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The first episode, ‘Equal opportunities’, opens with Jim being interviewed by a young teenager from a local school. She asks some quite pointed questions, most of which he doesn’t really answer. His wife Annie (Diana Hoddinott) comes in to listen for a while, and the topic of women in parliament - and the civil service - is raised. Jim realises just how few women there are in senior positions, and makes a determined effort to change it.
It’s a clever and amusing episode, making a point that was probably a significant one in 1982 when this was broadcast. There are some very sexist comments, albeit bridged in a general theoretical support of women in significant roles. There’s also a rather attractive junior civil servant whom Jim would like to promote…
As with the first two series, this is fast paced, perfectly executed, and with a very clever script. And once again it introduces a different issue.
The second episode, ‘The challenge’ shows Jim Hacker with some extra responsibilities, related to civil defence. He takes part in a television interview, and points out some extra inefficiencies… only to learn that he’s likely to get in trouble. Once again he and Sir Humphrey (Nigel Hawthorne) come up against each other, each having to concede something in order for the problem to be solved.
As an aside, I liked seeing Ian Lavender (of ‘Dad’s army’ fame) as the rather over-efficient civil servant Richard Cartwright. He and Jim Hacker have some private conversations, much to Humphrey’s horror. And once again I laughed aloud at some of the dialogue… while also recognising that there’s more than a grain of truth in the show.
The third episode is called ‘The skeleton in the cupboard’. Jim Hacker is told to reprimand and fine a local council which have not submitted their official paperwork. He is reluctant to do this, as they represent his party; he’s even more reluctant when he learns (from Richard Cartwright) that they are in fact a very efficient local council.
Then a big newspaper wants to run a story about some terrible government wastage of thirty years earlier, and are eager to see papers released which will show who was responsible. This is one of the episodes where Jim clearly has the upper hand; once again there’s plenty of humour, and I particularly appreciated Humphrey’s expressions!
The fourth episode, ‘The moral dimension’ is a bit different from the earlier ones, in that it sees Jim Hacker and his entourage - rather a lot of civil servants - flying to the fictional Middle Eastern country of Qumran. He’s horrified to learn that the country is ‘dry’ - ie no alcohol, and I was a tad shocked that he thought it impossible to survive five hours without an alcoholic drink. So he comes up with a scheme, which is wholeheartedly applauded by Humphrey…
In ‘The bed of nails’, episode five, Hacker is offered what appears to be a great honour by the Prime Minister, and invited to create an integrated transport proposal. Humphrey knows this will be impossible, and will upset everyone. So, for once, the two work together in order to get him out of this new responsibility.
In the sixth episode, ‘The whisky priest’ and the seventh, ‘The middle-class rip-off’, Jim Hacker continues to battle internally between his essential humanitarian nature and the need to satisfy the voters, the press, and - of course - the Prime Minister. It’s both amusing and concerning to see just how easily someone with basic integrity can be drawn into deception and double dealings.
Once again this is a short season, just the seven episodes. They’re all very well done, as were those in the first two series. And this DVD set comes with a bonus: a Christmas special, broadcast at the end of 1982, in which Hacker discovers some of his responsibilities, aided by the faithful Bernard. I like the way his wife appears again in some of these episodes, though we see nothing of their teenage daughter.
We knew what was coming towards the end of the Christmas special, as the remaining two series have a different overall title. But we hadn’t remembered how it would happen. I don't recall my reaction when I first saw this episode, but it must have been quite surprising to fans of the series who would not have seen it coming.
The Christmas theme of this episode is low-key, and we didn’t particularly appreciate the digs at European bureaucracy. It’s done in a humorous way, but this was a popular series; we wondered how many people in the UK got their generic ideas about the EU and its rules from satire such as this.
But, notwithstanding that possible issue, we thought it a very well-done series, and I’m pleased that we eventually got around to watching it again.
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