Choosing a New Bishop | Yes, Prime Minister | BBC Comedy Greats
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 พ.ย. 2021
- The bishopric of Bury St. Edmunds has become vacant, and Jim Hacker must choose between an atheist and a socialist.
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#Comedy #YesPrimeMinister - ตลก
“The Queen is inseparable from the Church of England.
What about God?
I think he’s what’s called ‘an optional extra’.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣
Makes sense, she is the senior member of the 2
You know when a show is well written when you can see quotes and know exactly who said them and how they were said before hearing it in the video.
Yes, I heard those words too. And I laughed too!
3:16 "Theology is a device for enabling agnostics to stay inside the church" Exquisite !
If only we had such theology in non-christian countries too, then I could still be living in the lands of my grandparents.
*sighs in Persian and Arabic*
....and true!
@@ixlnxs Just make the religious issues an economic issue directly affecting people and suddenly compromises won't be an exception but a need.
If only the masses knew the truth of that! Half the world would have to give up it's grip on power. Luciferi's tale would be told. Maybe we would be better for it? Like we were before? Because whether you like it or not... You lot are going to have to deal with it. Pesky neighbours... Ashera is waiting for you... Lads. And right now, it's 11.58.
@@magnusm4 I'm not sure if that would be a moral way to do it, but it would be an effective one.
"What's better then a Bishop ?", "A Rook ?" - one liners that can never be equalled ...
I also love my own internal dialogue here, since we know Hacker had an "inferior" education at LSE, I'm thinking, oh they do have some standards then? And the blank looks from the others, they don't have chess at Oxbridge?
What "Rook" means in this context?
@@nandi7772 A chess piece, like bishop
@@nandi7772 also called a castle
Considering the context of the clip, I find it appropriate that in the analogy the Queen would beat both a bishop and a rook.
I'm writing a piece on divisions in the Anglican church, and this is just what I needed. The bit about bishops avoiding pastoral work if at all possible, and ESPECIALLY the bit about God being an optional extra really hits home...
Surely it would be better to cite research articles and not sitcoms from 4 decades ago?
@@ulture I never said I was citing it, and it's not an academic piece.
@@hoilst so just say you wanted to watch some TV
@@ulture Settle down, Pecker. Settle down. There's more to writing than just TH-cam comments and dry academia.
You could definitely cite Yes, PM in an academic article. Not as evidence, obviously, but as a discussion starter.
By the way, are they still divided into high, low, and broad church? What's the relative power between them?
One simply never tires of watching these series. Brilliant is an understatement. The comedic timing of these three men has never been rivaled.
I resonate with this sentiment.
Best comedy EVER.
👍👍👍👍
@Vike Wiqoyah i❤️ to love you😀😀😀🎉🎉🎉🙏👍.
2:10 that frozen look on Hacker's face
3:46 the look of disbelief for God being called an optional extra
That casual glance at his watch when offered a sherry is just perfection from Nigel Hawthorne.
@johan tölli • I think Nigel Hawthorne is severely underrated when you consider he played the obsequious Georgie in Mapp and Lucia after the initial Yes, Minister yet before Yes, Prime Minister.
The change in his voice, timing, posture, etc., make you realize how great he really was. Lesser actors can imitate or be directed to glance at a watch but they lack the whole package Nigel had.
It's the fact he says yes thank you first that I think makes it all the better
@@dtitco69 a slightly raised eyebrow would not be out of place?
Must be after 6pm....
I suspect this is a line of his own, thus the reaction of himself and Sir Humphrey.
I have to feel this episode was really about David Jenkins, Bishop of Durham. He was nominated just a couple of years before this episode was produced, and there was a huge controversy over some public statements he had made appearing to deny the literal truth of certain foundational Christian beliefs, such as the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection. While his career doesn't exactly parallel the precis supplied by Bernard here, it also wasn't very different. This was the first hint a lot of Anglican believers had that their bishops didn't necessarily believe in God.
Three days after his consecration in York Minster, the Minster was struck by lightning and the roof of the South Transept went up in flames. The believers saw this as a sign of divine disapproval.
Well, it's generally known that the series was well-researched and most episode premises, if not all, were based on real events.
It's so hard to research a then-current cultural reference, so that's a very useful and interesting comment! Thanks!
Thank you sooo much for giving references! I just need it!
