《是大臣/ Yes Minister》《是首相/Yes Prime Minister》是我一直想写的内容，这剧中的人物如此经典，以至英国政府的ai bot也叫Humphrey（Government digital document app launching in summer）。有时候听歌听累了，我会去网易云的播客中找到这两部剧的音频随机打开一集开始细品，既是放松自己，也是学英语（借口）。这篇文章比较随意，不太评论剧讨论的内容和政治议题，主要关注一些我发现的有趣的点。我个人主要的评论对象是剧，但是引用的一些文案主要来自官方小说。
情景喜剧
这两部拍摄开始于1980年，很早，所以编剧手法也较为经典。作为情景喜剧，每一集都有明确的主题，是相对独立的单元；演出上就没什么场景的变化，剧情的发生地点十分固定；推进剧情主要是靠对话，发生在各种地方的对话：办公室、餐桌等等；时间的推进一路往前，没有倒叙、内心活动和独白，观众的视角也是全知叙事者的视角。整体来看YM和YPM是寥寥几笔的黑白素描，不花哨，但是极为达意。
可以说DAA这个虚构的部门给了编剧很大的灵活度，因此YM每一集的内容主题可以相对而言有所变化（想想如果是财政部，那可能编剧的素材收集范围就会很小多），毕竟Administrative Affairs的概念太广了。当然到了YPM的时代就不同了，作为PM的Jim就需要和各个不同的部门打交道，从最开始的国防部（三叉戟问题），到S1E3财政部，S1E6外交部，S2E1就业部，S2E4 中央银行，S2E5 地方政府，S2E6 艺术，S2E7 教育部，可以看出大概编剧也有这个心思。
人物成长
虽然是单元剧，但是角色的成长弧线也很清晰，尤其是Jim和Bernard，Humphrey倒是很难说有明显的成长，毕竟他其实是这个制度的化身，追求的就是stability。Jim作为一个新来的minister，在S1简直可以说是到处闯祸，差点断送前程，最后一集更是送走了“自己人”Frank；S2开始收敛了，在最后一集成功背刺了Humphrey并且在首相面前保住了自己的地位，证明了自己的loyalty；S3则一路“高歌猛进”，DAA的职责越来越大，拿到了local government管辖权，Jim本人成为了moral vacuum，甚至最后一集在Humphrey和Bernard的“助攻”下，一箭双雕，稳住了自己在选区的地位，也额外当上了艺术大臣，功成名就。而且Jim在首相阶段手段更多，即使是Humphrey也没法硬刚了（YM S1E5中Humphrey简直可以说是撕破脸在硬刚），YPM S1E3中Humphrey则是典型的不敢硬刚的样子，硬刚Jim的Luke直接被送去了以色列（YPM S1E6）。Jim也就是被Dorothy嘴了不敢还嘴，首相的威严还是在的。Jim越来越熟悉这套系统的规则，同时也越来越静止了（可能和后期演员得了皮肤癌也有关系）。
Bernard的成长也清晰可见，从一开始会被Humphrey用以后的生涯敲打威胁，到S3E5向Hacker解释公务员系统、S3E6完全展现High Flyer的潜质得到上级Humphrey的认可，到YPM S1E4完全不怕Humphrey的威胁，S2E3展现出来的恐怖的工作能力，最后到最后一集气势完全不输Humphrey。可以说Bernard几乎是胜利的天平那最后一块砝码，他偏向哪边哪边就有优势，而且他的人缘相当好。可以注意到很有趣的一点，Humphrey从来没去过Jim家里，但是Bernard作为私人秘书、Dorothy作为政治顾问都去过Jim家，这也是Proximity的体现吧。当然Bernard这个角色的设置也有其工具属性在，他需要帮助观众来提问从而让Humphrey有回答的机会，因此可能编剧需要他表现得“傻傻”的（别忘了整本书都是Bernard审核过的回忆录）。
暗线与配角
除了人物的成长外，还有一些比较隐晦的前后联系：
- S2E4中BCC的主席威胁Jim：I shall be telephoning the Secretary of State for Industry. I’m prepared to resign if you block this one，然后在下一集Corbett就搞了Jim一手：it was indeed the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry who had put the boot in.
- S3E5中Jim被强塞了一手Transport Supremo，所以S3E7才会面对可能的新来的responsibility说Do we want them.
- S1E6中Humphrey和Jumbo教Bernard的Conjuror trick，在YPM S1E7中由Bernard对Jim再次教学：It’ll be a conjuring trick. You know, Take any card – you always end up with the card the magician forces you to take.
