History Radio / TheMenFromTheMinistry

* DubNameChange: The Finnish version has a lot of these. Most notably from Sir Gregory to Sir Henry, Roland to Hannibal and Lamb to Lamm. In addition, all but 12 of the 120 episodes originally featuring Lennox-Brown were aired with Hamilton-Jones in his place (and three episodes vice versa), and the change was only made due [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim due to the actor Kauko Helovirta's death in 1997]].

* TheGhost: Mr. Lamb's landlord Mrs. Bardby is talked about a lot, but never physically appears on the series.

* HeterosexualLifePartners: One and Two, while having the occasional arguments, are closest friends each other has.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The ChristmasEpisode "The Christmas Spirit" ends this way; the episode features One upsetting Santa and the main duo traveling to Christmas Land and escaping eventually with a red carpet. The episode ends with [[AllJustADream Two awakening One from a sleep,]] but the carpet has appeared on Two's room...

* SeaMine: The episode "The Thing on the Beach" revolves around a sea mine on an English beach-resort that Mr. Lamb [[BombDisposal is forced to defuse]]. [[spoiler:It turns out to be a mine-shaped collecting box]]

* PoorCommunicationKills: Staple of the show's humor: poorly worded notes end up causing havoc, telephone-conversations are misinterpreted due to being heard only from one end and out-of-context and instructions are laid out properly leading to big misunderstandings among other things.

* NotNowWereTooBusyCryingOverYou: Following Lamb and Mildred's [[OutOfContextEvesDropping mistaken]] belief that Lennox-Brown [[MistakenForDying is deathly ill]], doctor Cribble calls the Office to inform the General Assistance Department that the Ministry's heating system has finally shattered that morning. Lamb and Mildred naturally assume that Lennox-Brown has died, and start collecting money for his wreath... only for Lennox-Brown to enter the office at that moment, leading to a priceless DoubleTake from Lamb.

-->'''Halmilton-Jones''': [[Series/DoctorWho Doctor who?]]\\
-->'''Lamb''': No, doctor Barnhoff.

* DoItYourselfPlumbingProject: Since Sir Gregory has given Ministry's welfare funds only 85 pence, the Welfare Committee's leader Mr. Wilkins, being a "do-it-yourself-handyman" by his own words, offers to fix the Ministry's plumbing himself over the weekend. Being the {{Cuckoolander}} that he is, Mr. Wilkins naturally ends up destroying the Ministry's plumbing in the process.

** Happens quite often to Sir Gregory. Whenever One and Two are speaking about him in an insulting manner, he naturally storms into the office moments later and is greeted with said insult: for example, as Lennox-Brown has just called Sir Gregory a [[GodwinsLaw "a proper little Hitler"]], he accidentally greets him as Sir Adolf.

* AffectionateNickname: Daphne Bentwater calls Sir Gregory "bunny". Sir Gregory in turn calls her "lotus blossum".

* AccidentalMisnaming: At one point Sir Gregory, [[ItMakesSenseInContext thinking he's in grave danger in an inoperable underwater submarine]], calls Lennox-Brown "Frederik." In the Finnish version, he calls him (in this case Hamilton Jones) "Attila."[[note]] As mentioned below, Hamilton Jones' first name in the Finnish version is Hannibal.[[/note]]

* DubNameChange: The Finnish version has a lot of these. Most notably from Sir Gregory to Sir Henry, Roland to Hannibal and Lamb to Lamm. In addition, all but 12 of the 120 episodes originally featuring Lenox-Brown were aired with Hammilton-Jones in his place (and three episodes vice versa), and the change was only made due [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim due to the actor Kauko Helovirta's death in 1997]].

* FullCircleRevolution: PlayedForLaughs when Mr. Lamb goes to negotiate with an attaché of a BananaRepublic about importing of a pelican. The attaché refuses on the grounds that the Minister of Economy is at the office only at Thursdays, and the next Thursday is a national holiday during which they celebrate their people's liberator Pancho Manuel Gonzales. When Lamb suggests Thursday after that, the attaché says it's another holiday during which they celebrate the fall of tyrant Pancho Manuel Gonzales.

