I think the above videos were the stage adaptation rather than the original TV series, but you’re right, politics still behaves as was satirised in the TV shows (Yes Minister and yes Prime Minister).
Politics has always been politics through the ages. Et tu Brute and all that
“virtue means something new in Machiavelli’s hands. It doesn’t mean “morally upright”, quite the contrary; it means resourceful and, if needs be, immoral. The prince is, as Machiavelli writes, like the fox (cunning) and the lion (violent), but only if it is necessary to be so. Immorality and disingenuity are essential: it is better to appear to be pious, humane, and kind rather than actually being so. “ https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0113/1106131-why-machiavelli-still-matters-today/
By Niccolo’s criteria, Starmer has no virtue whatsoever.
Allo Allo was brilliant on so many levels..the “foreign language” play was particularly clever.
i doubt they could make it today….
MrGrimNasty
August 1, 2025 4:59 am
I can’t believe people are still reposting these YM and A&M clips, they were amusing the first 850 times, and yes I was guilty when they were still fresh. These days it should be against the internet etiquette law.
Wait…wait…you mean the Internet has an actual Etiquette Law?
Never conceived it as a possibility. Though it should have AI content clearly marked in the thumbnails so you can choose to give their effort a “Click” or not
WUWT serves a world-wide audience. Not all of us grew up in the green and sceptered isle, and didn’t see these shows., nor the remakes. All brand new to me, and, I’m sure, many others. Thanks, Charles, for sharing.
I didn’t know there was a 2013 version! I loved the 1980 and 1986 series and still have the disks. Gotta find this newer one (6 episodes?). Their impact on my thinking (I have the book version too) ranks up there with the Bard and the Bible. “Yes, Minister” is the best guidebook on government ever written (or performed.) I had a copy on my desk my whole four years “inside” in state government.
If you can find it, watch “The Gravy Train” with a young Christoph Walz playing a young naive German in the EU bloatocracy. Priceless – and all too believable!
“The Thick Of It” was a great piss-take of politicians & bureaucrats too.
Scarecrow Repair
August 1, 2025 8:33 am
That looks like a reboot of the original, minus all the charm.
adaptune
August 1, 2025 9:19 am
Thanks for the reminder of how much I hate shows with laugh-tracks.
Rob de Vos
August 1, 2025 10:17 am
Hahaha 🙂
Steinar Jakobsen
August 3, 2025 7:28 am
Anthony Jay was one of the two writers for the popular BBC TV series “Yes Minister”. He spent the first part of his career working his way up the BBC. He eventually discovered a general attitude among the staff at the institution that business and industry were looked down upon and sometimes spoken of disparagingly in the programmes. He also noticed that so-called neutral discussion panels in the programmes were usually composed in such a way that it often unfairly affected those who disagreed with the BBC’s basic views. As climate activism took root in the BBC, this eventually became so obvious that Jay spoke out strongly against it. Two well-respected BBC scientists also protested against the alignment. They were told that they had no further work there. They are David Whitehouse and David Bellamy . Anthony Jay left the BBC in 1964 and became a freelance writer.
The BBC showed the first 3 7-episode series of “Yes Minister”, but what many people are not aware of is that a sequel was released in 2013, where one of the episodes dealt with the climate hysteria in a powerful way. Even though the BBC had financed this last series , the state channel did not want to show it. Gold Channel was given the rights to show it. The episodes were previously available on Youtube, but with today’s censorship zeal this has been removed. The episode “Yes Prime Minister 2013 Global Warming” reveals in detail what climate activism is really about.
“Computer models are no different from fashion models: seductive, unreliable, easily corrupted, and they lead sensible people to make fools of themselves.”
Yes Minister was very much an 80s thing. A time when the BBC still took risks with comedy programming – eg Red Dwarf etc
Fast forward to 2010 and the BBCs Armstrong & Miller show…
IMO, possibly the greatest comedy ever, it still feels fresh and relevant even 40 years later.
I think the above videos were the stage adaptation rather than the original TV series, but you’re right, politics still behaves as was satirised in the TV shows (Yes Minister and yes Prime Minister).