- 这里也有一个关于South Derbyshire的，但我看书里面似乎是不同的地区，没有强力联系起来：英剧《是，大臣》《是，首相》中有哪些细思恐极的细节
常驻配角的串联也给人一种整体感，像是银行家、Bill、Sir Frank、PM等，这些人的出现使得叙事更具整体感，这里有相对全面的总结：能给我简述一下《是，大臣》和《是，首相》里的人物关系（人名，关系，职务）吗。说到前任PM可以多说几句，虽然这位大名鼎鼎的PM在YM中根本没露过面，但是其影响无处不在，可以说是最大的一条暗线。上台开始党内人才凋零，PM不得不给他的党内对手Martin外交部，让Jim当DAA的大臣。上台开始就和美国人打好关系（S1E1），任命了像恐怖分子一样的党鞭Vic，然后是苏格兰的by-election（S1E2），还差点废了Jim的DAA作为报复（S1E5）；后面经常宣布要Cabinet Reshuffle弄的大臣们都惴惴不安，提拔恶心人的Corbett，差点就踢掉Jim就去欧共体了（S2E5），和Malcolm Rhodes合作揭露为啥很难砍政府开支（S2E7）；最后更是在熬走了讨厌的继任者Ray之后成功激流勇退（YPM的书中提到了前任PM可能是因为预见到了经济危机才明哲保身跑路的，可能也和他自己本身心脏不好有关）。此时党内人才济济，至少财政大臣和外交大臣都是狠人，和他上任之初已经完全不同了。尤其的是在YM中PM一直是用的中性化的称呼，我们连性别都不知道，只有在YPM中才提到了前PM的名字：Herbert Attwell。
此时对比一下在YPM中的Jim就很有趣，Jim完全不敢一直搞reshuffle，开掉了就业大臣之后就不敢动任何内阁成员了，毕竟Jim是作为compromised candidate上任的，没啥实际的操控力，和前任PM差远了，这也可以解释Jim那么重视Popularity。前PM对Jim的评价也是精准：
Hacker was more interested in votes than principles. He ran for cover at the first whiff of unpopularity. He raised the average age of the Cabinet but lowered the average IQ.
服装与表演
关于服装可以直接看这个：The suits of Yes Minister. – RAVINGS IN CINEMASCOPE 整体而言虽然场景等“外在”的元素不是这部剧的重点，但节目组的准备依旧很用心：
- 对Jim而言，他力求营造出一种与选民更加一致的效果，因此他的装饰方巾更倾向于松散的放在口袋里，而且多用明亮的色彩，打扮的更像一个平民出身的人，以此营造一个权威但是友好的形象
- Humphrey经常穿单排扣西装，搭配浅色衬衫和方巾，他的领带种类很多，但是都打成完美的半温莎结。Humphrey除了吃瘪的时候，从来不会看起来衣冠不整，他的所有套装都是量身定制的
- Bernard则是随着时间的不同，服装变化最多的。在YM中，Bernard正在摸索熟悉公务员系统，其剧中早期着装是十分时髦的，深蓝色单排扣西装搭配粉色的衬衫，偶尔像银行家那样搭配领针和袖扣。在YPM中，他的着装有了彻底的改变，几乎和Sir Humphrey传统打扮相同级别，放弃了色彩明亮的衬衫，取而代之的是跟Humphrey相同的白色或蓝色衬衫。
- Dorothy就不一样了，服装就相对时尚、鲜艳很多（毕竟不需要穿西装），在一群西装男里鹤立鸡群。也不止是她，其他女性角色大多也都是如此，例如Jim的夫人、S3E1的Sarah Harrison等。
另一方面演员的演技也相当好，Jim的two face，从一本正经到瞬间变脸（YPM S2E2那边太经典了），沉浸于自我良好时候的丘吉尔上身（YPM S1E1的自我演讲等），杀手本能启动时候那种杀气（YPM S1E6和S2E6中，在Paul的演技加持下，那种恐怖的眼神，一瞬间杀气就出来了）；Humphrey的那种高傲、优雅、从容，长难句时候的面无表情；Bernard那插科打诨时候的天真笑容，人畜无害的伪装和腹黑，可圈可点。
除了下文要分析的语言游戏，还有很多小细节，例如站位，这在两次干掉两个Frank的时候最明显（也不知道是不是巧合）。S1E7的最后，Jim站到Humphrey旁边，一起出主意把“自己人”Frank弄走，给个肥差滚吧，标志着初步的合流；YPM S1E5 Jim则和Humphrey、Dorothy坐在一排，打击了财政部的Frank的加薪计划，也挫败了Frank想当公务员首领的野心，A real Partnership。
叙事与视角
叙事本身就是很正常的单元剧风格，围绕着主题设置了单线或者双线叙事，不过即使是双线也是有所侧重并且最后会回到单元的主题。典型的双线叙事的例子，比如YPM S1E8，Linda的狗走丢了和Humphrey的渎职事件双线并行，各自独立推进然后最后交汇；像S2E2虽然讨论的是两件事（把荣誉和经济挂钩、Belly的外国学生招生问题），但是是一起提出的，最后也被一起解决；也有结构稍微好一些的，最典型的就是圣诞特辑PARTY GAMES，结构严丝合缝、前后呼应，EEC的香肠问题、Humphrey上位、Jim上位多线交织，最后一起皆大欢喜；普通的比如S2E1，前期对DAA的inquiry和难民问题都提到了，最后和医院问题一起解决了，皆大欢喜；当然也有YPM S1E3、S2E6那种，主题相对单一的，S2E6就是没办法让Dorothy机械降神来挫败Humphrey和National Threatre的计划。
剧和书的对比也很有趣，但我没法说太多，因为我书没怎么看过，一般都是需要快速查东西会翻一下书。看剧可以看表演、神态、环境，看书能看到Jim的内心活动，一些不方便在剧中展示的背景补充（例如S3E6的anti-terrorist agreement其实并不存在），以及一些paper的展示（可以参看Calligraphy(note, reply, memo, diary, letter, etc）。每一集的名字也很有趣，文采斐然——THE WRITING ON THE WALL、THE DEVIL YOU KNOW、THE BED OF NAILS等等。