In a show full of highlights throughout its 5 series, this is still one of the best bits. Sir Humphrey's defiant tone when he begins "The Queen is inseparable from the Church of England..." Also the subtlety of him deftly but reprovingly checking the time on his watch when the PM offers him a drink. But knowing these episodes very well and having enjoyed them over many years, I realise it is a superb partnership: Hacker's shocked look at the very end when it dawns on him.
Nothing tops this show , every line is classic and the acting is genius, RIP to them all
"Can you believe what we have to put up with here?!"
"We're religious, we have to."
0:05 - This was a very clever way of inferring that Hacker liked to drink and drink alcohol very early in the day. Sir Humphrey looking at his watch infers it. As Sir Humphrey preferred to drink hard liquor after 5pm.
imply not infer fyi
@@theeyehead3437 Thank you Captain Pedantic
@@johnking5174 np
It's not hard liquor. Bristol Cream Sherry (favoured by the upper classes because the Queen drinks it) is only 17%
@@pavarottiaardvark3431 whenever I hear the word sherry I think of Onslow, prince of bone idleness and brother-in-law of Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) calling it "fairy pee".
“Optional extra”. Brilliant!!!
Scripts as sharp as a tack, acting master class. I loved this show.
As I watched this, my enjoyment of the breathtakingly well-aimed satire faded into a realisation of the breath-taking accuracy of the depiction.
@@tebelshaw9486 gods and fairies aren't real
Art reflecting reality...
I love that look of horrified disbelief at the end.
I’ve been involved with the CofE for a very long time, and this is totally accurate - sadly.
No, it's not sad. The only reason to go to church these days is because the C of E has weaponised Victoria sponge cake.
Indeed - it certainly allows one to appreciate the rich history of dissent in the UK.
You only need read the letters of prime ministers discussing church appointments to know how true this is.
By far the most insightful of all the yes minister clips. Perfection in writing and delivery.
"A rook?" 💀💀💀
very droll sir 😂😂😂
More like "RRRoook"? 😂
Elsewhere in the episode I believe Bernard referred to a choice between a knave & a queen.... (No, I'm *not* going to explain it!). That *wouldn't* be included in a 21st century remake.
I wish we also had a Yes Cardinal, mocking Vatican politics. The inner workings of the catholic church is a political comedy gold mine
Father Ted is the closest you'll get, especially the Tentacles of Doom episode where a relic gets upgraded
@daniiel mlinarics Father Ted, (or going back in the uk we had All Gas and Gaiters - but that was prob Anglican, but queen aside it was difficult to tell the difference)
Not so much comedy as a horror story.
I suppose the titular cardinal would be a secretary of a fictional congregation. That would give him a "minister like" position.
There would also be a sequel, called "Yes your Holiness" about the cardinal becoming Pope.
Sadly Dave Allen is no longer with us. He'd have made a perfect advisor. May your God go with you!
Nothing wrong with a good bit of classic clips of Yes,Prime Minster or any good comedy
Heaven for the Church of England is an eternal garden party at Buckingham Palace
Hilarious! 😂
Sir Humphrey would make the perfect Anglican bishop.
I believe that his current position (and all of those other jobs... I mean ways to serve the country, he'll have after he retires) fall under the heading of "better jobs".
The truth of those last lines is what animated Cromwell and friends...
😂
Although for the later Cromwell, it was the other way around.
Irony and sarcasm is at a whole other level with this show..it so starkly brings out the perpetual hypocrisies of our society.
The nuance and inflection is pure comedy.
"the ideal candidate would be a cross between a socialite and a socialist"
And just like that, everything we see around us today is explained
From Estonia and loving it.
Really freaking good writing.
Yes the last words.. Option extra! Brill
Absolutely PERFECT 🤣🤣🤣
So glad more clips are being added, truly a brilliant show!
I love this program. I'm always educated and entertained at the same time
"What's better than a Bishop? A Rook?"
This is forever fresh..
An optional extra!
Brilliant
Pure comic genious. Enjoying it from Brazil.
Brilliantly written and performed.
Just brilliant, thanks
So sharp and still applicable! I always remember a joke in another scene: Long time no see...
Perhaps an explanation for those not familiar with the term. A bishop's "patch" is called a "See" & Bernard & Sir Humphrey had been discussing a bishop candidate who hadn't been "in post' for some time.
