Who reads the papers? - Yes, Prime Minister - BBC comedy

[zoodensha]

People who read the sun were very happy when Thatcher ran the country.

[N330AA]

LOL, this is excellent.

[SPLIMLETLET]

I don't know how many times I have seen this, it never fails to crack me up.

[missbabylemonade]

THE best comedy EVA ..period ..respect and more respect r.i.p mr hawthorn and mr eddington xxXxxx i adore U ! xxXxx xxXxx x

[TimBrewin]

RIP Nigel Hawthorne & Paul Eddington

[berguss22]

Amazing

[swordfish1929]

I love Bernard's face after that last line. So shocked by what he said in front of his boss =D

[TORCH5095]

HOW CAN 14 PEOPLE DISLIKE THIS WORK OF SITIRICAL GENEUS

[AuH2O]

@TORCH5095 Because they're not Brits and have never heard of the papers in the first place?

[joyslosar]

Brilliant.

[newguy0211]

the most brilliantly funny 1 min 49 sec on youtube. pity its only got 315,987 views

[shimogadude]

@newguy0211 youtube is not a place for quality..

[metafis]

David Cameron "‘join together, act decisively and move forward with optimism’"

Jim Hacker "‘Go forward together, better tomorrow, tighten your belt, all pull together, heal the wounds’" (From the episode 'ministerial broadcast')

I know David was getting his lines from somewhere else ;)

[utubesqueeze]

hilarious, especially the Guardian and Sun ones :)

[Isospinsymmetries]

Haha. Brilliant.

[goatboy420]

This is simply sublime. Thank you for putting it up here, so that others can share in such astonishingly fine writing, and performance.

Like the very best music is builds steadily, improving with each beat, until the fabulous pay off. It really doesn't get any better than this.

[Tomwithnonumbers]

Still true today

[ProNorden]

There's a contemporary variation on this that circulates nowadays:

"The Times is for people who think they run the country; The Financial Times is for the people who do run the country; The Telegraph readers are concerned and suspect that foreigners run the country; and the Guardian is for people who think foreigners should run the country."

[stupidjunk978]

@ProNorden That makes more sense

[lewaaolislam]

THE BEST EVER SEEN SERIES

[Academician100]

Thank you, Bernard!

[fatam0711]

British comedy at its best. THX for sharing it with us. Yes, Minister is the best medicine for me when I feel down ...

[Ko0lMoeDee]

It's shows like this that proves that there are degrees of brilliance, and this is at the very top. American humour has become too simple nowadays, they could learn something from this show.

[TheOmegajuice]

The Express don't care who runs the country but wish it could be Princess Diana

[07751434]

Fuuuuck i hate that fucking apes add!!

[michaelfergusonuk]

And then Sir Humphrey asks Jim....

Prime Minister: What about those who read the "London Evening Standard"?, or the "Independent"?

[TSR1989FF]

Timeless & Bang on, there's no other word for it ~_^

The "Morning Star" is read by People who still want the Communists to run the Country.

[WorldNews92]

News Of The World - don't care who runs the country, so long as they don't hack their phones.

[paranoidgoldfish]

@WorldNews92 News of the World isn't read by anyone...

[cesariojpn]

News of the World are read by people who now need to find a new paper to read because that paper just shut down.

[teamnish]

How apt.

[whotaughtyou]

AM DUSTBIN PM 1024

[HKOverlord117]

I read the Daily Telegraph. And yes, I think President Obama does a bloody good job of running the UK :)

[ebenezer1690]

@HKOverlord117 i am happy to hear he is doing something right

[fuzzyfaced]

Daily Mirror- ppl who think they run the country,

The Guardian-ppl who think they ought to run the country

Times-ppl who actually run the country

Daily Mail-wives of people who run the country

Financial Times-ppl who own the country

Morning star-ppl who think the country ought to be run by another country

Daily Telegraphy-ppl who think it is

Sun- dun care who runs the country as long as she's got big tits

LOL!

