Yes Minister (TV Series)
Big Brother (1980)
Paul Eddington: James Hacker
Photos
Quotes
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[Hacker has just hung up after calling Sir Humphrey at 2 a.m. about a paper about the national database]
James Hacker : Oh, damn. I meant to tell him to come and see me about it before cabinet.
Annie Hacker : Don't ring him now!
James Hacker : No. Perhaps you're right. It is a bit late.
Annie Hacker : Give him another ten minutes...
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Sir Humphrey Appleby : It must be hard for a political adviser to understand this, but I'm merely a civil servant. I simply do as I am instructed by my master.
James Hacker : What happens when a Minister is a woman, what'll you call her?
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Yes, that is rather interesting. We sought an answer to that point when I was Principal Private Secretary and Dr. Edith Summerskill - as she then was - was appointed Minister in 1947. I didn't quite like to refer to her as my mistress.
James Hacker : What was the answer?
Sir Humphrey Appleby : Oh, we're still waiting for it.
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[Hacker is about to ask for advice from his predecessor, a member of the Opposition party]
James Hacker : The Opposition aren't the opposition.
Annie Hacker : No of course not, silly of me. They're just called the opposition.
James Hacker : They're only the opposition in exile. The Civil Service is the opposition in residence.
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James Hacker : Look Tom. You were in office for years. You know all the civil service tricks.
Tom Sargent - Opposition MP : Oh no, not all old boy. Just a few hundred.
James Hacker : How do you defeat them? How do you make them do something they don't want to do?
Tom Sargent - Opposition MP : My dear fellow. If I knew that I wouldn't be in opposition.
