Sir Frank makes more frequent appearances in Yes, Prime Minister, and in doing so, appears as both an ally and competitor with Sir Humphrey. As allies, in the Yes, Prime Minister episode of "A Real Partnership", Sir Frank conspires with Sir Humphrey to push through a civil service pay increase in a time of financial stringency. As competitors, Sir Frank attempts to undermine Sir Humphrey by suggesting that he would be able to take Humphrey's role in heading half of the British Civil Service ("The Key"). Indeed, it is their roles as de facto joint heads of the Civil Service (Sir Humphrey as Cabinet Secretary and Sir Frank as Permanent Secretary of the Treasury) that brings them most often into conflict.
Both Sir Frank and Sir Humphrey share many things in common, not the least being an aim to increase Civil Service pay and prestige at the cost of others, an extraordinary command of the English language, fine dining, and a superb ability to manipulate and advance their own interests.
Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as Her Majesty's Civil Service or the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy or secretariat of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government, which is composed of a cabinet of ministers chosen by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as two of the three devolved administrations: the Scottish Government and the Welsh Government, but not the Northern Ireland Executive.
Yes Minister is a political satire British sitcom written by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. Split over three seven-episode series, it was first transmitted on BBC2 from 1980 to 1984. A sequel, Yes, Prime Minister, lasted 16 episodes and ran from 1986 to 1988. All but one of the episodes lasted half an hour, and almost all ended with a variation of the title of the series spoken as the answer to a question posed by Minister Jim Hacker. Several episodes were adapted for BBC Radio; the series also spawned a 2010 stage play that led to a new television series on Gold in 2013.
Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne was an English actor. He portrayed Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary in the 1980s sitcom Yes Minister and the Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. For this role, he won four BAFTA TV Awards for Best Light Entertainment Performance. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying King George III in The Madness of King George (1994). He later won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor, for the 1996 series The Fragile Heart. He was also an Olivier Award and Tony Award winner for his work in theatre.
A Cabinet Secretary is usually a senior official who provides services and advice to a Cabinet of Ministers as part of the Cabinet Office. In many countries, the position can have considerably wider functions and powers, including general responsibility for the entire civil service.
Sir Howard Kingsley Wood was an English Conservative politician. The son of a Wesleyan Methodist minister, he qualified as a solicitor, and successfully specialised in industrial insurance. He became a member of the London County Council and then a Member of Parliament.
In the United Kingdom there are at least six Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty's Treasury, serving as a commission for the ancient office of Lord High Treasurer. The board consists of the First Lord of the Treasury, the Second Lord of the Treasury, and four or more junior lords to whom this title is usually applied.
A permanent secretary is the most senior civil servant of a ministry in the United Kingdom, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. Similar offices, often employing different terms, exist in many other Westminster-style systems and in some other governments.
James George Hacker, Baron Hacker of Islington, KG, PC, BSc (Lond.), Hon. DCL (Oxon.) is a fictional character in the 1980s British sitcom Yes Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. He is the Minister of the (fictional) Department of Administrative Affairs, and later the Prime Minister. He was portrayed by Paul Eddington in the original show; in the 2013 revival he was portrayed by David Haig.
Sir Humphrey Appleby is a fictional character from the British television series Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister. He was played originally by Sir Nigel Hawthorne, both on stage and in a television adaptation of the stage show by Henry Goodman in a new series of Yes, Prime Minister. In Yes Minister, he is the Permanent Secretary for the Department of Administrative Affairs. In the last episode of Yes Minister, "Party Games", he becomes Cabinet Secretary, the most powerful position in the service and one he retains during Yes, Prime Minister. Hawthorne's portrayal won the BAFTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance four times: 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987.
Sir Bernard Woolley, GCB, MA (Oxon) is one of the three main fictional characters of the 1980s British sitcom Yes Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. He was portrayed originally by Derek Fowlds, with Chris Larkin taking on the part for the 2013 revival.
In the British Civil Service and Australian Public Service the Principal Private Secretary is the civil servant who runs a cabinet minister's private office. Persons holding this office in New Zealand go by the title Senior Private Secretary. The role can be a political appointment or a civil service position.
Peter Cellier is an English actor who has appeared in film, stage and television. He is known for his role as Sir Frank Gordon in Yes Minister and then Yes, Prime Minister in the 1980s.
"The Bed of Nails" is the nineteenth episode of the BBC comedy series Yes Minister, first broadcast 9 December 1982, in which Jim Hacker unwisely accepts the role of 'Transport Supremo' with a view to developing an 'Integrated Transport' policy for the UK. It soon becomes apparent that opposition from various transport interests, the unions and significant also from within the Department for Transport will make implementation impossible and the policy is promptly ditched following a number of carefully calculated 'leaks'.
Sir George Harrison, FRS, KCH was an English barrister and civil servant. During a tenure of twenty-one years at the Treasury, he presided over the growth of a professional civil service and an increasing transfer of power from political appointees to administrators.
Dorothy Wainwright is a fictional character in the 1980s British sitcom, Yes, Prime Minister. She was portrayed by Deborah Norton.
Sir Arnold Robinson GCMG CVO MA (Oxon) is a fictional character in the 1980s British sitcom Yes Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. He was played by John Nettleton. He attended Eton College, then Baillie College with Sir Humphrey Appleby and shares the same views on the running of the country, the government and the Civil Service; indeed, his role is often to provide counsel to Sir Humphrey when the latter is encountering difficulties in defeating Jim Hacker. On occasion Sir Arnold obliquely warns Sir Humphrey that any failures in that endeavour could harm Sir Humphrey's own prospects for advancement, mirroring Sir Humphrey's own threats to his younger colleague Bernard Woolley.
Sir Thomas Whinfield Scholar KCB is a British civil servant currently serving as Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury. Scholar was previously the Prime Minister's Adviser on European and Global Issues in the Cabinet Office.
Jeremy John Heywood, Baron Heywood of Whitehall, was a British civil servant. Heywood served as Cabinet Secretary from 1 January 2012, and Head of the Home Civil Service from September 2014, until stepping down in October 2018. He had previously served twice as the Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, as well as the Downing Street Chief of Staff and the first and only Downing Street Permanent Secretary. After he was diagnosed with lung cancer, he took a leave of absence from June 2018, and retired on health grounds on 24 October 2018, receiving a life peerage; he died two weeks later on 4 November 2018.
The Cabinet Secretary is the most senior civil servant in the United Kingdom, and is based in the Cabinet Office. The person in this role acts as the senior policy adviser to the Prime Minister and Cabinet and as the Secretary to the Cabinet, is responsible to all Ministers for the efficient running of Cabinet Government. The role is currently occupied by Sir Mark Sedwill, appointed in October 2018; in succession to Jeremy Heywood.
Sir Oliver Robbins is a senior British civil servant who served as the Prime Minister's Europe Adviser and the chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019. He previously served as the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Exiting the European Union from July 2016 to September 2017, and as the Prime Minister's Advisor on Europe and Global Issues from June 2016 to July 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
