Humphrey Appleby
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Sir Humphrey Appleby, GCB (April 5, 1929 – December 26, 2001)These dates are from the spoof obituary in Politico's Book of the Dead. is one of the three main characters of the 1980s British sitcom Yes, Minister and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. He was played by Nigel Hawthorne. In Yes, Minister, he is the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of Administrative Affairs (a fictitious department of the British government). In the last episode, "Party Games", he becomes Cabinet Secretary, the position he retains during Yes, Prime Minister. Hawthorne's portrayal won the BAFTA Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance four times: 1981, 1982, 1986 and 1987.
Character and history
Sir Humphrey is the master of obfuscation and manipulation. He is committed to maintaining the status quo for the country in general and for the Civil Service in particular, and will stop at nothing to do so — whether that means baffling his opponents with technical jargon, strategically appointing allies to supposedly impartial boards, or setting up an interdepartmental committee to smother his Minister's proposals in red tape.Sir Humphrey won a classical scholarship to Winchester College and then attended Baillie College, Oxford, a possible reference or allusion to one of Oxford's colleges, Balliol. After National Service in the Army Education Corps he entered the Civil Service. From 1950 to 1956 he was the Regional Contracts Officer, an assistant principal in the Scottish Office, on secondment from the War Office. In 1964 he was brought into the newly-formed Department of Administrative Affairs, where he has worked ever since. He is recommended for the KBE early on in the series in "The Official Visit".
Sir Humphrey represents, in many ways, both the ultimate British snob and gentleman. He is pompous, arrogant and holds his lesser educated minister with some contempt, and uses his mastery of the English language (and even his superb grasp of Latin) to perplex his political master. He still holds women to be the fairer sex, and is thus overly courteous, frequently addressing them as "Dear lady". Like Hacker, Sir Humphrey enjoys the finer things in life, and is regularly seen drinking sherry and dining at fine establishments, often with his fellow civil servant Sir Arnold Robinson, who was Cabinet Secretary throughout Yes, Minister. Sir Humphrey is also on the board of governors of the Royal Opera House and attends many of its gala nights. His interests also extend to art and theatre.
According to the foreword (dated 2019), of the book The Complete Yes Minister: The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister by the Rt. Hon. James Hacker MP, a novelisation of the series, he spent his last days in St Dympna's Hospital for the Elderly Deranged, after his "advancing years, without in any way impairing his mental fluency, disengaged the operation of his mind from the content of his speech."
Relationships
In Yes, Minister, Sir Humphrey maintains a friendly and deferent but adversarial relationship with his new minister, James Hacker. When keeping the minister busy is not sufficient to prevent him from proposing new policy, Sir Humphrey is not above deceiving or even blackmailing him. He has a slightly more amicable relationship with his subordinate, the minister's Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley. He frequently lectures the naïve Woolley in the realities of political matters. When Woolley's loyalty to the minister is inconvenient to Sir Humphrey's plans, he readily makes oblique threats about Woolley's job security. However, he is equally quick to defend Woolley from outsiders. His closest on-screen friendships are with Sir Arnold Robinson, Cabinet Secretary during Yes, Minister; Sir Frederick "Jumbo" Stewart, Permanent Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and the banker Sir Desmond Glazebrook. He is married, although his wife plays virtually no role in either series and is only seen twice, briefly during the office party in the "Party Games" Christmas special and next to him in bed in the Series One episode "Big Brother".Real-life references
Sir Humphrey has become a stereotype associated with civil servants, and the phrase "Bowler-hatted Sir Humphreys" is sometimes used when describing their image. In many instances, British newspapers even print a photo of him to accompany a story about the civil service. Remarks such as "This would make even Sir Humphrey proud" are also made.Humphrey the cat lived at 10 Downing Street and its associated buildings from 1989 to 1997, from the days of Margaret Thatcher to Tony Blair. He was named after the fictional mandarin.
A spoof obituary for Sir Humphrey appears in Politico's Book of the Dead, written by his creators Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn. This is the source for some biographical details above, including the dates of birth and death which he shares with Nigel Hawthorne, the actor who portrayed him.
Notes
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