The Complete Yes Minister & Yes Prime Minister Collector's Box Set (7 Discs)

This series is one of my absolute favourites!
Much of it is not even dated but can be applied to the world today.
If you like verbal and contextual humour with great acting you should buy this set.

WHY 3 STARS
The video is horrible. There is major macro-blocking, white-outs and the picture is a mess.
Sure, packing in 200+ min on a DVD9 is tough but this is bad.
I saw an other series from BBC on dvd that was just as bad, The Vicar of Dibley, so I was prepared when I ordered it that it might not be the best of transfers.
Also noted that the bitrate is indeed around 4 Mbit and that should be able to give one a really great picture (The Lord of The Ring Trilogy hasn't much higher bitrate and that picture is really good).
So it is a horrible transfer, or the master is a mess. BBC really should re-do and re-issue what they have released on DVD!

CONCLUSION
I will buy this series again when they release a remaster with better quality, for now this is what we get and it is still a great treat to watch.
Much of the original material of TV series has been thrown in the bin and only some low end (for today's standard) master is kept. To bad for us the viewers.

This is probably my favourite sitcom of all time. Beautifully and carefully written, it's the sort of thing we rarely get on TV these days. Many of the storylines have eery similarities with the current political climate, which only goes to make it even more funny. I'd recommend it to anybody who enjoys comedy that requires the occasional use of one's brain.

Perhaps my favourite serie at that time. I was very young when they passed it in portuguese tv but never missed an episode. Have to buy it, even if there's no portuguese subtitles.

This is a very undervalued classic British sitcom. Timeless, always relevant and the most intelligent comedy you will ever find. There's no need to go on and on about the series as it's just shear class. The one thing with the series I'd grumble with is that it has no definitive end. It just ends like a normal episode and that's it. It would have been nice to have seen it finish properly. And now to the reason why I've only given this four stars instead of five. The series, five stars easily. The boxset, two stars. Once again the BBC can not make a boxset to save their lives. The presentation is cheap, considering the magnificent illustrations in the title sequence, each dvd box cover looks like it had been knocked up in someone's lunch hour and the menu screens are just as generic. This contains absolutely no documentaries at all, nothing. They won awards for this programme, two of the actors are gone now and not one single documentary...pathetic beeb. But, you buy this for the episodes, the other things would be nice but it's the sophisticated writing and superior joke telling ability you buy this for. It's a cut above anything that's come out of a sitcom sinse it stopped airing. Just don't expect anything extra or classy looking for your money, the bbc have spent as little as they can. If you want to know how the government really work, then watch this.

Who understand politicians, civil servants and creative inertia between them, series is absolutely fantastic and it is a DEFINITE buy, not to be missed. Televised in the eighties but still so true...

Why don't they make comedies like this anymore ??

This political satire is true genius and one of the funniest sitcoms you'll ever watch.

25 years(ish) on and more transparently relevent than ever. x

Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister are, in my mind, amongst some of the best and most amusing television comedies ever made. This review is probably superflous as any person searching for this title will be aware of its brillance already.
This showcases all that is best about British comedy.
For the "uninitiated" the shows chart the rise of Jim Hacker, first as Minister of Administartive Affairs (a fictitious government department which administers the administration of the others-a very good joke in its self) and later as Prime Minister. He is (usually) thwarted by the Civil Service and in particular by Sir Humphrey Appleby. Important issues, such as Nuclear Weapons, Foreign Policy, The Health Service and Employment are treated with refreshing irreverence. The frightening thing is that many of the attidudes are probably not too far from the truth.
Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne, two superb character actors, are of a consistantly excellent standard. Their performances rival the brilliance of the script writting. The scripts are razor sharp and highly intelligent. Even two viewings are not enough to catch everything that is going on.
For me the best episodes are "The Bishops Gambit" (about attempting to appoint a politically acceptable Bishop) and "The Key" (about Hacker clipping Sir Humphrey's wings by restricting his access to Number 10.) Everybody will have their favourite episodes, but one thing is certain-there are no sub standard ones.
If you are even slightly cynical about politics, governments and Civil Servants, or if you have a "funny bone" this box set is an unmissable treat.
BUY IT.