[fuzzyfaced]

People dun make such politcal satire anymore, brilliant writing

[goodbyejohnnythunder]

My absolute favorite joke in the history of British comedy.

[firepyro2]

nice to see Nigel Hawthorne corpsing at @1:35

[schnorschrajaxx]

funny cuz it's kinda true

[jazzangelreloaded]

@JezSpice Is it even possible to present the facts without any opinion? Wouldn't you lose the context?

[JezSpice]

When will a newspaper exist that just tells you the news and nothing else. every newspaper tries to force its opinion of a news story on you. Whether its the Guardian on one side or the telegraph on the other. When I buy a newspaper I don't want to read what the Editor thinks and the slant they put on every news story like the alternative vote. Just tell us the news and the facts not an opinion!!

[wimblewomble21]

i wish they would establish a paper for the intellectual youth of the UK aged between 16-30 that has the format, art, glam and culture of the gaurdian and the telegraph. But has the same credabillity and intellectual content as the times. But also does not feature the boring drib drab hypocrisy of the independant. Im sick of having a substantial percentage of my under the minimum wage going towards two to three papers a day

[relmmih6]

@wimblewomble21 just buy the sun 

[wimblewomble21]

@relmmih6 The suns great. Page 3 really puts you in a good mood for the day. Kelly from croydon or burnley truly makes it a great paper. But then flick over 10 pages or so, and theres usualy Kerry Katonas ugly coupon complainging about how hard up she is now she has had to get rid of her ferrari to pay off a drug habbit. .......spoils my day, my paper, my reading pleasure, and i want my 20 pence back lol

[relmmih6]

@wimblewomble21 lol agreed mate,my only critisisim would be they lie about the ages of the page 3 girls lol

[wimblewomble21]

@relmmih6 thats the pervy mr RM for you pal

[ManicRaider]

@wimblewomble21 Why don't you put something like that into motion? Get people talking and interested in the idea. 

[syntaxeabuser]

television at its best. they wouldn't dare do something like this today.

[MusicPredominates]

... in retrospect PATHETIC !

[cjfeanor]

This is THE best line on british comedy .. (above "folk handels" and all...)

[masterkaran4u]

The remark was abt the queen ?

[2charliep]

@masterkaran4u More a reference to the topless Page 3 girls

[relmmih6]

@masterkaran4u since when has the queen got her tits out on the page 3 of a paper lol

[Aragorn106654]

@relmmih6 that thought has ruined my day. thanks

[SuperDaniel4200]

LOL really funny

[shaunmalley]

Hasn't changed.

[lomax343]

Very funny - but taken almost word for word from a Dave Allen sketch of some years earlier.

[catfacetheoriginal]

0:00 <<<<<advert skipper :)

[eddieoxford]

The Telegraph is read by people support the people who run the country!

[MrWatto45]

Stunning set piece,brilliantly written,brilliantly acted.If it were today we could add that The Sun is owned by the person who actually does run the country

[Chrisfs59]

@MrWatto45 Not for much longer, with any luck.

[MrWatto45]

@Chrisfs59 As long as he owns the Sun he is running the country

Strange how things change The Sun says 10 years of Labour misrule as a buzz phrase,10 years in which they supported them.HYPOCRITES!!

[jacksawild]

@MrWatto45 The Murdoch press doesn't support parties. It supports people they own.

[tuepecto]

simply awesome !!!

[MrHistorian123]

To those who mistakenly think The Office was the greatest sit com of all time, watch this and see THE best. (Or was it Fawlty Towers - a damned close run thing).

The chemistry between these 3 brilliant actors, combined with a superlatively clever and witty script, makes almost everything else look rather third rate.

[Treblaine]

I find it insane that Murdock owns both The Times and The Sun

[guiltilysinful]

British newspaper in a nutshell even today.

[bpraag]

Nigel Hawthorne you were a great actor. Thank you for all the great entertainment.