@@stephenphillip5656 thank you so much as I didn’t know it.
could you also tell me which word Bernard said
dispensing juice and organising …..
what is that …. word?
@@arrows8367 I think he said demos (demonstrations)
That most accurate of political documentaries and years later we found out who was giving the writers the inside knowledge.
Oh?
Who?
@@22espec I presume a Church of England Bishop
Retired civil servants
The biggest challenge to writing comedy then in declining England and now in declining America is that satire is basically the art of stretching the ordinary into absurdity. How do you do that when absurdity has already become the ordinary?
By pointing it out.
The absurd is accepted as normal (for lack of alternatives), but that doesn't mean it's not absurd.
A satirist is one who notices the absurdity and has the wit to explain it in simple terms.
The problem in the US is that the people running things and the entertainment industry are on the same side. That is why there is no version of this here.
Succinct, beautiful script... Looking closely at the church of England and government... Bang on the nail!
Brilliant as always
This triggered all of my university Political Science courses
Jonathan Swift would applaud satire of this quality.
The worst aspect of it all is that people such as the fictional Mike Stanford could have then (and even more so now) lead essentially the same lives, with practically the same social and economic status, the same opinions be they political, religious (or irreligious), social, etc., free from any hypocrisy, pretense or dishonesty, by simply becoming a (secular) writers, activists, or academics (or the three combined). Mike Stanford could even have “married up” in exactly the same way as he was mentioned to have done. His being a pretend clergyman is _superfluous,_ which makes it even worse than venal and hypocritical.
0:48 and know when it's too early for a sherry
Must have been after 6pm...
@@malcolmmcleod6020 4:30 was acceptable for Sherry, just after tea. 6pm meant it was ok for cocktails.
So good!
This is the best demonstration of why the American Bill of Rights added religion.
It was to preserve the faiths from the government
Very very well said
And although the US government is allegedly secular you can't get elected without the support of the church. Whereas the UK as a religious country, religion is brought up very little in politics.
@@andrewgarner2224 there is no organized church in the US. It's up to the individual people if they want to vote for someone that's atheist. There is no approval process, and no backing of an official Church. Big difference.
@@YG-kk4ey
Try telling that to Pastor Cletus J. Pickelmeister from Dog's Breath, Iowa and his Anabaptist congregation of 200 potential voters.
The various churches and religious communities of the US hold the elections in the palm of their hands.
As soon as a presidential candidate decides not to conclude a speech with "...and God bless the United States of America", the pastor won't even bother bussing his flock to the polling station.
And to protect the goverment from the faith, look at Ireland and what they went through.
Highly accurate.
So true. It IS a social club and pays very well too. Vicars can hve their children educated at private schools as well as all their other perks! They are certainly not poor. So much for following the way of Jesus.
Wonderful
Hilarious yet true..we see it now..
Scarily accurate.
As an atheist, I find this hilarious.
As a Christian (non-Anglican), I too. 😂
I thought you would.
All the talk about giving irreligious people a way to hang out and do “community things” on Sundays, turns out there’s already an agnostic church as a state religion!
Humorous, yet all of it rather sadly true...
Here's a funny idea
"So, you're telling me, it's either get the Queen out or God?"
"Yes, Minister, though it'll have to be God."
"Why's that?"
"Because the Queen has seniority."
Genial
What's the difference from a socialite and a socialist????
A socialite isn't a political thing, it's basically someone likable, well known and who enjoys big social gatherings.
Humpy....😊
So true
This is why American episcopalians increasingly look to south african bishops for spiritual leadership.
Conservative religion seems to globe-trot. Here today, somewhere else tomorrow.
Cool
WOW 👌
Would be hilarious if it weren't so true...
It has made me wonder if this is very near the truth regarding the Church of England.
Considering how accurate the rest of the series is...
The Church of England is a very broad church indeed.
@@brontewcat sociologically yes
It is, but you have to remember, this dates from a period where people rarely changed jobs and clergymen would have very few skills they could take outside. So, it is Christian charity to leave people be. There's an absolutely wonderful book of interviews of mainly enclosed French nuns from the 1970s. There's an incredibly moving chapter about nuns who have lost their faith. Everyone knows. But would never dream of asking them to leave. Also they continue to be totally part of the community. The lady journalist who did it was very left wing and hostile, but she came out of it thinking very differently. Being clergy is a lifelong commitment to a calling, and life is....long. Wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the pastoral clergy were the ones losing their faith. Is it better to continue supporting your community or be high and mighty about Virgin births?
