The BEST Episodes of Yes, Prime Minister
Every episode ever - ranked by fan votes!
Last Updated: May 10, 2020
Network: BBC Two
Yes, Prime Minister is the sequel to the popular British series Yes Minister. It aired from 1986 to 1988 and is the story of the continuing battles between Jim Hacker, who is now Prime Minister, and Sir Humphrey, who has been promoted to Cabinet Secretary.
#1 - A Diplomatic Incident
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired Dec 17, 1987
Jim uses the occasion of his predecessor's state funeral to negotiate with the French over the conditions of the channel tunnel.
9.03 
#2 - The Key
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired Jan 30, 1986
Office politics take precedence over national issues when Sir Humphrey and Bernard fall out with each other after Jim tries to restrict Sir Humphrey's access to No 10.
8.86 
#3 - The Ministerial Broadcast
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired Jan 16, 1986
Jim is coached in the world of show business as he prepares to address the nation on his defence policy.
8.85 
#4 - Power to the People
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired Dec 31, 1987
Sir Humphrey makes a very strange ally out of the formidable Agnes Moorhouse, a radical political reformer from a London council, in his efforts to stop Hacker's plans to make local government more democratic.
8.73 
#5 - Man Overboard
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired Dec 3, 1987
Sir Humphrey makes Jim suspicious of the Minister of Employment when he needs the PM's support in opposing a plan to shift military personnel from the south to the north of England.
8.70 
#6 - Official Secrets
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired Dec 10, 1987
Jim considers approving the publication of his predecessor's memoirs, but it becomes a plumber's nightmare as a series of leaks spring up.
8.67 
#7 - The Grand Design
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired Jan 9, 1986
After talking with his military advisers, Jim comes up with the idea of cancelling trident and reintroducing conscription. He also gets what no other Prime Minister has gotten, a cook / housekeeper.
8.54 
#8 - A Victory for Democracy
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired Feb 13, 1986
Jim must take action to avert a Marxist takeover of a Commonwealth island nation despite the efforts of the Foreign Office to keep him ignorant.
8.53 
#9 - The Tangled Web
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired Jan 28, 1988
Sir Humphrey has to decide if he will support the PM or inform Parliament when Hacker denies knowledge of a wiretap authorized by his office without his knowledge.
8.46 
#10 - The Patron of the Arts
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired Jan 1, 1988
Sir Humphrey works against Hacker over the issues of funding the National Theater when the PM asks for help containing criticism from the Theater's director.
8.43 
#11 - The National Education Service
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired Jan 8, 1988
Sir Humphrey faces a conflict of interest when Hacker devises a plan to improve educational standards by abolishing the Department of Education and Science.
8.33 
#12 - A Real Partnership
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired Feb 13, 1986
Sir Humphrey tries to get his scheduled pay raise even though increases for MPs have been put on hold for budgetary reasons.
8.27 
#13 - One of Us
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired Feb 27, 1986
Hacker threatens to place Sir Humphrey on leave while a security inquiry looks into why he cleared a confessed Soviet spy many years earlier, so Sir Humphrey retaliates with a dog in distress on Salisbury plain.
8.27 
#14 - The Bishop's Gambit
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired Feb 20, 1986
Jim has to choose a new bishop but doesn't like either the Church or Sir Humphrey's choices.
8.21 
#15 - A Conflict of Interest
Season 2 - Episode 4 - Aired Dec 24, 1987
Hacker and Sir Humphrey clash over the appointment of the governor of the Bank of England and the cover up of a banking scandal in the City.
8.15 
#16 - The Smoke Screen
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired Jan 23, 1986
Jim favors abolishing smoking through heavy taxation but runs into strong opposition from the tobacco lobby and the Treasury department.
7.11