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Yes, Prime Minister Season 2 Episodes
Season 2 Episode Guide
8 Episodes 1987 - 1988
Episode 1
Man Overboard
30 mins
When the Employment Secretary proposes moving large numbers of military units to the North as a way of creating local employment the PM sees it as a win-win. Not only would it create jobs, but the cost of the move would easily be recouped by selling off the more expensive properties in the south of England. The Civil Service is aghast and it's left to Sir Humphrey to sort out the mess. In addition to presenting a report to the PM showing that there are few savings to be had in the move, he also suggests that the Employment Secretary may be out to get Hacker's job, which causes the PM to re-evaluate his support for the plan.
Episode 2
Official Secrets
30 mins
The Prime Minister is concerned when the latest chapter of his predecessor's memoirs prove to be uncomplimentary. Although the government is limited to reviewing the text solely from a national security perspective, Hacker wants publication blocked by any means. He didn't feel the same way however about an earlier chapter that was quite positive and where he went to great effort to leak it. When the new chapter is leaked anyway along with a report that the PM tried to block its publication, the PM wants a security inquiry. But as Sir Humphrey points out, they would have to investigate all leaks, including the earlier chapter. Rather, Sir Humphrey recommends letting the story run but also suggests a traditional diversionary tactic.
Episode 3
A Diplomatic Incident
29 mins
PM Hacker is dissatisfied with the rate of progress in negotiations with the French over the planned Channel Tunnel. He also realises the French are taking advantage of the situation by trying to create a diplomatic incident thereby gaining an upper hand in negotiations. The first issue is a gift from the French for the Queen. The French are insisting on giving her a puppy, but Britain's strict quarantine laws mean that it will have to go into quarantine for six months. The French agree to change the gift only if concessions are made on Tunnel issues. Fortunately, the little matter of a bomb in the grounds of the French Embassy gives Hacker an unexpected boost.
Episode 4
A Conflict of Interest
30 mins
When Sir Humphrey learns that a city bank is in serious financial trouble he's approached by its Chairman, Sir Desmond Glazebrook. They agree that a government rescue is the solution but realise that the Prime Minister's choice to fill the vacant chairmanship of the Bank of England will determine to what extent a rescue can be mounted. Deciding that the PM's preferred candidate is not the best choice, Sir Humphrey is at his bureaucratic best in ensuring that someone more "appropriate" to everyone's needs is appointed. Even he is surprised by the end result, however.
Episode 5
Power to the People
31 mins
The Prime Minister is dissatisfied with local government, particularly the fact that only political activists seem to participate, use it as a platform to simply make trouble for central government and also that the views of local councilors are skewed (usually to the left) away from your average citizen. A case in point is Agnes Moorhouse, a local councillor who has been a particular thorn in the government's side. Even Sir Humphrey can't convince her to stop undermining the local police, which, she openly admits, she wants to render ineffective as a means of causing trouble, maybe even revolution. When the PM is taken in with a concept that would empower local citizens and sees this as a way to make local government more democratic, Moorhouse is aghast since it could ruin her plans, as is Sir Humphrey who believes that it could take power and responsibility away from the civil service. Having finally found common ground, Sir Humphrey and Moorhouse agree to a truce and focus on changing the PM's views by pointing out how such a plan could affect Parliament.
Episode 6
The Patron of the Arts
30 mins
The Prime Minister has unwisely accepted an invitation to attend a theatre awards evening that, it turns out, is on the same day that the government will be announcing a reduction in its subsidy to the arts. Thus ensues a game of bluff and counter bluff between the PM, Sir Humphrey and the director of the National Theatre. Sir Humphrey provides advice on how to gently blackmail the PM into providing more money but the PM comes up with his own little blackmail scheme to keep the National Theatre in line.
Episode 7
The National Education Service
30 mins
On the advice of his political adviser, P.M. Hacker plans to eliminate the National Education Service and let parents choose the schools their children will attend. Horrified, Humphrey must prevent the precedent being set of eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy.
Episode 8
The Tangled Web
30 mins
The Prime Minister finds himself in a bit of a pickle when he flatly denies in the House that the government has bugged MP's telephones. It turns out the government was and Sir Humphrey was aware of it. The PM wants Sir Humphrey to back him, but he refuses to participate in a cover-up. The shoe is on the other foot however when Sir Humphrey makes unwise comments to a radio interviewer thinking that the tape recorder has been turned off. The PM agrees to help him, for a price.