[lettucegod]

RIP Nigel Hawthorne, your implicate timing and subtle smug facial expressions when vicotrious in your manipulations of the cabinet seats will be remembered by me and millions of others for decades to come, I hope to pass your wit and cander onto my own children some day. God Bless Sir Humphrey.

[samandyjohn]

Absolutely fantastic

[wojop95]

czesc, lol

[st8pl8guy]

11 people don't read The Sun. ( O ) ( O )

[stevee989]

The most intelligently written sit-com ever !

[StanleyDonwood]

Probably the best scene in the whole show

[edinscot56789]

Bernard Woolley is a wise man

[goodie23]

More Bernard gold

[anonUK]

There are two papers even worse than the Sun- the Sport and the Star. They are special papers for "special" people.

Sun readers may prefer tits to politics, but Star "readers" don't know that anything exists, apart from tits and scary Mooslims coming to marry their women and cover them in burkas.

[gilnod]

@anonUK How dare you criticise The Sport. That paper was brought out for the thick unintelligent people of this great country (of which there are many) & to deny these people their right to look at pictures of tits, just because they cant read, is an abuse of their human rights. Shame on you.

[anonUK]

@gilnod

I'm sorry, I really shouldn't knock the 'tards, it's just that the Sport and the Star are such obvious targets.

[StanleyDonwood]

@gilnod

LOL thanks for that

[ajax123123]

@gilnod LMFAO

[squirrelboi2]

@anonUK o i don't know. i think the mail is worse. at least the star doesn't pretend to be a legitimate news source. the mail on the other hand....

[DjWellDressedMan]

Solid Writing and Solid Acting

[Bjowolf2]

Brilliant! First class intelligent quality writing, and so well done by these excellent actors. What ever happened to all those great writers and TV-series?

And what do we get these days? Complete and utter RUBBISH by ignorant or

unfunny PC writers, who can't write performed actors who can barely act in far too many cases!

[zagreus316]

10 People are big tits!!

[tomishere142363523]

10 people are running the country without big tits.

[vorn29]

@tomishere142363523 I think youre wrong. There`s never been a bigger bunch of tits at number 10

[FransisR]

Why are British sitcoms better and way smarter than American sitcoms?

[dfarmbrough]

@FransisR Because they're generally written by one or two people, cast from our finest character actors, and in most cases deal with the topic of the class system. American sitcoms are written by teams of writers, use starry actors, and don't have a class system to deal with. Note: Wealth does not equal class.

[FransisR]

@dfarmbrough thanxs

[Gidwan]

@dfarmbrough

There are brilliant American shows and there are brilliant British shows. There is also complete rubbish on both sides. Claiming that all British sitcoms are as good as YPM and all American shows are terrible is silly.

[dfarmbrough]

@Gidwan I didn't claim that, I was just answering FrancisR's question.

[simplystreeptacular]

@FransisR Also because British actors are chosen first for their ability to, you know, *act*, and not by their looks. Someone like Nigel Hawthorne or Paul Eddington would probably have never made it in Hollywood - they look too normal. Just look at the wide variety of body types found in British film, television, and theater as opposed to the cookie-cutter actors we see here.

[globalforce]

@simplystreeptacular Actually that is the exact reason why Nigel Hawthorn and Paul Eddington stayed in obscurity until they reached middle age.

[dlewzey]

10 read the sun

[onefff]

Still the funniest YPM clip. Makes me fall off my chair every time I see it.

[rolle16]

Greetings from Uhasselt!

[ACinDorset]

Brilliant clip. I hope Armando Iannouci can somehow re-work it and bring it up to date in the next serties of The Thick Of It....

[stuartw1996]

what about the daily star, the metro, the mirror, the independent and the evening standard?

[yjjeanc]

haha this is quite funny, though I know a bunch of British who read the Daily Mail and are not exactly "the wives of people who run the country." Can someone think of the American version of Who Reads the Papers?

