O

Fourble

All podcasts   |   About   |   
edit this podcast

The Men from the Ministry

Civil Service sitcom
from s3.amazonaws.com, archive.org

The Men from the Ministry is a British radio comedy series about lazy, bungling, incompetent civil servants, "Number One" – Roland Hamilton-Jones (Wilfrid Hyde-White) and later Deryck Lennox-Brown (Deryck Guyler), "Number Two" – Richard Lamb (Richard Murdoch), with their dim, typo-prone, teenage secretary, Mildred Murfin (Norma Ronald), all watched-over by the lecherous, pompous, self-seeking Permanent Under-Secretary Sir Gregory Pitkin (Roy Dotrice and later Ronald Baddiley), all members of the British Civil Service based in Whitehall. The stories centred on their General Assistance Department (analogous to the "Department of Administrative Affairs" in the later Yes Minister), which helps other governmental departments. Instead of assistance, the department creates mix-ups, misunderstandings and cock-ups that lead to a telling-off from Sir Gregory, who sees his 'hard earned' Civil Service career and pension disappearing.

Written and produced by Edward Taylor with contributions from John Graham, and with some early episodes written by Johnnie Mortimer and Brian Cooke, it ran for 13 series, totalling 145 half-hour episodes and two specials. A further 14 episodes were made by the BBC Transcription Service in 1980 but not broadcast in the UK until 2012. Versions were made by Yle in Finland, Sveriges Radio (SR) in Sweden, and Springbok Radio in South Africa, where it was made into a feature-length film.

(description from Wikipedia)

