Yes, Minister
The series charting the history of the best of British comedy looks at Yes, Minister and follow-up Yes, Prime Minister, which charted the rise of an unlikely Prime Minister and achieved massive success over five series.
Written by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, the satire captured the public imagination by revealing the behind-the-scenes wheeling and dealing of Westminster. Aided and abetted by secret informers who had sat right at the heart of government, Jay and Lynn created a civil service comedy that still rings true today and made stars of Nigel Hawthorne, Derek Fowlds and Paul Eddington.
Comedy Connections reveals that when Antony Jay first spoke to Jonathan Lynn about the idea, Lynn thought it was boring and turned it down, that the BBC's Head of Comedy had to bully Paul Eddington into taking the part of Jim Hacker, and the considerable political differences between the show's writers.
Also, how the 1979 election delayed the show's debut, the effect of being told that he was to become Prime Minister had on Paul Eddington, and why Antony Jay got his knighthood.
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