* TruthSerums: Mistaking that General Assistance Department is the head of British Intelligence, two Soviet spies use their new experimental truth serum on Mr. Lamb in order to get information. Hidden on sugar, nobody realizes what causes them to blurt out the truth, until Sir Gregory stars showing the side-effects (hysterical laughter), after which they offer him more.

* AndImTheQueenOfSheba: As General Assistance Department is trying to clear room in Hyde Park for a statue of a deceased industrialist, a hassle with a crazy speaker erupts and gets the attention of a park guard. When Lennox-Brown claims that they are working for the Department of the Environment, the guard responds with quipping that he's the archbishop of Manchester, which [[SarcasmBlind Lamb]] naturally assumes this to be true.

* BrickJoke: After a christmas pudding [[ItMakesSenseInContext that Lamb accidentally placed in Big Ben's leaver]] is removed from the machinery, Lennox-Brown tosses it out of the clock tower's window and dismisses Lamb's worries that it might've hit someone. Later on during a news-broadcast the newsreader mentions that [[spoiler:the Prime Minister was hit in the head by a christmas pudding near the House of Commons.]]

* DisasterDominoes: "A Sticky Business" features an epic one, where a series of misundertandings and mishaps starting with a broken teacup end with [[spoiler:the whole London Underground being filled with cold water.]]

* DubNameChange: The Finnish version has a lot of these. Most notably from Sir Gregory to Sir Henry, Roland to Hannibal and Lamb to Lamm. In addition, many of the episodes originally featuring Lenox-Brown were aired with Hammilton-Jones in his place, and the change was only made due [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim due to the actor Kauko Helovirta's death in 1997]].

* FalseReassurance: In the Finnish version of "Ban the Wotsit", One and Two are being interviewed on the TV after soviets manage to "replicate" the super-weapon Wotsit (which was really a [[AchievementsInIgnorance pram full of junk mistaken for a weapon]]). The interviewer asks Lamb if he thinks the soviet weapon is as powerful as the original, which he answers that he is sure it is just as powerful, no more or less.

* FullCircleRevolution: PlayedForLaughs when Mr. Lamb goes to negotiate with an attaché of a BananaRepublic about importing of a pelican. The attaché refuses on the grounds that Minister of Economy is at the office only at Thursdays, and the next Thursday is a national holiday during which they celebrate their people's liberator Pancho Manuel Gonzales. When Lamb suggests Thursday after that, the attaché says it's another holiday during which they celebrate the fall of tyrant Pancho Manuel Gonzales.

* LieBackAndThinkOfEngland: Lennox-Brown pretty much says this to Mr. Lamb at the end of the episode "Claws" when he is [[spoiler:forced to share [[BeastialityIsDepraved cage with a horny female panda while in a panda-costume]]]] in order to please Chinese government.

* MagicalComputer: In episode "The Trouble with Cecil" a computer named CECIL ([[FunWithAcronyms Central Electronic Computer Information-Liaison]]) can talk and solve any logical problem, accurately predicting eight draws on the football pools.
* TheMainCharactersDoEverything: By WordOfGod, the "General Assistance Department" was created so that episodes wouldn't be dependent on work of only one type of State Administration.

* SpeakFriendAndEnter: In the episode "Cheesed Off" offices are faced with an infestation of mice. Lennox-Brown suggests using [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill high tech methods to get rid of them such as laser beams or ultrasonics]]. Mildred suggests a cat.

** Series 9, 10, 11 and 14 feature Mr. Crawley, an odd man from the neighboring office that has many quirks. In Series 12 and 13 he is absent and is replaced by Mr. Wilkins, an odd man from neighboring office with many quirks. The Finnish version [[CompositeCharacter simply makes them the same character.]]

''The Men from the Ministry'' is a radio sitcom and political satire produced by Creator/TheBBC which ran from 1962 to 1977, with one additional series made of re-recordings produced by BBC Transcription Services in 1980, which was never aired. This radio forerunner to the ''Series/YesMinister'' was created by Edward Taylor and starred Wilfrid Hyde-White and Richard Murdoch as civil servants Roland Hamilton-Jones (“One”) and Richard Lamb (“Two”), with the former leaving after two series and being replaced by Deryck Guyler's Deryck Lennox-Brown (Also referred to as “One”). Other characters of the show are the duo's secretary Mildred Murfin (Norma Ronald) and their rather tyrannical, self-centered boss and Permanent Under-secretary, Sir Gregory Pitkin (Roy Dotrice on the first two series, Ronald Badley third series onward).