  1. 30th Oct 1962, The Great Footwear Scandal (6.7Mb)
  2. 6th Nov 1962, The Big Rocket (6.7Mb)
  3. 13th Nov, 1962 Strictly For The Birds (6.4Mb)
  4. 20th Nov 1962, French Cricket (unknown file size)
  5. 27th Nov 1962, The War With The Isle Of Wight (unknown file size)
  6. 4th Dec 1962, Moderately Important Person (7Mb)
  7. 11th Dec 1962, The Rhubarb Pirates (6.7Mb)
  8. 18th Dec 1962, A Matter Of Form (6.9Mb)
  9. 1st Jan 1963, The Spy In The Black Pin-stripe (6.8Mb)
  10. 8th Jan 1963, Island In The Sun (7.1Mb)
  11. 25th July 1965, Pirates Of Lakeview Reservoir (6.9Mb)
  12. 1st Aug 1965, Something About A Soldier (27.6Mb)
  13. 8th Aug 1965, The Trouble With Cecil (6.6Mb)
  14. 15th Aug 1965, Mahboni Lies Over The Ocean (6.8Mb)
  15. 22nd Aug 1965, The Man Who Made It Rain (6.8Mb)
  16. 29th Aug 1965, Train Of Events (6.5Mb)
  17. 5th Sept 1965, Degrading Business (6.6Mb)
  18. 12th Sept 1965, The Butcher Of Glensporran (6.8Mb)
  19. 19th Sept 1965, Counter Spies (6.8Mb)
  20. 26th Sept 1965, A Question Of Dundancy (7Mb)
  21. 3rd Oct 1965, A Backdated Problem (6.5Mb)
  22. 10th Oct 1965, The Hole (unknown file size)
  23. 17th Oct 1965, The Day The Martians Came (6.9Mb)
  24. 18th Dec 1966, A Terrifying Weapon (5.2Mb)
  25. 25th Dec 1966, The Post Office Pantomine (7Mb)
  26. 1st Jan 1967, All At Sea (6.5Mb)
  27. 8th Jan 1967, Bowler Hats And Sub-machine Guns (6.6Mb)
  28. 15th Jan 1967, On The Run (6.7Mb)
  29. 22nd Jan 1967, A Gift For Sir Gregory (5.9Mb)
  30. 5th Feb 1967, Customs Of The Country (6.8Mb)
  31. 12th Feb 1967, Getting The Bird (6.6Mb)
  32. 19th Feb 1967, The Girl In The Case (6.9Mb)
  33. 26th Feb 1967, The Thing On The Beach (6.5Mb)
  34. 5th Mar 1967, A Slight Case Of Demolition (27.5Mb)
  35. 12th Mar 1967, The Fastest Ship In The World (6.6Mb)
  36. 18th Feb 1967, Battle Of The River Thames (6.3Mb)
  37. 25th Feb 1968, The Tubby Submarine (6.4Mb)
  38. 3rd Mar 1968, A Matter Of Breeding (6.5Mb)
  39. 10th Mar 1968, The Great Showbiz Fiasco (6.8Mb)
  40. 17th Mar 1968, Up The Poll (6.2Mb)
  41. 24th Mar 1968, Waterway To Go (6.4Mb)
  42. 7th Apr 1968, The Fastest Brolly In The West (5.5Mb)
  43. 14th Apr 1968, Lamb Takes A Gambol (6.5Mb)
  44. 21st Apr 1968, Four Men In A Wellington (unknown file size)
  45. 28th Apr 1968, Out Of This World (6.5Mb)
  46. 5th May 1968, Muddlers In Law (6.4Mb)
  47. 25th Mar 1969, A Rotten System (unknown file size)
  48. 1st Arp 1969, A Brush With An Old Master (6.4Mb)
  49. 8th Apr 1969, All Play And No Work (5.5Mb)
  50. 15th Apr 1969, A Sticky Business (unknown file size)
  51. 29th Apr 1969, The Ship That Wagged Its Tail (unknown file size)
  52. 30th June 1970, Bye Bye Mildred (26.5Mb)
  53. 7th July 1970, Bare Necessities (26.5Mb)
  54. 14th July 1970, Storm In A Tea Urn (unknown file size)
  55. 21st July 1970, The Moving Target (6.6Mb)
  56. 28th July 1970, Oil Well That Ends Well (6.1Mb)
  57. 4th Aug 1970, The Bigger The Better (6.3Mb)
  58. 11th Aug 1970, Trouble In The Air (unknown file size)
  59. 18th Aug 1970, Miss Chatterlys Lover (5.9Mb)
  60. 1st Sept 1970, A Little Of What You Fancy (6.6Mb)
  61. 8th Sept 1970, A Bird In The Hand (unknown file size)
  62. 15th Sept 1970, Bringing The House Down (unknown file size)
  63. 22nd Sept 1970, Fair Exchange (unknown file size)
  64. 29th Sept 1970, Bill Stickers Is Innocent (27.1Mb)
  65. 29th July 1971, Rolling It In (27.5Mb)
  66. 12th Aug 1971, Thoroughly Modern Ministry (unknown file size)
  67. 19th Aug 1971, We All Make Mistakes (unknown file size)
  68. 26th Aug 1971, The Foolproof Fool (unknown file size)
  69. 2nd Sept 1971, Rotten To The Corps (6.6Mb)
  70. 9th Sept 1971,Transatlantic Trouble (unknown file size)
  71. 16th Sept 1971, The Finger Of Suspicion (unknown file size)
  72. 23rd Sept 1971, Just The Ticket (unknown file size)
  73. 29th Sept 1971, Gone To Pot (6.8Mb)
  74. 11th July 1972, The Conference Trick (27.3Mb)