[cesariojpn]

@yjjeanc

CNN is watched by people who don't care about the country, Fox News is watched by people who think they run the country, MSNBC is run by people who own the country, and TMZ is watched by people who just wanna see some celebrity skin.

[Boomer2k6]

Love watching Nigel Hawthorne trying desperately not to crack up as he know's what's coming :)

[Lightstrikers]

Genius! I am not British but its funny as hell.

[shyboyb]

no matter how many times i see this clip it's stil makes me laugh.

[RainbowDemonBG]

This is simply brilliant.

[somegooner]

What about the Independent?

[supertoyg]

@somegooner The Independent is read by people who know they'll never be good enough to run the country.

[JustOneMoreChild]

Let's not forget, the Graun-Gaurdi--....The Manchester *Guardian*, theDaily Tory- I mean Daily Telegraph, & the Daily W/Mail have had their moments even unto this very day.

I'm looking at you, Ms. LucyQ!

[TinTower]

The Express kind of took over the Torygraph's role, but it's still mostly true.

[aunlecram]

yes, also see this man called "Marcel Jaramillo"...

[rabidbigdog]

How can ANYONE press the dislike button?????

[Photochroming]

@rabidbigdog

All of whom who own the Sun?

[kzbxvz]

Anyway this must has to be the most intelligent comedy ever written for TV ,and from the very heart of comedy, the British humor.

[brianclough]

My favourite scene of all time

[haggarmonster]

I just love the smirking. Must have been hard to film! :P

[mkarnerfors]

Is it just me or are the actors having a really hard time not cracking up into huge laughs? :)

[Kinitawowi]

@mkarnerfors THIS. Check Nigel Hawthorne at 1:34 - you know he's thinking "Oh yeah, that was good." Derek Fowlds looks on the verge of corpsing at the end too.

[daanishbambery]

ah the only redeeming feature of the 1980's if only they made television like this.

[BBCRacismWatch]

stop the bleached blonde hair domination of women by the media.

[sargcullen1]

Click Like if you think Jim Hacker should be Prime Minister now

[gilnod]

@sargcullen1 Pity he"s dead.

[jamie24cfc]

@sargcullen1 and Sir Bernard should be chancellor

[sargcullen1]

@jamie24cfc yeah and humphrey should be foreign secretary

[JustOneMoreChild]

Oh dear, as of this post there are a full ten dislikes! Did these 'dislikers' misclick? Or have writers from our esteemed gRauniaD or our beloved Torygraph gotten word of this upload?

[FAWLTYWORZELMELDREW]

It's so true about what Hacker and Bernard say.

Derek Fowlds is so much more loveable in this than he is as Oscar Blaketon in Heartbeat.

[kzbxvz]

Hmm The Sun is still to day Britains biggest selling "newspaper", what is the conclusion of that fact?

[blameh1]

@kzbxvz Clearly, you have come to some conclusion yourself. Do tell.

P.S Ever heard of a little thing called grammar? It's what some people use when they are writing.

[Ascarona]

@kzbxvz

David cameron has big tits?

[Inkyminkyzizwoz]

@Ascarona It did say "...as long as SHE'S got big tits!"!

[preston4eva12]

9 Sun readers disliked this

[BoJanglezzzzzz]

@preston4eva12 Oh come off it you know as well as I do that Sun readers don't even know what computers are, let alone how to dislike a video on youtube!

[Leibowitz]

@BoJanglezzzzzz Sun readers know fully well about computers and the internet! After all, that is where all the Porn is nowadays...

[BoJanglezzzzzz]

@Leibowitz xD I concede that this is very likely to be true

[MWCR]

I love this! Needless to say, I despise the media too. Ahhhhhh....fascism in a spreadsheet!

[solensdatter2]

...wish they would send this on TV in Reprise!! Much more fun than new comedies!!