'''Sir Gregory''': May I explain what their position will be?\\

* AccidentalMisnaming: At one point Sir Gregory, [[ItMakesSenseInContext thinking he's in grave danger in an inoperable underwater submarine]], calls Lennox-Brown "Frederik." In the Finnish version he calls him (in this case Hamilton Jones) "Attila."[[note]] As mentioned below, Hamilton Jones' first name in the Finnish version is Hannibal.[[/note]]

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Finnish version of "Seal of Office" changes the episode's circus seal into a circus bear, since the plot requires it to be confused with something else via a pun. In the original General Assistance Department wants seal for the envelope they are about to send into NATO headquarters, whereas in the Finnish version they're waiting for a collection letter for their delayed payment on the shipment (collection letter is "karhukirje" in Finnish, literally meaning "bear letter").

** There is also Mr. Rudge from another office ([[NewJobAsThePlotDemands exactly what keeps changing]]), who's a subject of many [[NoodleIncident Noodle Incidents]].

* HypocriticalHumour: When planning on giving a petition about the poor quality of Ministry's bathrooms Mr. Crawley says that they have to stand up to Sir Gregory. After talking with him about it:

* INeedAFreakingDrink: What's Lennox-Brown's reaction after finding out that they've not only [[spoiler:destroyed Sir Gregory's house, but also put a Victorian Era Convenience in its place]]?

* SeaMine: The episode "The Thing on the Beach" revolves around a sea mine on an English beach-resort that Mr. Lamb [[BombDisposal is forced to defuse]].

* VerbalTic: Mildred has a habit of saying "righty-ho" in the place of "right away", which annoys One greatly.

* AdaptationExpansion: All the original BBC-produced episodes of the were restricted to 25-30 minutes so scripts where sometimes cut heavily... however, YLE gave no such restrictions during the production of the Finnish version, leading to episodes being anywhere from 25 to 48 minutes, often featuring full versions of gags which were either partially or completely left out from the originals.

* CompletelyDifferentTitle: Both the Swedish and the Finnish versions were called roughly "The Bowler and the Brolly" ("I plommonstop och paraply" and "Knalli ja Sateenvarjo" respectively).

* DubNameChange: The Finnish version has a lot of these. Most notably from Sir Gregory to Sir Henry, Roland to Hannibal and Lamb to Lamm. In addition, many of the episodes originally featuring Lenox-Brown were aired with Hammilton-Jones in his place, and the change was only made due [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim due the actor Kauko Helovirta's death in 1997]].

* ForeignerForADay: In ([[LostEpisode sadly lost in original English]]) episode "Rebel in Regents Park" an old gardener of the titular park refuses to retire on Ministry's orders, instead creating his own country on small island in the middle of park's Duck Pond. Turns out that back in 1818 Prince Edward gave away the island to his family for all time.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The ChristmasEpisode "The Christmas Spirit" ends this way; the episode features One upsetting Santa and the main duo travelling to Christmas Land and escaping eventually with a red carpet. The episode ends with [[AllJustADream Two awakening One from a sleep,]] but the carpet has appeared on Two's room...

* TwoRightsMakeAWrong: As two Mayors of different London boroughs are tied into a fierce argument over fluoridation of a shared reservoir, Hamilton-Jones decides to make one of them change their mind on the matter. Unfortunately Lamb, thinking HJ isn't going to do anything about it, does the same to the other mayor, which takes the whole debate back to its starting point.

* UltimateJobSecurity: Civil servants simply ''cannot'' be fired no matter what. When Lamb temorarily resigns in one episode Sir Gregory even merrily states that he has tried several times to find a way with no success. The worst punishment Ministry Men can get is to [[ReassignedToAntarctica be reassigned into the archives of the Outer Hebrides]].

** Mr. Crawley always forgets names of basic everyday things and calls them "Whats-Its-Names."

* WholeEpisodeFlashback: Majority of the episodes "A Back-dated Problem" and "The Fastest Brolly in the West" are spent on the two pairs of One and Two's ancestors, [[GenerationXerox who worked on the General Assistance Department]] during the Elizabethan era and the Wild West era, respectively.

