The BEST episodes of Yes Minister
Every episode of Yes Minister ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Yes Minister!
This is the story of the endless battles between the Government in the form of Jim Hacker, a brand new Cabinet Minister and the Civil Service of his department run by Sir Humphrey Appleby. Stuck in the middle of it all is civil servant Bernard Woolley.
#1 - A Question of Loyalty
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/6/1981
Jim and Sir Humphrey pass the buck to protect each other when they appear before a select committee investigating charges of waste in Hacker's ministry, until Jim's higher loyalties are called upon.
#2 - The Writing on the Wall
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/24/1980
A rumour starts that Jim's department is about to be axed. So with help from Sir Humphrey, they try and defeat the Prime Minister's plans.
#3 - The Death List
Season 2 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/9/1981
Jim learns that when in opposition he was bugged by the secret service, and decides to bring in legislation to curb the bugging. He then finds out that he is on the death list of a group of terrorists, and the best way to find them is by bugging phone lines.
#4 - Big Brother
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/17/1980
When the Government is planning to introduce a national database, Jim wants to bring in safe guards, but Sir Humphrey stalls until with some help from the opposition, Jim gets his way.
#5 - The Moral Dimension
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 12/2/1982
Jim is forced to back down about exposing bribery used to obtain a lucrative foreign contract when Bernard allows a valuable vase from a foreign government to be undervalued so that Mrs. Hacker can keep it.
#6 - The Devil You Know
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/23/1981
When Jim is betrayed by a Cabinet colleague over his plans to bring in jobs for British workers, he thinks about leaving Westminster and becoming a European Commissioner. But when Sir Humphrey learns who Hacker's replacement will be, he tries to change his mind.
#8 - Equal Opportunities
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 11/11/1982
Jim decides to promote more women to high civil service positions despite Sir Humphrey's opposition.
#9 - Open Government
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/25/1980
Jim Hacker wins a seat in the election and is given a cabinet post in the new government He meets the permanent secretary for his department Sir Humphrey Appleby but Jim decides to change the way things are done in the civil service so Sir Humphrey starts a plan to stop him
#10 - The Bed of Nails
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 12/9/1982
Jim accepts an unpopular position pushing a transportation bill desired by No 10, but opposed by everyone else.
#11 - The Right to Know
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/31/1980
Jim faces rebellion at home and in the office over the removal of protected status from a badger habitat, while he tries to circumvent Sir Humphrey's efforts to keep him ignorant of things.
#12 - The Middle-Class Rip-Off
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 12/23/1982
Jim and Sir Humphrey collide when Jim acts as an MP to sell an art gallery and museum in his district to support a popular local football club.
#13 - Jobs for the Boys
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 4/7/1980
Jim goes on radio to support the Solihull project a Government, union and private enterprise building scheme, that he has inherited from the last administration, but unknown to him the project is close to bankruptcy, Sir Humphrey hopes to save the deal by offering a Quango to the director of the bank involved
#14 - The Quality of Life
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/30/1981
Sir Humphrey uses Jim's promise to keep a popular city farm project open to get special permission for an additional nine floors on a proposed skyscraper.
#16 - The Challenge
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 11/18/1982
When Jim tackles local council administration and civil defense, he runs afoul of a BBC interviewer.
#18 - The Official Visit
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/3/1980
When the leader of an African country is killed in a coup, his successor, who is an old friend of Jim's, comes in his place. They negotiate a £50 million deal to help buy oil exploration equipment.
#19 - The Whisky Priest
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 12/16/1982
Jim faces opposition from all sides when he learns that British munitions have been sold to terrorist groups and he decides to start an inquiry into how it happened.
#20 - The Compassionate Society
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/23/1981
When Jim learns that a brand new hospital still has no medical staff, but hundreds of civil servants working there, he proposes that half of the civil servants be sacked and use the money saved to open wards with medical staff. Meanwhile, the government is under pressure to accommodate 1,000 overseas refugees.
#21 - The Economy Drive
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/10/1980
Jim Hacker is determined to reduce the Civil Service, but he is frustrated by Sir Humphrey, and the only numbers he can alter are the numbers of tea ladies.