Trivia-Yes Minister

Screenwriters Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn avoided all references that could indicate Hacker's political party, though Lynn later admitted they had always imagined him as a centre minded Conservative.
The role of James Hacker was written with Paul Eddington in mind.
The British Film Institute (BFI) named this as one of the top ten television programmes of all time.

A great fan of the series, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (as she then was) wrote a sketch for the show with press secretary Bernard Ingham which was recorded and aired as part of the 1984 National Viewers and Listeners Awards. The sketch featured Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne, both of whom are talking to the Prime Minister (played by Thatcher herself) about her notion to abolish economists.

The writers had advisors who had worked within the government and many of the stories were based on real situations. For example, in episode #3.4 ('The Moral Dimension') they go to an arab state where alcohol is not allowed and so they set up a "communications room" in the embassy where they keep a stash of booze so they could slip out and have a drink. This really happened.