The Men From The Ministry
This wonderful show using bureacracy as the basis for comedy ran from 1962 to 1977, and delighted audiences all round the globe, and is often quoted as being the 'first' Yes, Minister, although Jay and Lynn took the civil service situation to far greater satirical and believable heights. Richard Murdoch starred as the number two in the General Assistants department throughout it's 15 years, with Wilfred Hyde-White as the number one for the first two seasons, and Deryck Guyler from series three onwards.
There were a total of thirteen series and
they could boast Johnny Mortimer, Brian
Cooke and Edward Taylor amongst the writers.
Although not exactly satire, they were often
topical, and gave the other end of comedy to
much that was on the radio at the time, no
quick fire gags, just a quaint look at the world
that was disappearing in all places apart from
Whitehall and the Civil Service.
62/10/30 101 The Great Footwear Scandal 62/11/06 102 The Big Rocket 62/11/13 103 Strictly for the Birds 62/11/20 104 French Cricket 62/11/27 105 The War with the Isle of Wight 62/12/04 106 Moderately Important Person 62/12/11 107 The Rhubarb Pirates 62/12/18 108 A Matter of Form 62/12/25 109 The Magic Carpet 63/01/01 110 The Spy in Black and White 63/01/08 111 Island in the Sun 63/01/15 112 Problem in the Park 63/01/22 113 The End of the Road 65/07/25 201 Pirates of Lakeview Reservoir 65/08/01 202 Something About a Soldier 65/08/08 203 The Trouble With Cecil 65/08/15 204 Mahboni Lies Over the Ocean 65/08/22 205 The Man Who Made It Rain 65/08/29 206 Train of Events 65/09/05 207 Degrading Business 65/09/12 208 The Butcher of Glensporran 65/09/19 209 Counter Spies 65/09/26 210 A Question of Reundancy 65/10/03 211 A Back-dated Problem 65/10/10 212 The Hole 65/10/17 213 The Day the Martians Came 66/12/25 303 The Post Office Pantomime 67/01/01 304 All At Sea 67/01/08 305 Bowler Hats and Machine Guns 67/01/15 306 On The Run 67/01/22 307 A Gift for Sir Gregory 67/02/05 309 Customs of the Country 67/02/12 310 Getting the Bird 67/02/26 312 The Thing on the Beach 67/03/05 313 A Slight Case of Demolition 67/03/12 314 The Fastest Ship in the World 68/02/18 401 Battle of the River Thames 68/02/25 402 The Tubby Submarine 68/03/03 403 A Matter of Breeding 68/03/10 404 The Great Showbiz Fiasco 68/03/17 405 Up the Poll 68/03/24 406 Waterway to Go 68/04/07 408 The Fastest Brolly in the West 68/04/14 409 Lamb Takes a Gambol 68/04/21 410 Four Men In a Wellington 68/04/28 411 Out of the World 69/03/25 501 A Rotten System 69/04/01 502 A Brush With An Old Master 69/04/08 503 All Play and No Work 69/04/15 504 A Sticky Business 69/04/29 506 The Ship That Wagged Its Tail 70/06/30 601 Bye-bye Mildred 70/07/07 602 Bare Necessities 70/07/14 603 Storm in a Tea Cup 70/07/21 604 The Moving Target 70/07/28 605 Oil Well That Ends Well 70/08/04 606 The Bigger the Better 70/08/11 607 Trouble in the Air 70/09/08 611 A Bird In The Hand 70/09/22 613 Fair Exchange 70/09/29 614 Bill Stickers is Innocent 71/07/29 701 Rolling In It 71/08/12 703 Thoroughly Modern Ministry 71/08/19 704 We All Make Mistakes 71/08/26 705 The Foolproof Fool 71/09/02 706 Rotten to the Corps 71/09/09 707 Transatlantic Trouble 71/09/23 709 Just The Ticket 72/07/11 801 Confidence Trick 72/07/18 802 The Night We Crept Into the Crypt 72/07/25 803 How Now Brown Cow 72/08/01 804 Sorry Wrong Number 72/08/08 805 The Desk Job 72/08/15 806 Foul Play 72/08/22 807 Something of Value 72/08/29 808 Taking Leave of Their Census 73/03/06 901 That's My Pigeon 73/03/13 902 Don't Let Them Needle You 73/03/20 903 Find The Lady 73/03/27 904 Bridge Over Troubled Waters 73/04/03 905 A Private Affair 73/04/10 906 Food For Thought 73/04/17 907 Getting It Taped 73/04/24 908 Safe and Unsound (static) 73/05/01 909 The Expert Caper 73/05/08 910 Flushed With Success 73/05/15 911 Under The Weather 73/05/22 912 Monkey Business 73/05/29 913 Cheesed Off 74/06/17 1001 Plane Madness 74/06/24 1002 Vipers in the Bosom 74/07/01 1003 Great Guns 74/07/08 1004 I Want My Mummy 74/07/22 1006 Ballet Nuisance 74/07/29 1007 Sky High 74/08/12 1009 Health and Deficiency 74/08/19 1010 Big Deal 74/08/26 1011 They Fry By Night 74/09/02 1012 In The Picture 75/05/26 1101 Nothing But The Vest 75/06/02 1102 That's My Boy 75/06/09 1103 All That Glitters 75/06/16 1104 Torn to Shreds 75/06/23 1105 Wool Over Their Eyes 75/06/30 1106 This, VAT and the Other 75/07/07 1107 The Great Trouser Troubles 75/07/14 1108 The Cabinet Crisis 75/07/21 1109 Chain Reaction 75/07/28 1110 All Change 75/08/04 1111 A Merry Dance 75/08/11 1112 A Sense of Power 75/08/18 1113 Postal Disorder 76/07/06 1201 All Cisterns Go 76/07/13 1202 A Problem Shared 76/07/20 1203 The Whitehall Castaways 76/07/27 1204 Off the Rails 76/08/10 1206 Turn of the Nurse 76/08/17 1207 Seal of Office 76/08/24 1208 Birmingham is Revolting 77/07/04 1301 Mission Inedible 77/07/11 1302 Horse Play 77/07/18 1302 Big Big Big Ben Bungle 77/07/25 1304 A Motley Crew 77/08/01 1305 Not On Your Telly 77/08/08 1306 One Way Only 77/08/15 1307 Take Your Pick 77/08/22 1308 Claws