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The Best Episodes Written By Antony Jay

Every TV Episode Written by Antony Jay Ranked from Best to Worst by Thousands of Voters

Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
    undefined Season 1 Episode 5 - The Writing on the Wall
    10.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E5

    A rumour starts that Jim’s department is about to be axed. So with help from Sir Humphrey, they try and defeat the Prime Minister’s plans.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  2. undefined Season 1 Episode 4 - The Key
    10.0/10(2 votes)

    S1:E4

    Office politics take precedence over national issues when Sir Humphrey and Bernard fall out with each other after Jim tries to restrict Sir Humphrey’s access to №10.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  3. undefined Season 1 Episode 3 - The Smoke Screen
    9.2/10(4 votes)

    S1:E3

    Jim favors abolishing smoking through heavy taxation but runs into strong opposition from the tobacco lobby and the Treasury department.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  4. undefined Season 2 Episode 8 - The Tangled Web
    9.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E8

    Sir Humphrey has to decide if he will support the P.M. or inform Parliament when Hacker denies knowledge of a wiretap authorized by his office without his knowledge.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  5. undefined Season 1 Episode 5 - A Real Partnership
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    S1:E5

    Sir Humphrey tries to get his scheduled pay raise even though increases for M.P.s have been put on hold for budgetary reasons.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  6. undefined Season 1 Episode 8 - One of Us
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    S1:E8

    Hacker threatens to place Sir Humphrey on leave while a security inquiry looks into why he cleared a confessed Soviet spy many years earlier, so Sir Humphrey retaliates with a dog in distress on Salisbury plain.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  7. undefined Season 2 Episode 3 - A Diplomatic Incident
    8.5/10(2 votes)

    S2:E3

    Jim uses the occasion of his predecessor’s state funeral to negotiate with the French over the conditions of the Channel Tunnel.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  8. undefined Season 1 Episode 6 - A Victory for Democracy
    8.3/10(3 votes)

    S1:E6

    Jim must take action to avert a Marxist takeover of a Commonwealth island nation despite the efforts of the Foreign Office to keep him ignorant.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  9. undefined Season 1 Episode 6 - The Right to Know
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E6

    Jim faces rebellion at home and in the office over the removal of protected status from a badger habitat, while he tries to circumvent Sir Humphrey’s efforts to keep him ignorant of things.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  10. undefined Season 1 Episode 7 - Jobs for the Boys
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E7

    Jim goes on radio to support the Solihull project a Government, union and private enterprise building scheme, that he has inherited from the last administration, but unknown to him the project is close to bankruptcy, Sir Humphrey hopes to save the deal by offering a quango to the director of the bank involved

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  11. undefined Season 0 Episode 1 - Christmas at the Ministry
    8.0/10(1 votes)

    S0:E1

    This sketch was aired on December 27 1982 as a part of "The Funny Side of Christmas" on BBC1.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  12. undefined Season 1 Episode 1 - The Grand Design
    8.0/10(4 votes)

    S1:E1

    With his finger now on the nuclear button, Hacker plans his first act as Prime Minister to be a radical new defence policy.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  13. undefined Season 2 Episode 5 - Power to the People
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E5

    Sir Humphrey makes a very strange ally out of the formidable Agnes Moorhouse, a radical political reformer from a London council, in his efforts to stop Hacker’s plans to make local government more democratic.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  14. undefined Season 2 Episode 7 - The National Education Service
    8.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E7

    Sir Humphrey faces a conflict of interest when Hacker devises a plan to improve educational standards by abolishing the Department of Education and Science.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  15. undefined Season 1 Episode 2 - The Ministerial Broadcast
    7.8/10(4 votes)

    S1:E2

    Jim is coached in the world of show business as he prepares to address the nation on his defence policy.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  16. undefined Season 2 Episode 2 - Official Secrets
    7.5/10(2 votes)

    S2:E2

    Jim considers approving the publication of his predecessor’s memoirs, but it becomes a plumber’s nightmare as a series of leaks spring up.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  17. undefined Season 2 Episode 6 - The Patron of the Arts
    7.5/10(2 votes)

    S2:E6

    Jim Hacker faces embarrassment when Sir Humphrey tells a friend in the arts that the PM's government is planning to cut grants.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  18. undefined Season 1 Episode 4 - Big Brother
    7.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E4

    When the Government is planning to introduce a national database, Jim wants to bring in safe guards, but Sir Humphrey stalls until with some help from the opposition, Jim gets his way.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  19. undefined Season 1 Episode 7 - The Bishop’s Gambit
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    S1:E7

    Jim has to choose a new bishop but doesn’t like either the Church or Sir Humphrey’s choices.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  20. undefined Season 2 Episode 1 - Man Overboard
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E1

    Sir Humphrey makes Jim suspicious of the Minister of Employment when he needs the P.M.’s support in opposing a plan to shift military personnel from the south to the north of England.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  21. undefined Season 2 Episode 4 - A Conflict of Interest
    7.0/10(2 votes)

    S2:E4

    Hacker and Sir Humphrey clash over the appointment of the governor of the Bank of England and the cover up of a banking scandal in the City.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  22. undefined Season 1 Episode 1 - Open Government
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E1

    Jim Hacker retains his seat in the election and is given a cabinet post in the new government He meets the permanent secretary for his department Sir Humphrey Appleby but Jim decides to change the way things are done in the civil service so Sir Humphrey sets out to stop him

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  23. undefined Season 1 Episode 2 - The Official Visit
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E2

    When the leader of an African country is killed in a coup, his successor, who is an old friend of Jim’s, comes in his place. They negotiate a £50 million deal to help buy oil exploration equipment.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  24. undefined Season 1 Episode 3 - The Economy Drive
    6.0/10(1 votes)

    S1:E3

    Jim Hacker is determined to reduce the Civil Service, but he is frustrated by Sir Humphrey, and the only numbers he can alter are the numbers of tea ladies.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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  25. undefined Season 3 Episode 5 - The Bed of Nails
    0.0/10(1 votes)

    S3:E5

    Jim accepts an unpopular position pushing a transportation bill desired by Number 10, but opposed by everyone else.

    Director:N/A
    Writer:Antony Jay

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Antony Jay Ratings Summary

"The Writing on the Wall" is the best rated episode written by Antony Jay. It scored 10/10 based on 1 votes. It was directed by N/A. It aired on 3/24/1980 and is rated 0.0 points higher than their second-best episode, "The Key".