* ComicallySmallBribe: When discussing how the Postman refused to give them back the letter they accidentally send to the wrong person, One credits the Postman's honesty, as he threw Two's five pence bribe to the gutter.

* DrunkWithPower: When Sir Gregory decides to go on an extended weekend he leaves Mr. Lamb in charge of a lot minor jobs that have to be done. Lamb, however, misunderstands his instructions and thinks Sir Gregory is retiring and making him the new Permanent undersecretary. He immediately turns into a ruthless tyrant forcing all staff of General Assistance Department to work 10+ hours a day and insults pretty much everyone within the Ministry within a few days.

-->'''Lennox-Brown''': Ah, but will they dare admit it? You didn't, I didn't, the Minister didn't. We were all afraid it was in some dispatch that we hadn't read. So we pretended we did know.

* LazyBum: The staff of General Assistance Department tends to avoid work at all costs, only completing it on the last minute.

* NotSoDire: One episode opens with One and Two talking about an alarming national catastrophe that's threatening the entire nation's pride. Then we find out they're talking about losing a cricket match to West Indies.

* DubNameChange: The Finnish version has a lot of these. Most notably from Sir Gregory to Sir Henry, Roland to Hannibal and Derryck to Roland. In addition, many of the episodes originally featuring Lenox-Brown were aired with Hammilton-Jones in his place, and the change was only made due [[TheCharacterDiedWithHim due the actor Kauko Helovirta's death in 1997]].

* EatingPetFood: When One and Two are hiding an animal in the office from Sir Gregory, Mr. Lamb is sometimes forced to eat the animal's food to fool Sir Gregory into thinking it's his breakfast/medicine.

* ExplosiveStupidity: When One and Two are trying to get to House of Parliament through the sewers [[spoiler:because the package Mr. Lamb left there during their inspection has been mistaken for a bomb]] and the area is sealed by police and military. In the sewers Lennox-Brown drops the flashlight in water, and Lamb [[spoiler:lights up a match to help, not realizing it'll lit the flammable gasses of the sewers.]]
* FailedAttemptAtDrama: When testing the new armored van for the Ministry, Mr. Lennox-Brown tries to sound serious:

* FailureGambit: In "Conference Trick", Lord Stilton and Sir Gregory send Lamb, Lennox-Brown and Mildred to Paris' international conference to buy pieces of Venus in hopes that they'll screw up and end up with nothing (They can't afford to have landowning-rights on Venus you see). [[spoiler:In this case it fails since the trio are so incompetent that they end up getting the whole planet, not to mention every other nation had the same idea.]]

''The Men from the Ministry'' is a radio Sitcom and a political satire produced by Creator/TheBBC which ran from 1962 to 1977, with one additional series made of re-recordings produced by BBC Transcription Services in 1980, which was never aired. This radio forerunner to the ''Series/YesMinister'' was created by Edward Taylor and starred Wilfrid Hyde-White and Richard Murdoch as civil servants Roland Hamilton-Jones (“One”) and Richard Lamb (“Two”), with the former leaving after two series and being replaced by Deryck Guyler's Deryck Lennox-Brown (Also referred to as “One”). Other characters of the show are the duo's secretary Mildred Murfin (Norma Ronald) and their rather tyrannical, self-centered boss and Permanent Under-secretary, Sir Gregory Pitkin (Roy Dotrice on the first two series, Ronald Badley third series onward).

* DependingOnTheWriter: Or episode, since Edward Taylor and John Graham wrote all episodes.
** While not a huge example, Hamilton-Jones's/Lennox-Brown's character varies a bit between episodes. For example, his fondness of Lamb can range from panicking after mistaking Lamm's antics for a suicide attempt, to being onboard with Sir Gregory's plan to let him launch a rocket which both believe would get him assassinated.

* SpeakFriendAndEnter: In the episode "Cheesed Off" offices are faced with an infestation of mice. Lennox-Brown suggests poisoning them (and in the Finnish version using [[TheresNoKillLikeOverkill high tech methods to get rid of them such as laser beams or ultrasonics]]). Mildred suggests a cat.

