Best writing ever


This series had some of the absolute best writing in British sitcoms ever. I always loved it when, towards the end of the series, Jim Hacker would occasionally get the better of Sir Humphrey. I can't remember the episode or the exact quote but the one that had me in stitches was where Humphrey gets locked out of the Cabinet Room and is out in the garden frantically trying to open all of the french windows. Eventually he gets in and launches into a long and incredibly convoluted explanation as to what he was doing (as only Humphrey could) and at the end of it, Jim Hacker looks up at him and totally dead-pan says: "You've lost your key."

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That episode is called "The Key". Jim Hacker defeats Sir Humphrey in many episodes or should we call it a draw? It's a great pleasure to watch him lose though.

Humphrey: Prime Minister I must strongly protest in the strongest possible terms, my profound opposition to a newly instituted practice which imposes severe and intolerable restrictions upon the ingress and egress of senior members of the hierarchy and which will in all probability, should the current deplorable innovation be perpetuated, precipitate a constriction of the channels of communication and culminate in a condition of organisational atrophy and administrative paralysis which will render effectively impossible the coherent and coordinated discharge of the function of government within her Majesty's United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Hacker: You mean you've lost your key?


List of episodes where Jim has the upper hand:

Yes, minister

-Big Brother
-The Greasy Pole (political win)
-A question of Loyalty
-The skeleton in the cupboard (draw)

Yes, Prime Minister

-The Key
-A victory for Democracy
-Man Overboard
-The Patron of the Arts
-The Tangled Web


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It's a bit mediocre episode, to be honest.

"Yes, Prime Minister" lost some of the edge and brilliance of the original "Yes, Minister" show, that seemed more free to play around with all kinds of ideals and give us interesting perspectives.

As so many shows, 'Yes, Prime Minister' started to become a farce of itself, repeating jokes and pushing too much of the leftist 'women are just as good as men' agenda.

How many times did Humphrey OR any other man in the show humble any woman in the show?

The woman always got the better of Humphrey (and everyone else), and played the Prime Minister like a harp, very skillfully and unrealistically.

This stopped being a good and poignant 'almost-reality show' and became just another 'comedy sitcom' that had been declawed and lost its teeth.

Just like Hacker became a 'whiskey priest', this show became a 'paper tiger', that no longer raised any eyebrows about reality, but just made us chuckle and laugh at Humphrey's expense.

"The Key" is a good example of all of what I am saying, and it's sad it had to be like that, when the original show was SO brilliant and realistic. Humphrey is at his best when he has the upper and, the power, a secret plan, and knows it. He's at his funniest, when he's manipulating other people skillfully to masterfully express his craft to perfection.

Just look at the way he manipulated Hacker's daughter on the phone - THAT is brilliant.

I don't want to look at him through a window and see him whimpering at the feet of some affirmative action-promoted hag.

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