[Uuber]

Hah, I wouldn't call Friends, Seinfeld and Scrubs the "best". They make me yawn within the first 5 minutes. This coming from an American.. I'd rather watch Little Britain. (And this of course is pretty good too). And for American sitcoms... shows like Community, and Outsourced make me laugh uncontrollably.. Although their ratings don't show for it! I guess it's all about taste though...

[idle44]

This fascinates me as Paul Eddington suffered from a skin cancer and it's obvious that he is heavily made up and wearing a wig. but although in great pain he could still deliver the role. RIP.

[WaterCrane]

1:40 - watch carefully the reflection in the brass plate on the door... is that a crew member or Paul Eddington (Jim Hacker) losing it?

[JustOneMoreChild]

@WaterCrane That would be... PM Hacker losing it! X)

[Electricshrock]

Take that, Rupert Murdoch!

[WaterCrane]

@Electricshrock Scary that today, he owns the Times as well... so he's got the people who run the country and those with... simple ideals.

Now I'm not sure what newspaper I should be reading...

[contraflexure1]

thatcher had big tits

[soundslave]

@contraflexure1 *Shudder* lol

[lyleinbangkok]

Amazing how this description of the various newspapers' readers is still apt today, decades later! (Full disclosure: I read the Guardian.)

[aquilamarke]

@lyleinbangkok

Well, maybe The Star readers have given up on their dreams or chosen a different foreign country to run the UK. I read the Guardian too, so I guess I think that I should run Great Britain. The only problem is that I am from Iceland. Trust me, no one wants us to run anything these days.

[lyleinbangkok]

@aquilamarke

Likewise: The way Thailand's been getting increasingly barmy, I doubt anyone would let me run anything either. LOL

[kbtreturns]

@aquilamarke Are you talking about "the daily star" or "the morning star"?

[BlondeBardie]

Fantastic, this is a classic sketch.

[GoblinGirl]

This is absolutely brilliiant. 

The Sun line is classic.

[Stedmaniac]

Frasier is the only US show that comes close to British sitcom (and I used to be huge friends fan).

[MrPasarell]

I wish I was a Sun reader !!!!!

[harlequin2262]

Oh, god, this is priceless.

If someone asks me, what's the difference in the opinions of the government in America and Britain, I'd have to hold up this show, and The West Wing.

[asmodeus585]

Huh, Daily Telegraph's readers seem to be the closest to the truth now, in a sense, as Britan is no longer a fully sovereign country being a member of the EU, which is constantly gaining impact on what national governments may or may not do. ;)

[itspeaks037]

News Papers reporters @#$%#$%#%#$% so forth #$%@$@#$@ no money no cloths no Jewerly

[hardcoreharro]

I'm definitely a Sun reader!!!!

[Deejio]

"The Sun readers don't care who run's the country as long as she's got big tits" haha.

[drsnook42]

@05batpod - however 'Curb Your Enthusiasm' is comparable.

[SamBuddwing]

The one small flaw in this brilliant diamond is that the Daily Mirror gets mentioned twice - first, as being read by people who think they run the country; second, by the wives of the people who do run the country. (I wonder which one is true - or if both are true.)

[bradders838]

@SamBuddwing No the second one was the Daily Mail

[SamBuddwing]

@bradders838 Must have misheard. Thank you.

[CorvusCorone68]

@SamBuddwing heh maybe the wives think they run the country, so they fall into the first camp as well

[Doppelfrog]

@SamBuddwing Listen again. It's the 'Daily Mail' which is read by the wives. :)

[Vandecker]

@SamBuddwing I think the paper that is read by the wives is the 'Daily Mail' not the "Daily Mirror"

[Fronika]

@SamBuddwing

The Daily Mirror is run by people who think they run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who do run the country. Two different newspapers.

[APOTwixx]

One of my favourite shows of all time! When the opportunity came to own both Yes, Minister and Yes PM on DVD I jumped at it!

[fuckamericanidiot]

hahaha, the last line fair play