Cheap Yes, Prime Minister - The Bishop's Gambit (Video) (Peter Whitmore (II)) Price

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In 'The Bishop's Gambit', Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby works to ensure a post-retirement sinecure as Master of his prestigious Oxbridge alma mater. Prime Minister Hacker is faced with two problems - the diplomatic impossibility of rescuing a young British woman in the Middle East sentenced to flogging and imprisonment for smuggling a bottle of whisky, due to the government's trade deals with the country in question; and the appointment of a see in which the candidates are Marxists, atheists, environmentalists, Darwinists, Orientalists - indeed, anything but Christian. The intertwining of these three disparate narrtive threads makes for some masterly comedy, and, rather shockingly, shows how much government policy depends not on that naive ideal, 'the good of the country', but the cynical networking of a few old duffers.

'One of us' is even better, as it throws the entire basis of the Civil Service's conservatism - that it is full of the 'right' (loyal, disinterested, educated, socially acceptable etc.) people ensuring the system keeps changelessly ticking over - is thrown into turmoil when it is revealed the former head of MI5, the model English civil servant, was a Communist spy. It is significant that Sir Humphrey had cleared the man in an earlier hearing and now finds himself under suspicion. Here the benevolent and socially necessary amorality of the Serice is exposed as potentially dangerous.

'Man Overboard' concerns Sir Humphrey's attempt to derail a plan to move the army northwards in order to economically benefit depressed areas - the Army see this as socially iniquitous: their wives will never be able to attend Wimbledon or shop at Harrods. So arch-manipulator Humphrey monstrously creates a non-existent plot against Hacker, which threatens the already fragile stability of the government.

Sir Humphrey unleashed
This video contains three episodes: "The Bishop's Gambit", "One of Us" and "Man Overboard". "Gambit" is the story of the collision of religion and politics when Hacker finds he has to appoint a Church of England bishop, and Humphrey discovers he can help his retirement by ensuring Hacker choose correctly. "One of Us" tells the tale of how Humphrey avoids being fired for espionage by helping the Prime Minister extricate a wayward dog on a military testing range. Finally, "Overboard" shows how cabinet ministers *really* decide to resign.

More than perhaps any other tape, these three episodes are for Humphrey fans. While the basic tension of every episode in the whole series is that between Humphrey and Hacker, this particular collection shows Humphrey at his most conniving-even when at the brink of losing his job. Along the way, of course, we pick up lessons in British politics far more interesting than found in any textbook.

"Gambit" displays the consequences of state-supported religion. A bishop has died, and it's up to the non-church-going Prime Minister to choose a replacement from among those the Civil Service have laid before him. Officially, of course, the Holy Ghost is directing things through the biblical rule of apostolic succession, but, as Bernard points out, it's a `conjuring trick' with Humphrey being the magician. Humphrey, it seems, has a post-career appointment waiting for him at Oxford, if he can just wrangle the right person into the bishopric. The solution presents itself in the form of a British nurse who's been caught carrying whisky in an Arab country. To free her from jail, Humphrey's choice for bishop-a man who believes that the Bible is a Christian version of the Koran-must go to the Middle East to intervene. What results is a comedy about a church with few believers, a politician taking credit for something he didn't do, and a civil servant appearing to be selfless just as he's gilt-edging his retirement nest. The interesting thing, morally, in this episode about religion is that, despite opportunity and ability, no one actually performs an act of charity even though everyone is attempting to appear as if they have.

"One of Us" puts Humphrey in the vice for failing to discover some years in the past that a former head of MI6 (roughly, Britain's CIA) was actually a Russian spy. Humphrey effectively chaired the committee investigating the former MI6 chief and missed several significant, obvious facts. At the urging of the present leader of MI6, Hacker must send Humphrey on `gardening leave' while the matter is debated. Aside from "The Writing on the Wall" from the _Yes, Minister_ series, and YPM's "The Tangled Web", this is one of the few instances of Humphrey actually displaying fear. He realizes that he could actually lose his job over something like this, and potentially even go to jail. It's a priceless few moments in which Humphrey's confidence positively ebbs. Still, he manages to rally with a typically brilliant scheme which not only misdirects attention away from his problems, but also saves the Defense Department's, and the PM's, flagging political fortunes, as well.

"Overboard" is Humphrey at his most cynical and manipulative. When the Employment Secretary comes up with a plan to move the defense establishment into depressed areas in the north of England, Humphrey runs into an argument he can't defeat logically. Thus, he must, as he says, 'play the man instead of the ball'. What ensues is Humphrey creating the illusion of disloyalty on the part of the Employment Secretary, and Hacker falling into paranoia because of it. This is a great episode for anyone who hates the way language can be manipulated by people in political life. It shows how entire careers can be shattered simply by using the words 'may', 'possibly' and 'you said so yourself, didn't you?'. Fortunately, the episode also shows that Humphrey does not get the last word.

Hilarious and insightful, in one neat package
This is an excellent video. The Bishop's Gambit is a great mix of domestic and international cynicism. Everyone gets it -- the Church of England, the Foreign Office, politicians, civil servants. The same can be said for One of Us, which is amusing inasmuch as it cuts the old school tie below the knot.

These stories are thinly disguised versions or developments of real events. The amazing thing is that the over the top characters, situations, and attitudes are more or less true -- sad if you live in the UK I suppose. Well worth watching, as most of the compilations are (with the exception of Power to the People, a lame duck).