The beauty of Yes Minister is that is both terribly true and terribly hypocritical. These things ALWAYS cut both ways. And that's the point, they are always both right and both wrong.
It is, but you have to remember, this dates from a period where people rarely changed jobs and clergymen would have very few skills they could take outside. So, it is Christian charity to leave people be. There's an absolutely wonderful book of interviews of mainly enclosed French nuns from the 1970s. There's an incredibly moving chapter about nuns who have lost their faith. Everyone knows. But would never dream of asking them to leave. Also they continue to be totally part of the community. The lady journalist who did it was very left wing and hostile, but she came out of it thinking very differently. Being clergy is a lifelong commitment to a calling, and life is....long. Wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the pastoral clergy were the ones losing their faith. Is it better to continue supporting your community or be high and mighty about Virgin births?
The beauty of Yes Minister is that is both terribly true and terribly hypocritical. These things ALWAYS cut both ways. And that's the point, they are always both right and both wrong.
Well I would rather hope they are just jokes but as Yes PM is more like a documentary so...
Its all a bit tiresome reading the documentary comments, especially when documentaries aren't exactly... reliable, so to speak
We watched this show, asking ourselves, 'Is this pure comedy or is there something else here?" The same can be said for what is left of the Anglican Church,
What's so cutting of the wit, is that it's true for some we know.
@@markkringle9144 Yes, its truth is what makes it cutting.
FUNNY! Love Britcoms
Script writing as its best on all forms
Funny but sadly some Truth in this too I was once a Anglican church warden & I saw a bit of this too !
Fun memories. But the laughter is too loud and dates this brilliant comedy.
I wish one day India reaches a maturity level where one can make fun of Hindu and Islamic religious institutions in a similar way without getting killed.
You get praised for mocking Hindu institutions, it's only as of 2014 they have stopped tolerating this one sided maturity.
Those days are gone mate! You couldn’t do this in the UK now! Political correctness is the norm now! Such religious freedom don’t exist now!
@@victoriousrufus6747 oh no!! That's a sorry state of affairs. The right to be irreverent should be a fundamental right in any society.
With Hindus you can still get away but with muslims they get away with your head minus the your body. Look for Kanhiya lal teli.
It will but you and i will be long dead before that happens
I have a feeling that the political class would be happy that this show is no more.
If that were so, we would not see it here.
Apparently they really loved it back when it was airing
Anybody else thinking of Pope Fancis while watching this?
Oh yes....every week...."If tonight the bombs must fall....."...I wish we Knew the Third Secret,,,,,,,and today being the 13th of May.... you will understand...
Back in the days when good writing and brilliant acting was the hallmark of very good comedy. Before the PC Police kicked the doors in. When people laughed at jokes and didn't cry like spoiled children. If people were 'offended' by a television program, they simply changed the channel.
Yeah because making fun of the church is something PC people hate
@@alicev5496 no, making fun of the church and religion in general is what intelligent people do. Because they know it for what it is. A massive con.
I wonder if some MPs in Oz use this series to educated themselves as to how to do the job.
But when is that darn rook likely to get a chance at showing his true, modernist chess board colours?
Ho well
How little this has dated!
This explains a lot
-a Christian who doesn't get the Anglican ways.
It's moments like this that remind me why my own relationship with religion has been shaky over the years 😟
It's all a lot of medieval mumbo jumbo
If I was forced to have a religious adherence, I'd be around to my nearest Anglican (Church of England in Australia) church as quick as a flash.
Relax my brother, St Peter never invisioned this political nonsense or some dead Kings bootycall for a church. Give to the poor, stay humble, in every situation ask yourself 'what would Jesus do?' you'll find your way to the light soon enough and do some good on your way.
It’s not about the public hierarchy; l came to faith in spite of the Church of England leadership, not because of it.
@@johnmccrossan9376
_"and ask yourself 'what would Jesus do?'"_
Including when he lied to manipulate people, spoke in riddles to ensure some would go to hell, and refused to help people of the "wrong" race? (You know, if the Bible had really been inspired by an all-knowing, all-powerful being, it and its Messiah probably wouldn't have been left in the dust by modern secular morality.)
This clip raises an interesting problem. If you had a non Anglican as Prime Minister would he still recommend the appointment of a Bishop.