** Series 9, 10, 11 and 14 feature Mr. Crawey, an odd man from the neighboring office that has many quirks. In Series 12 and 13 he is absent and is replaced by Mr. Wilkins, an odd man from neighboring office with many quirks. The Finnish version [[CompositeCharacter simply makes them the same character.]]

* RememberTheNewGuy: Despite being AdaptedOut, April Adams appears in at least one Finnish episode. Oddly enough, said episode (The War with the Isle of Wight) ended up being one of the last scripts of the original BBC run to be translated into Finnish, a weird time to bring back a previously unheard character.

The show is set on the Ministry's “General Assistance Department,” an office that is designed to help other offices when they are overloaded with too much work. Typical episodes are centered around one or two assigments given by other offices. The staff of General Assistance Department are lazy and incompetent people determined to tangle in every bureaucratic thing, and HilarityEnsues: Assigments are mixed up, there are memos and letters that end up to the wrong people and misunderstandings resulting from communication problems. The result is usually complete chaos, ranging from traffic wardens ending up with ballerina outfits to the whole of Britain losing all physical currency.

Outside of its fifteen-year run in Britain the show had a version produced in Sweden by ''Svergies Radio'' (SR) in 1963-1971. From there a bunch of scripts ended up in the archieves of Finland's ''Yleisradio'' (YLE). A Finnish version was first produced in 1979 and [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff ended up being the third most popular radio show of the country, lasting for 30 years.]]

* AccidentalHero: During the arrest of couple of shop-owners in Hackney for ridiculously small irregularities in their products that go against the norms set out by EEC, General Assistance Department accidentally blows the cover of two Soviet spies, allowing [=MI5=] to catch them.

* AcidRefluxNightmare: When Mr. Lamb informs rest of the General Assistance Department that he has been made the new Permanent Under-Secretary (or so he thinks), Lennox-Brown assumes he's having a nightmare caused by the Stilton he had for lunch.

* AdaptationExpansion: All the original BBC-produced episodes of the were restricted to 25-30 minutes so scripts where sometimes cut heavily... however, YLE gave no such restrictions during the production of the Finnish version, leading to episodes being anywhere from 25 to 48 minutes, often featuring full versions of gags which where either partially or completely left out from the originals.
* AdaptationSpeciesChange: Finnish version of "Seal of Office" changes the episode's circus seal into a circus bear, since the plot requires it to be confused with something else via pun. In the original General Assistance Department wants seal for the envelope they are about to send into NATO headquarters, where as in the Finnish version they're waiting for a collection letter for their delayed payment on the shipment (collection letter is "karhukirje" in Finnish, literally meaning "bear letter").

* BadBoss[=/=]MeanBoss: Sir Gregory tends to be rather huge JerkAss to One and Two and often hit them on his anger.

* BungledSuicide: After loosing 600 000 pound win on the football pools, Mr. Lamb repeatedly attempts to hang himself on his braces, naturally failing because they're too elastic.
* CallingMeALogarithm: When assessing Mr. Lamb, Ministry's psychiatrist Dr. Schwein states that he has many latent aptitudes and unplunged propensities. Lamb immediately assumes that Schwein is insulting him, and Lennox-Brown has to tell him that Schwein is complementing him.
* CircularReasoning: How does Lamb remember the to read the notes on the blotter? He has a notebook in which he writes notes to look a the blotter. How does he remember to look at the notebook? He has a reminder on the blotter.
* ChristmasEpisode: There were three, Series 1's "The Magic Carpet" ([[MissingEpisode lost]] but fortunately re-recorded in Series 14 as "The Christmas Spirit"), a special episode "A Present For Norman" (that is completely lost) aired beetween the first two series and Series 3's "The Post Office Pantomine".
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: April Adams, General Assistance Department's second secretary, disspeared without a word after the first series, [[AdaptedOut and was replaced by Mr. Crawley/Wilkins and other characters in the 1980 re-recordings and the Finnish translations.]]

