Yes Minister recently made a somewhat controversial appearance in the top 10 of the BBC's search for Britain 's favourite sitcom.  Opinion amongst comedy fans seems to be divided on this classic sitcom, probably because it is pretty difficult to place, falling outside the conventions of other staple British classics (Only Fools and Horses, Porridge, The Good Life, etc).  And although the show is currently being repeated on BBC one, it is true to say that over the past 20 years Yes Minister has been re-screened far less than any of the other aforementioned classics.

For those of you who don't recall it first time round, let me explain briefly what you missed.  Yes Minister was more of an educational experience than a straight-up comedy.  In subtly satiring the inner workings of the British Government establishment the show taught us how things really work behind the doors that line the corridors of power.  The internal politics, infighting and point-scoring between the Civil Service and the Government being portrayed and spun-out for our own entertainment.  Maggie Thatcher later confirmed that in this show, written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, there was a great deal of truth about what went on in the British Government. 

Now, after a long wait, all three series' of Yes Minister are available on DVD.  All 22 episodes are spanned across three discs, including the feature-length special "Party Games" in which MP Jim Hacker (Paul Eddington) gets promoted to the office of Prime Minister, laying the seeds for the subsequent follow-up series "Yes Prime Minister".

Unfortunately there is a complete sparsity of special features on the discs, other than basic writers and artists profiles.  However, this is quite understandable considering this is a release of a show made over 20 years ago, so the availability of additional material, alternative endings, three-hundred camera angles or other technical wizardry is out of the question.  The two lead actors, Paul Eddington (Jim Hacker) and Nigel Hawthorne (Humphrey Appleby), have since passed away, so there is little opportunity for meaningful commentaries or present-day interview footage.

However, technical content aside, there is something even more disappointing about the DVD release of this otherwise wonderful series.  From memory, I had recalled the political battles of wills between Hacker and Appleby to be like a complex, subtle game of chess, that were a joy to watch for their sheer cunning and manoeuvring.  However, watching the episodes back they seem far more simplistic, with the same format being repeated in virtually every episode, and the same script structure being used in every one, just substituting a different political topic of the day.  This is most apparent when you see Sir Humphrey’s unintelligible speeches and reasonings to Hacker played back to back, and you realise that many of them are almost identical word for word, causing them to somewhat lose their edge.

I should probably emphasise that (of course) Yes Minister has not changed in being released on DVD.  It is still one of the best British sitcoms ever made, and, thanks partly to the political issues of the show still being fully relevant today, remains a timeless classic.  However, an important word of caution is called for.  This show was not meant to be watched in the kind of extreme concentration that is made possible by the DVD format (you can now watch over 10 hours of Yes Minister solid).  Unless you are only watching the show at a rate of one episode per week, this classic can quickly become repetitive and lose some of its unique magic.