Politics has always been politics through the ages. Et tu Brute and all that
“virtue means something new in Machiavelli’s hands. It doesn’t mean “morally upright”, quite the contrary; it means resourceful and, if needs be, immoral. The prince is, as Machiavelli writes, like the fox (cunning) and the lion (violent), but only if it is necessary to be so. Immorality and disingenuity are essential: it is better to appear to be pious, humane, and kind rather than actually being so. “
https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2020/0113/1106131-why-machiavelli-still-matters-today/
By Niccolo’s criteria, Starmer has no virtue whatsoever.
Not sure where those videos came from – but yes – not from the TV show…
but still quite good
This was actually part of a relatively recent remake of Yes Prime Minister, done about 12 years ago. The main series was made in the 1980s.
Why are so-called creatives so out of new ideas?
The Naked Gun is the latest….
They’re all terrified of causing “offence”.
Can you imagine Fawlty Towers being made today, or even something like One Foot In The Grave?
And let’s not mention the war, shall we?
These days they begin not with scene one, but trigger warnings. Spoilers even.
Yeah, they can’t any more. That bit has been cancelled out. Before long, we won’t have any offensive comedy at all.
Ironically, Allo Allo was very popular in Germany…
The BBC sold “‘Allo ‘Allo”, a hit British television comedy series that pokes fun at the Gestapo in Nazi-occupied France to ProSiebenSat1, a German broadcaster.
https://www.france24.com/en/20080310-german-tv-buys-bbc-nazi-bashing-comedy-television
Allo Allo was brilliant on so many levels..the “foreign language” play was particularly clever.
i doubt they could make it today….
I can’t believe people are still reposting these YM and A&M clips, they were amusing the first 850 times, and yes I was guilty when they were still fresh. These days it should be against the internet etiquette law.
That’s what we need here a post talking about censoring the internet. You must be a Knight that says Née.
He’s certainly not a king.
Patsy maybe?
Wait…wait…you mean the Internet has an actual Etiquette Law?
Never conceived it as a possibility. Though it should have AI content clearly marked in the thumbnails so you can choose to give their effort a “Click” or not
Mr Nasty,
WUWT serves a world-wide audience. Not all of us grew up in the green and sceptered isle, and didn’t see these shows., nor the remakes. All brand new to me, and, I’m sure, many others. Thanks, Charles, for sharing.
No, Prime Minister….
I didn’t know there was a 2013 version! I loved the 1980 and 1986 series and still have the disks. Gotta find this newer one (6 episodes?). Their impact on my thinking (I have the book version too) ranks up there with the Bard and the Bible. “Yes, Minister” is the best guidebook on government ever written (or performed.) I had a copy on my desk my whole four years “inside” in state government.
If you can find it, watch “The Gravy Train” with a young Christoph Walz playing a young naive German in the EU bloatocracy. Priceless – and all too believable!
“The Thick Of It” was a great piss-take of politicians & bureaucrats too.
That looks like a reboot of the original, minus all the charm.
Thanks for the reminder of how much I hate shows with laugh-tracks.
Hahaha 🙂
Anthony Jay was one of the two writers for the popular BBC TV series “Yes Minister”. He spent the first part of his career working his way up the BBC. He eventually discovered a general attitude among the staff at the institution that business and industry were looked down upon and sometimes spoken of disparagingly in the programmes. He also noticed that so-called neutral discussion panels in the programmes were usually composed in such a way that it often unfairly affected those who disagreed with the BBC’s basic views. As climate activism took root in the BBC, this eventually became so obvious that Jay spoke out strongly against it. Two well-respected BBC scientists also protested against the alignment. They were told that they had no further work there. They are David Whitehouse and David Bellamy . Anthony Jay left the BBC in 1964 and became a freelance writer.
The BBC showed the first 3 7-episode series of “Yes Minister”, but what many people are not aware of is that a sequel was released in 2013, where one of the episodes dealt with the climate hysteria in a powerful way. Even though the BBC had financed this last series , the state channel did not want to show it. Gold Channel was given the rights to show it. The episodes were previously available on Youtube, but with today’s censorship zeal this has been removed. The episode “Yes Prime Minister 2013 Global Warming” reveals in detail what climate activism is really about.
-Jim Hacker, Yes, Prime Minister