* DependingOnTheWriter:
** While not a huge example, Hamilton-Jones's character varies a bit between episodes. For example, his fondness of Lamm can range from panicing after mistaking Lamm's antics for a suicide attempt, to being onboard with Sir Gregory's plan to let him launch a rocket which both believe would get him assassinated.
** How self-serving and/or corrupt Lord Stilton is also varies, as sometimes he's onboard with Sir Gregory's morally questionable antics and sometimes he finds the appaling.

* DrunkWithPower: When Sir Gregory decides to go on an extended weekend he leaves Mr. Lamb in charge of a lot minor jobs that have to be done. Lamb however misunderstands his instructions and thinks Sir Gregory is retiring and making him the new Permanent undersecretary. He immediately turns into a ruthless tyrant forcing all staff of General Assistance Department work 10+ hours a day and insults pretty much everyone within the Ministry within few days.

** Inverted in the Finnish version of "The Finger of Suspicion" which includes an explanation to where exactly the discrepancy in the Ministry's funds came from: [[spoiler:Sir Calvin forgot that British money had been decimalised, and was still using [[UsefulNotes/OldBritishMoney the old counting system]]]].

* EpicFail: After ending up with surplus of 75 pence, Sir Gregory demands that it must be lost or else there will be budget cuts. General Assistance Department's attempt at getting rid of it ends up [[spoiler:with the surplus of 800 000 000 pounds.]]

* FailedAttemptAtDrama: When testing the new armored van for the Ministry, Mr. Lennox-Brown tries sound serious:
-->'''Lennox-Brown''': Lennox-Brown to base. Lennox-Brown to base. Van travelling eastwards. All systems roger. How do you read me?\\
'''Sir Gregory''': Like an extremely boring book. Cut out all that "roger"-nonesense.

* FauxAffablyEvil: Sir Gregory can sometimes be rather friendly when things go well, but it's always just a mask of his loathing of One and Two, and he'll make a 180 degree turn once things start to go downhill.

-->'''Sir Gregory''': You halfwitted idiots! Blundering buffoons! Icompetent monkeys!

* GoneHorriblyRight: When Lamb is being depressed by the utter boredom of his life, Mildred and Lennox-Brown decide to make him take dancing lessons so that he will find more joy in his life. He does find dancing very enjoyable, so much that he plans to quit his job in the Ministry and become professional dancer.

* HatDamage: Something happening to bowler hats is bit of a RunningGag in the show.
* HerrDoktor: Ministry's psychiatrist is a man called Dr. Schwein who speaks with a heavy german accent.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: One and Two, wile having the occasional arguments, are closest friends each other has.

* InformedAbility: Mr. Lamb is often described by the narrator as "an eager young executive". In the show proper he is just as lazy as every other civil servant of the Ministry.

** Mr. Lamb asked his landlady to charge less rent for the benefit of both of them. When Mildred questions how it brings help to her, Lamb says that in weeks he can't pay she looses less money.
** According to Sir Gregory, it is said that one person in four is mentally unstable. Therefore if you're in the bus and the nearest three people look sane, it must be you.

** Mrs. Bradby makes consistenly terrible food. At one point Lamb describes having shepherds pie and rhubarb custard... on the same plate.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The ChristmasEpisode "The Christmas Spirit" ends this way; the episode features One upsetting Santa and the main duo travelling to Christmas Land and escaping eventually on an magic carpet. The episode ends with [[AllJustADream Two awakening One from a sleep,]] but the carpet has appeared on Two's room...
* MistakenForDying: Lamb and Mildred end up thinking that Lennox-Brown is dying in episode "A Rotten System" after after hearing Ministry's doctor and engineer Lambry converse about heating system in Lennox-Brown's room [[OutOfContextEavesdropping out-of-context.]]

* MoustacheDePlume: In-Universe GenderFlip occurs in episode "A Problem Shared", where Lennox-Brown uses a pen name "Aunt Eveling" when answering an agony cloumn on staff magazine since he and the editor agreed that [[WomenAreWiser woman's advice are more acceptable.]]

* {{Nepotism}}: Sir Clive is explictly stated to be Lord Stilton's nephew.

