Browse episode ratings trends for Yes Minister. Simply click on the interactive rating graph to explore the best and worst of Yes Minister's 21 episodes.
Best Episodes of Yes Minister
The Skeleton in the Cupboard
S3 Ep3
8.4
25th Nov 1982
Jim uses a costly mistake from Sir Humphrey’s past to escape chastising an efficient local council for being late with their paperwork.
The Moral Dimension
S3 Ep4
8.4
2nd Dec 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.
A Question of Loyalty
S2 Ep7
8.3
6th Apr 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.
Big Brother
S1 Ep4
8.1
17th Mar 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.
The Bed of Nails
S3 Ep5
8.1
9th Dec 1982
Jim accepts an unpopular position pushing a transportation bill desired by Number 10, but opposed by everyone else.
Doing the Honours
S2 Ep2
8.0
2nd Mar 1981
When Jim learns that he can block civil servant’s honours, he blackmails them into cutting their budgets, but when he hears that he might be in line for an honorary degree, he has to back down.
Worst Episodes of Yes Minister
The Death List
S2 Ep3
7.7
9th Mar 1981
When Jim learns that when in opposition he was bugged by the secret service, he decides to bring in legislation to kerb the bugging, only to find out that he is on the death list of a group of terrorist’s, and the best way to find them, is by bugging phone lines
The Whisky Priest
S3 Ep6
7.8
16th Dec 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.
The Greasy Pole
S2 Ep4
7.8
16th Mar 1981
Jim has the chance of creating jobs, and saving a chemical company, when they are offered the chance to manufacture a highly dangerous chemical, but when the news gets out that it might be too dangerous, he has to back down.
The Economy Drive
S1 Ep3
7.8
10th Mar 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.
The Compassionate Society
S2 Ep1
7.8
23rd Feb 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.
The Quality of Life
S2 Ep6
7.8
30th Mar 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.
Yes Minister Episode Guide
Open Government
S1 Ep1
7.9
25th Feb 1980
Jim Hacker retains his 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 sets out to stop him
The Official Visit
S1 Ep2
7.9
3rd Mar 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.
The Economy Drive
S1 Ep3
7.8
10th Mar 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.
Big Brother
S1 Ep4
8.1
17th Mar 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.
The Writing on the Wall
S1 Ep5
8.0
24th Mar 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.
The Right to Know
S1 Ep6
8.0
31st Mar 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.
Jobs for the Boys
S1 Ep7
7.9
7th Apr 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
Satirical sitcom set in the office of a UK Cabinet minister, Jim Hacker MP, who struggles with Civil Service bureaucracy and political machinations as he tries to get on with government business.
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The best rated episodes of Yes Minister are:
The Skeleton in the Cupboard S3E3 rated 8.4
The Moral Dimension S3E4 rated 8.3
A Question of Loyalty S2E7 rated 8.3
Big Brother S1E4 rated 8.1
The Bed of Nails S3E5 rated 8.1
Doing the Honours S2E2 rated 8.0
The lowest rated episodes of Yes Minister are:
The Death List S2E3 rated 7.7
The Whisky Priest S3E6 rated 7.8
The Greasy Pole S2E4 rated 7.8
The Economy Drive S1E3 rated 7.8
The Compassionate Society S2E1 rated 7.8
The Quality of Life S2E6 rated 7.8
The first episode of Yes Minister aired on February 25, 1980.
The last episode of Yes Minister aired on December 23, 1982.