额外有趣的是书中对于剧情的顺序调整：YM那本书把S3E3调到了最后一集，说实话我也不知道为什么，大概是希望最后一集是Humphrey吃瘪？YPM也是，剧中最后一集也是Humphrey失言吃瘪，但是书中最后一集换成了废除教育部那一集，对应剧是倒数第二集。也许是为了强调这最后Jim的思考：
I took a deep breath. Yes, I said quietly. My plans were turning to dust. Like all my plans. Suddenly I saw, with a real clarity that Id never enjoyed before, that although I might win the occasional policy victory, or make some reforms, or be indulged with a few scraps from the table, nothing fundamental was ever ever going to change.
一些自传中的幕后可以参考：
- 第9-11章（So Far, So Good）书评
- Derek Fowlds自传 第12章 是，大臣—是，首相（The Complete Yes Prime Minister）书评
- 第13章 你好，汉弗莱（Straight Face）书评
戏剧性反讽
喜剧
喜剧很大部分依靠揭穿自负者的面具，人们总是期待看到一个傲慢的傻瓜踩到香蕉皮大摔一跤，恢复平衡后又人模人样。剧中Jim所谓的Two faced恰好十分可以作为喜剧的模板使用，典型的例子如S2E3，Jim在知道自己上暗杀名单之前义正言辞反对大规模监听公民的电话，说了一大堆关于自由无价的话，甚至还把自己要反抗监听的消息透露给媒体；知道自己上了暗杀名单之后则立马反水，坚定支持大规模电话监听来打击恐怖分子；后续中知道自己安全了之后又立马变脸，和媒体的人说自己一贯如此，反对对于隐私的监视。YPM的S2E3也是，在知道前PM去世的消息之前狂喷前PM，疯狂抹黑他；知道死讯之后立马变脸，说，悲剧啊，悲剧。Jim丘吉尔上身时刻和懦弱时刻形成了鲜明的对比，其转变速度之快让人惊讶。
结构
剧本结构上的反讽比比皆是，举些例子——你要搞经济节约，我就让你砍自己的员工导致部门基本瘫痪 (S1E3)；你要去除冗官，我把你整个部门废了 (S1E5)；你要把荣誉和降本挂钩，我给你个法学博士你要不要，是不是真香了(S2E2)；你要反对大规模监听电话，我就让你上暗杀名单，你还反对不(S2E3)；你要把艺术馆卖了当作贷款给足球俱乐部，我让你当艺术大臣，看你怎么卖(S3E7)；你想取消三叉戟，我给你整个厨子你消停点（YPM S1E1）；你因为没给增加national theater预算就想在晚会上喷我，我把national theater卖了，把你家都给扬了(YPM S2E6)… 情节上的反讽一般会在当集末尾完全展现出来，此时配合Jim那two face的反差，通过前后对比强化讽刺，其喜剧效果就会达到顶点。
在单集内的小情节上，编剧也有在刻意制造一种即刻的反差。表现在语言游戏上，比如管industrial harmony的大臣其实就是管strikes的大臣， environmental health officers其实就是Rat-catchers，国教中的modernist其实就是Non believer，let the Holy Ghost decide其实就是抓阄drawing lots… 还有一些是配合场景的，例如YPM S1E1就很明显，Jim说公寓里theres total privacy，马上就两个特工进来到处看看安全检查；Jim又说至少这里很安静，the bloody brass band 就开始演奏 Horse Guards Parade。这样的例子比比皆是，所以整体看剧的感觉就是，笑声从没停过（尽管从现代的角度来看有些观众会觉得笑声太多了，但是没有笑声，有些地方就太深刻太道德真空了，所以还是笑过去吧）。
语言游戏
具体一集一集的分析可见宝藏公众号：语言游戏丨英国非物质文化遗产《是，大臣》中的语言艺术丨S2E6，作者正在一集一集更新中，可以一集一集看比较细致的语言分析，是非常好的参考资料！我在此文中主要提一些自己感兴趣的方面，除了作为即时笑料的一些前后呼应、对比、反差的语言meme、witty words外，有趣的还有Humphrey的长难句和Bernard being pedantic掉书袋 。
长难句
Humphrey的长难句几乎每集都有，举几个例子：
Humphrey: Well, not with standing the fact that your proposal could conceivably encompass certain concomitant benefits of a marginal peripheral relevance, there is a countervailing consideration of infinitely superior magnitude, involving your personal complicity and corroborative malfeasance, with the consequence that the taint and stigma of your former associations and diversions could irredeemably and irretrievably invalidate your position and culminate in public revelations and recriminations of a profoundly embarrassing and ultimately indefensible character.
Jim: Perhaps I could have a precis of that