You mean, like we have right now?
Yes, because as Yes Minister teaches you the civil service choose (just kidding), but he recommends to the Queen, it is she who is head of the Church, so it doesn't really matter.
Yes, of Course. Tony Blair was a Catholic when he recommended C of E appointments.
Of course. The PM only "advise" the monarch on who will be the appointee. It''s the monarch who chooses. Wink wink!
Politicians do indeed want to discuss moral issues...while they have no morals themselves
God forbid!
Why was the “Greenham Common” bit funny?
Full of Soviet aligned sympathisers, who objected to Western nuclear weaponry, but never commented about East Bloc military threats.
Anybody else think it's a bit unethical for poloticians to be apointing clergymen? Just doesn't seem like something that should be happening. Although then again the whole church of England basically exists because Henry the 8th wanted a bootycall so maybe they don't care.
If you listen to people like David Starkey he will tell you that church and politics have gone hand in hand for centuries, but yes it does seem a strange thing that they appoint them on behalf of the queen.
@@adlam97531 even so it feels wrong that they're going hand in hand that much, if the 2 are to be related it should be the crown under the thumb of the church, and now that the government has broken with nearly all of the commandments it seems immoral and borderline hypocritical to have them decide church appointments. Although then again the church of England was started as a branch because of a monarch's desire for control so its probably one of those things that made sense when it was implemented but hasn't aged well.
If not for politics, no church would exist.
It was not a booty call, BTW, but an anullment of a marriage on account of the princess consort having been infertile, which the pope refused on account of the marriage having been consummated and the Defender of the Faith Henry VIII not being the emperor of the HRE nor the king of France, so actually politically irrelevant.
If you listen carefully they say that's not what thePM does. he church looked into and made a choice. Hacker's job is NOT to make the appointment, that's the Queen's job
Bingo. Look up the useful word "Erastianism". It sort of means that in an official state religion, whose head is also the head of state, then the state can decree the articles of belief. That's what drove so many thoughtful and historically literate Anglican priests to seek re-union with The Catholic Church, keeping their style and customs of worship (which in the High Church Tradition are very beautiful) as a sort of "rite" in what is now called the Ordinariate. Their Masses and Morning & Evening Prayer are so beautiful and dignified that they are a real gift to the Catholic Church which often has an uninspiring liturgy thanks to the "anything goes" informal-modernist attitude after Vatican II . The Ordinariate liturgy -- in formal and beautiful English -- has the sense of reverence, beauty and mystery the Novus Ordo so often lacks
Shamefully, that's to a large extent true of the C of E
The C of E is way better than the rag bag Roman Catholic church
Oh, how I wish there were no odious "laugh track" disrupting my enjoyment.
It was always recorded in front of an audience - the laughter is real
@@timothyblake9213 Not always. The earlier seasons were, the later seasons not so much; I think Paul Eddington's declining health made the schedule more irregular. But anyhow, if you compare episodes from the different seasons, the quality of the laughter is noticeably different.
How come they put alcohol in working place?
They always have. Downing St is perpetually drunk
This was very normal in Britain up until the 90s (I say this in full knowledge that our prime minister had a work meeting in 2020 in a house of commons bar when the whole country was supposed to be in lockdown)
Because the Anglicans are eminently liberal they always get this.
That's a tautology, isn't it?
Some bitingly ironic and unfortunately true observations made here in the thin guise of wit. The same might well be suggested of Francis Bergoglio ...
Jorge Bergoglio
Sad but true.
What about Christ ? This comedy sitcom summed up everything that’s wrong in our country today
So funny yet sadly reflects some modern theologies even within churches and colleges. Another subject but kind of similar: Richard Dawkins is in Oz now [unless an old u tube thingy] already speaking against Christianity or any belief on our government owned ABC TV yesterday. If only God gave them all a Damascus Road experience.
A toilet is worse than religious building
Cake or Deatg
Death
It's satisfying to know that England is essentially unchanged despite the madness of Brexit.
I like belief in God for a Bishop but I'm old
Yes it's desirable but in the C of E optional. The Queen is genuinely more devout than most of her Anglican bishops. The prelate who was most auathentically holy ( and made other bishops uncomfortable) was courageous and outspoken Bishop Michael Nasir-Ali; and the C of E was both relieved and embarrassed when he joined the Ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church, who were delighted to have him.