Hacker College, Oxford
September 2019 AD
Yes, bernard would eventually rise to the Head of the Civil Service. In general, I think he tried to act in what he thought was the best interests of the country, except when that interfered with his best interest as a civil servant and his career. However, he did his best to remain neutral in the latter situations (some situations more than others). In Yes Prime Minister, he tends to fall more on Hacker's side, though that probably has more to do with the stakes involved. Also, there seemed to be more episodes where everyone was essentially on the same side.
By the way, the structure of the books is brilliant. Rather than straight scripts, they are a series of diary entries, memos, interviews and other documents, providing the dialogue and exposition of each episode. The best lines are still there (sometimes quoted in minutes, others repeated in memos.) and there are a few bonuses here and there, with the thoughts of the speaker given, as in Hacker's diary entries.
+1
Yes, the "memoirs" format of the books is brilliant.
I fight for the users! -- TRON
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Bernard is actually loyal to Sir Humphrey but occasionally supports the Minister when his own position is in jeopardy. If you read the book, chapter "The Whiskey Priest" - he'll say that one serious conversation between him and Humphrey changed him completely, from that point on his focus was to get to the cabinet secretary post and nothing more.
The Whiskey Priest was a really good episode, in fact it is critical to the entire Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister series. It tells the audience why these characters behave the way they do- why someone like Humphrey is so hell bent on stopping government policy and it also gives us a sneak peak into their own private agenda.
I tend to agree with the general consensus that a high-flier like Bernard must have a divided loyalty. On a lesser level, I do also agree with the second poster that Bernard takes a genuine liking to Hacker, and wants to help him as long as it doesn't put him in a precarious position.
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