Humphrey: unfortunately, although the answer was indeed simple, clear and straightforward, there are some difficulty in justifiably assigning to it the fourth of the epithets you applied to the statement inasmuch as the precise correlation between the information he had communicated and the facts insofar as they can be determined and demonstrated is such as to cause epistemological problems of sufficient magnitude to lay upon the logical and semantic resources of the English language a heavier burden than they can reasonably be requested to bear.
Jim: epistemological, what are you talking about
Humphrey: You told a lie
Humphrey: Certain informal discussions have taken place, involving a full and frank exchange of views, out of which there arose a series of proposals which on examination proved to indicate certain promising lines of enquiry which when pursued led to the realisation that the alternative courses of action might in fact, in certain circumstances, be susceptible of discreet modification, in one way or another, leading to a reappraisal of the original areas of difference and pointing the way to encouraging possibilities of significant compromise and co-operation which if bilaterally implemented with appropriate give and take on both sides could if the climate were right have a reasonable possibility at the end of the day of leading, rightly or wrongly, to a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
Jim: Could you summarise this please?
Humphrey: We did a deal.
简单看一下最后一个长难句，一个句子长达一百多词，中间使用了多个状语从句、插入语、非谓语动词、there be句式、同谓语从句、省略句。使用过度复杂的句式和生僻词汇，使得信息本身变得冗长、难以理解，真不愧是牛津古典文学毕业的Sir Humphrey。 绝大多数时候Jim对Humphrey的长难句的反应都是：听不懂/满头问号/不耐烦，复杂的长难句和所要表达的简单的内容形成了反差，很有喜剧效果。Humphrey吃瘪的时候Jim则可以完全免疫长难句的迷惑：
Humphrey: The identity of this official whose alleged responsibility for this hypothetical oversight has been the subject of recent speculation is not shrouded in quite such impenetrable obscurity as certain previous disclosures may have led you to assume, and, in fact, not to put too fine a point on it, the individual in question was, it may surprise you to learn, the one to whom your present interlocutor is in the habit of identifying by means of the perpendicular pronoun.
Jim: I beg your pardon?
Humphrey: It was I.
Humphrey: I must express in the strongest possible terms my profound opposition to the newly instituted practice which imposes severe and intolerable restrictions on the ingress and egress of senior members of the hierarchy and will, in all probability, should the current deplorable innovation be perpetuated, precipitate a progressive constriction of the channels of communication, culminating in a condition of organisational atrophy and administrative paralysis which will render effectively impossible the coherent and co-ordinated discharge of the function of government within Her Majestys United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Jim: You mean you’ve lost your key?
