Editing Yes Minister (section)

===Casting===
[[Nigel Hawthorne]] had worked with [[Antony Jay]] and [[Jonathan Lynn]] before, and he and [[Paul Eddington]] claimed they immediately recognised the quality of writing of the series, but Jay and Lynn said that both actors asked for a second episode script (and a third script), after having read the pilot script, before committing to the series. When casting the role of Bernard, Jonathan Lynn met [[Derek Fowlds]] at a dinner, and subsequently offered him the role.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jay |first=Antony |author-link=Antony Jay |title= The Yes Minister Miscellany |year=2010 |publisher=Biteback |location= London|isbn= 978-1849540643}}</ref>

The first series featured Frank Weisel, Hacker's political advisor (played by [[Neil Fitzwiliam]] in the television series, and later by [[Bill Nighy]] in the radio series). The first syllable of his surname is pronounced "Wise", but Sir Humphrey and Bernard persistently call him "Weasel". Weisel does not appear after the first series, following his acceptance of a position on a [[quango]] (Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation) tasked with investigating the appointment of other quangos, the government's honours system, and "jobs for the boys".<ref name="ymBBC"/> The character was dropped because Jay and Lynn thought that the interjection of a character concerned with party political matters distracted from the focus on the tension between the government and the civil service.

The first series of ''Yes, Prime Minister'' introduced Dorothy Wainwright (played by [[Deborah Norton]]) as a highly able special political advisor to the Prime Minister. Her experience and insight into many civil service tricks ensure a lasting mutual distrust between her and Sir Humphrey and provide an invaluable second opinion for Hacker.<ref name="bbs">{{cite episode |title=Yes Minister |series=Britain's Best Sitcom |credits=Written by Armando Iannucci; prod. Verity Newman |network=BBC |station=BBC Two |airdate=17 January 2004}}</ref> Sir Humphrey frequently annoys Dorothy by addressing her as "dear lady" whereas she occasionally calls him "Humpy".

Hacker's home life is shown occasionally throughout the series. His wife Annie ([[Diana Hoddinott]]) is generally supportive, but is sometimes frustrated by the disruptions caused by her husband's political career and is at times somewhat cynical about her husband's politics. In one episode, his sociology student daughter, Lucy ([[Gerry Cowper]]), becomes an environmental activist, campaigning against the department's intention to remove protected status from a wooded area believed to be inhabited by [[badger]]s. Sir Humphrey falsely assures her there have not been badgers in the woods for some years.

Sir Humphrey often discusses matters with other Permanent Secretaries, who appear similarly sardonic and jaded, and the Cabinet Secretary (whom he eventually succeeds in ''Yes, Prime Minister''), Sir Arnold Robinson ([[John Nettleton (actor)|John Nettleton]]), an archetype of cynicism, haughtiness and conspiratorial expertise. Sir [[Frank Gordon (Yes Minister character)|Frank Gordon]], the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, is a friend and often a rival as they jostle for supremacy within the civil service. The fairly counter-intuitive view of government administration displayed by Sir Humphrey is completely taken for granted by the Civil Service.

Almost all the episodes (the exceptions chiefly being the earlier ones of the first series) end with one of the characters (usually Sir Humphrey) saying "Yes, Minister" or once, "Mais oui, Prime Minister," in "A Diplomatic Incident" which centred on negotiations with the President of France. Each episode of the former was more or less self-contained, but the first two episodes of ''Yes, Prime Minister'' had a loose [[story arc]] relating to Hacker's attempts to reform the United Kingdom's armed forces, while the second was mostly devoted to concluding storylines and character arcs that had been seen over the course of ''Yes Minister''.