  75. 18th July 1972, The Night We Crept Into The Crypt (6.2Mb)
  76. 25th July 1972, How Now, Brown Cow (6.2Mb)
  77. 1st Aug 1972, Sorry, Wrong Number (6.7Mb)
  78. 8th Aug 1972, The Desk Job (6.6Mb)
  79. 15th Aug 1972, Fowl Play (6.4Mb)
  80. 22nd Aug 1972, Something Of Value (6Mb)
  81. 29th Aug 1972, Taking Leave Of Their Census (6.4Mb)
  82. 6th Mar 1973, Thats My Pigeon (6.2Mb)
  83. 13th Mar 1973, Don't Let Them Needle You (5.2Mb)
  84. 20th Mar 1973, Find The Lady (6.7Mb)
  85. 27th Mar 1973, Bridge Under Troubled Waters (6.5Mb)
  86. 3rd Apr 1973, A Private Affair (26.9Mb)
  87. 10th Apr 1973, Food For Thought (6.6Mb)
  88. 17th Apr 1973, Getting It Taped (6.6Mb)
  89. 24th Apr 1973, Safe And Unsound (5.8Mb)
  90. 1st May 1973, The Expert Caper (6.7Mb)
  91. 8th May 1973, Flushed With Success (6.3Mb)
  92. 15th May 1973, Under The Weather (6.3Mb)
  93. 22nd May 1973, Monkey Business (6.3Mb)
  94. 29th May 1973, Cheesed Off (6.5Mb)
  95. 17th Jun 1974, Plane Madness (6.3Mb)
  96. 24th Jun 1974, Vipers In The Bosom (6.2Mb)
  97. 1st July 1974, Great Guns (6.1Mb)
  98. 8th July 1974, I Want My Mummy (6.1Mb)
  99. 22nd July 1974, Ballet Nuisance (6.2Mb)
  100. 29th July 1974, Sky High (25.5Mb)
  101. 12th Aug 1974, Health And Deficiency (6.1Mb)
  102. 19th Aug 1974, Big Deal (6.7Mb)
  103. 26th Aug 1974, They Fry By Night (6.7Mb)
  104. 2nd Sept 1974, In The Picture (25.4Mb)
  105. 9th Sept 1974, She'll Have To Go (6.3Mb)
  106. 26th May 1975, Nothing But The Vest (6.4Mb)
  107. 6th Jun 1975, Thats My Baby (25.4Mb)
  108. 9th Jun 1975, All That Glitters (6.2Mb)
  109. 16th Jun 1975, Torn To Shreds (6.3Mb)
  110. 23rd Jun 1975, Wool Over Their Eyes (6.2Mb)
  111. 30th Jun 1975, This VAT And The Other (6.2Mb)
  112. 7th July 1975, The Great Trouser Troubles (6.2Mb)
  113. 14th July 1975, The Cabinet Crisis (6.2Mb)
  114. 21st July 1975, Chain Reaction (6.3Mb)
  115. 28th July 1975, All Change (6.3Mb)
  116. 4th Aug 1975, A Merry Dance (unknown file size)
  117. 11th Aug 1975, A Sense Of Power (6.3Mb)
  118. 18th Aug 1975, Postal Disorder (unknown file size)
  119. 6th July 1976, All Cisterns Go (25.4Mb)
  120. 13th July 1976, A Problem Shared (25.3Mb)
  121. 20th July 1976, The Whitehall Castaways (25.4Mb)
  122. 27th July 1976, Off The Rails (unknown file size)
  123. 3rd Aug 1976, Penny Wise (25.2Mb)
  124. 10th Aug 1976, Turn For The Nurse (25.5Mb)
  125. 17th Aug 1976, Seal Of Office (25.4Mb)
  126. 24th Aug 1976, Birmingham Is Revolting (25.5Mb)
  127. 4th July 1977, Mission Inedible (24.9Mb)
  128. 11th July 1977, Horse Play (24.9Mb)
  129. 18th July 1977, The Big Big Big Ben Bungle (25.1Mb)
  130. 25th July 1977, A Motley Crew (25.2Mb)
  131. 1st Aug 1977, Not On Your Telly (25.1Mb)
  132. 8th Aug 1977, One Way Only (25.1Mb)
  133. 15th Aug 1977, Take Your Pick (25.1Mb)
  134. 22nd Aug 1977, Claws ish (25.3Mb)
  135. 22nd Dec 2011, Boots/The Great Footwear Scandal (unknown file size)
  136. 29th Dec 2011, Pardon My French/French Cricket (unknown file size)
  137. 5th Jan 2012, Traffic Diversions/The End Of The Road (unknown file size)
  138. 12th Jan 2012, Birds Of A Feather/Strictly For The Birds (unknown file size)
  139. 19th Jan 2012, Where There's A Will/Problem In The Park (unknown file size)
  140. 26th Jan 2012, The Country Caper/The Rubarb Pirates (6.1Mb)
  141. 2nd Feb 2012, Ban The Wotsit/A Terifying Weapon (6.1Mb)
  142. 9th Feb 2012, A Testing Time/A Degrading Business (6.1Mb)
  143. 16 th Feb 2012, Pushing The Vote Out/Up The Poll (6.2Mb)
  144. 23rd Feb 2012, Gone To Earth/The Hole (6.2Mb)
  145. 1st Mar 2012, Computerclanger/The Trouble With Cecil (6.2Mb)
  146. 8th Mar 2012, A Great Convenience/A Slight Case Of Demolision (6.1Mb)
  147. 15th Mar 2012, Watch This Space/The Big Rocket (unknown file size)
  148. 29th Dec 2015, Christmas Spirit/The Magic Carpet (24.4Mb)

MP3 files hosted by s3.amazonaws.com, archive.org.