其实编剧也自己吐槽过自己，YPM S1E2在首相的第一次电视演讲的时候，Godfrey就说：
We find if any sentence takes more than two lines, when it gets to the end most people have forgotten how it began. Including the person speaking it.
Bernard也会这些，但是用的很少。对Humphrey举个例子：
Bernard: What I mean is it is in relation to a subject that is normally wholly and exclusively within the control of the Civil Service that developments have developed.
Humphrey: You are speaking in riddles Bernard.
Bernard: Oh Thank you Sir Humphrey.
Humphrey: That was not a compliment!
对Jim则是在一般不想回答问题的时候圆过去，而且他也不掩饰自己在blathering。有时候则也有炫技的成分在（比如S3E7给地方议员加薪的时候），只有一次是相当之刚猛，那就是在差点被Jim献祭之后的一集(S3E5)：
Bernard: if you had looked the Trojan Horse in the mouth, you would find Greeks inside. The reason, of course, is that it was the Greeks who gave the Trojan Horse to the Trojans. Therefore, technically it was not a Trojan Horse at all. In fact, it was a Greek Horse. Hence the tag ‘Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes’, which, as the you will recall, is usually and somewhat inaccurately translated as Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts, or doubtless the you would recall had you not attended the LSE.
…
Bernard: Just as the Trojan Horse was Greek, the tag which you described as Greek was, in fact, Latin. In fact, this is obvious if you consider that the Greeks would hardly suggest bewaring of themselves – if one can use such a participle: bewaring, that is – and the tag can clearly be seen to be Latin rather than Greek not because ‘timeo’ ends in ‘o’ (because the Greek first
person also ends in ‘o’) – actually, if I may digress, there is a Greek word ‘timao’ meaning ‘I honour’ – but because the ‘os’ ending is a nominative singular termination of the second declension in Greek and an accusative plural in Latin. Incidentally, as a fine point of interest, Danaos is not only the Greek for Greek but also the Latin for Greek. It’s very interesting you know.
Bernard说完第一段之后Humphrey已经皱眉并握紧双拳了，说完第二段直接把Humphrey吓得说话磕磕巴巴的，一直看向Bernard，生怕Bernard再次打断他。这也算是Bernard的“成长”吧。
Pedantic
我个人最喜欢的是小天使Bernard的pedantic，一些例子：
Martin: obviously the PM doesn’t want to rock the boat until it’s in the bag.
Bernard: you don’t put boats in bags
Humphrey: I implore you to stay out of the minefield of local government. It is a political graveyard.
Bernard: Actually, Sir Humphrey, you can’t have a graveyard in a minefield because all the corpses would . . .
Humphrey: Perhaps he has the PM’s ear
Jim: Everyone knows that he’s in the PM’s pocket.
Bernard: Then the PM must have a rather large ear
Jim: We can’t stab our partners in the back and spit in their faces.
Bernard: You can’t stab anyone in the back while you spit in their face.
Jim: We shall just have to grit our teeth and bite on the bullet.
Bernard: You can’t bite a bullet when gritting your teeth. If you do that…
Jim: Now about nailing that leak
Bernard: Im sorry to be pedantic, Prime Minister, but if you nail a leak you make another leak.
Jim: do you think I could? Grasp the nettle, take the bull by the horns?
Bernard: Prime Minister, you cant take the bull by the horns if youre grasping the nettle. I mean, if you grasped the nettle with one hand, you could take the bull by one horn with the other hand, but not by both horns because your hand wouldnt be bit enough, and if you took a bull by only one horn it would be rather dangerous because…
Jim :The point is, this situation is now a real hot potato. If I dont do something it could become a banana skin.
Bernard: Prime minister, a hot potato cant become a banana skin. If you dont do anything a hot potato merely becomes a cold potato.
Bernard很擅长去找到并置的比喻或者俗语中，其字面意义与语境意义之间的反差并且表达出来。他的逻辑是正确的，但他的纠正方式在实际语境下显得有点书呆子，反差萌。作为秘书，可以说Bernard真的非常认真地在倾听和记录Jim和Humphrey的谈话，并且在适当的时候开玩笑可以缓和氛围，减少Jim和Humphrey之间的火药味儿。这两天自己想了几个在中文语境下的笑话：
我只能咬咬牙把这个项目啃下来了；其实你在咬牙的时候其实是不能啃东西的
我急得和热锅蚂蚁一样，你必须帮帮我，给我雪中送炭；给热锅送炭只会让蚂蚁更热
我真希望自己也可以拥有Bernard这个能力，但是好难啊。