** After Lennox-Brown and Lamb have an argument over the below-mentioned Stilton cheese purchase, he and Mr. Crawley hear Lennox-Brown and Mildred discussing about killing a mouse which pests the office, which they interpret as Lennox-Brown and Mildred trying to kill Lamb.
* PlayingBothSides: Mr. Lamb ''accidentally'' pulls this off in "Bringing the House Down" by first helping Mildred fight against City Council's attempt to re-house Mildred's family (since they want to clear the entire street and build a new office building in it's place) and then helping the City Council to force a stubborn family to leave. He never makes the connection because of his focus on cleaning the department office as well as general idiocy.

* RememberTheNewGuy: Despite being AdaptedOut, April Adams appears in at least one Finnish episode. Oddly enough, said episode (The War with the Isle of Wight) ended up being one of the last scripts to be translated into Finnish, a weird time to bring back a previously unheard character.

-->'''Sir Gregory''': Yes, I can see it from here. On the cover it says, "A report for the Homo secretary."[[note]]For those that don't get it, should say "Home Secretary", the senior Minister responsible for domestic issues.[[/note]]

* LethalChef: Mrs. Bradby makes consistenly terrible food. At one point Lamb describes having shepherds pie and rhubarb custard... on the same plate.

* CannotTellALie: Mr. Lamb by his only admission doesn't know how to lie.

* MoustacheDePlume: In-Universe GenderFlip occurs in episode "A Problem Shared", where Lennox-Brown uses a pen name "Aunt Eveling" when answering an agony cloumn on staff magazine, since he and the editor agreed that [[WomenAreWiser woman's advice are more acceptable.]]

* NotSoDire: One episode opens with One and Two talking about an alarming national catastrophe that's threatening entire nation's pride. Then we find out they're talking about losing a cricket match to West Indies.

* OneDialogueTwoConversations: During an episode of tv program ''Panorama'' dedicated entirely on the Civil Service Sir Gregory is being interviewed on Ministry's Hospitality budgets. However due to mistake caused by the General Assistance Department the Interviewer Robin Gay thinks he is interviewing Sir Gregory about sex in the civil service. The result is as hilarious as you think:

* PlayingBothSides: Mr. Lamb ''accidentally'' pulls this off in "Bringing the House Down" by first helping Mildred fight against City Council's attempt to re-house Mildred's family (since they want to clear the entire street and build a new office building in it's place) and then helping the City Council to force a stubborn family to leave. He never makes the connection because his focus on cleaning the department office as well as general idiocy.
* QuintessentialBritishGentleman: One and Two fit this trope to a T, with their bowler hats, pin-striped trousers and umbrellas.
* ReadingTheStageDirectionsOutLoud: In episode "Getting it Taped" Mr. Lamb appears in an amateur play:

** Sir Clive (Replaces Sir Gregory in the Finnish version following actor Yrjö Järvinen's retirement) differs from his predecessor by his voice, he has an affair with a different secrerary, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking and has a poodle.]]

-->'''Mr. Lamb''': If you think think I'm going to Sir Gregory's office you're quite wrong!

* TheTelevisionTalksBack: When listening a horse race from the radio all the sudden the speaker informs that horse My Wotsit (which everyone thought was going to lose) starts to moving up. Lamb says that they said that My Wotsit didn't have a chance, which the speaker replies that he was wrong in his earlier statement about My Wotsit's chances.

* WentToTheGreatXInTheSky: Dying is often used with an euphemism of "Going to the Great Ministry in the Sky."

* WhosOnFirst: "The Great Trouser Troubles" has a lot of fun with this with the China's ambassador Hu Flang.

* SeaMine: The episode "The Thing on the Beach" revolves around a sea mine on an English beach-resort that Mr. Lamb [[BombDisposal is forced to diffuse]].

* RememberTheNewGuy: Despite being AdaptedOut, April Adams appears in at least one Finnish episode. Oddly enough, said episode includes both Lennox-Brown and Sir Henry, meaning it was recorded somewhere between 1998 to early 2000, a weird time to bring back a previously unheard character.

* SpotOfTea: One and Two love tea beyond anything as the British gentlemen they are.* SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute:

* StrikeEpisode: After tea and coffee drinking in the Ministry is completely forbidden by Sir Gregory, all of the civil servants go on a strike to get tea breaks back. It takes three weeks for anyone to notice anything.
* SuspiciosuslySpecificDenial: Mr. Lamb does this often when he has something to hide.