Talk:Open Government (Yes Minister)

Template discussion

As this is the first episode, and as such forms a template for all the others, all views are welcome on how it can be improved before I or anyone else attempts any more. I created Template:Infobox UK Television Episode by adapting Template:Infobox television episode in order to change some of the terminology from US to British (e.g., "season" vs. "series"). The basic components of the article are a plot summary, cast list, single quote (or dialogue exchange) and any trivia. Please feel free to contribute. Chris 42 02:00, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Looking good. We'll need to add something about how the pilot was shot before the General Election, but they were afraid it could influence results. We might be able to dig deeper into this that we do on the main page.

I'm not so sure about forking with the new infobox, although I do very much agree on your sentiments about the US-centric terminology. "Series" seems to be the only such e.g. in the info box... I'm tempted just to swallow my pride and go with the main one. The JPS^{talk to me} 10:49, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

The other reason I changed the infobox is because in the original version the "Director" field is mandatory, yet the YM episodes only received a Producer credit. "Airdate" is also another US term I changed. Chris 42 11:44, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Rights -- fair enough. Cool. The JPS^{talk to me} 12:07, 3 September 2006 (UTC)

Just as a reminder before anyone wishes to add chapter and verse to these articles, the aim is that each paragraph (usually) corresponds to one scene and is supposed to be a summary of that scene. I know it's tempting to add bits here and there and I have tried to strike a balance between communicating the essential plot and quoting memorable fragments of dialogue. To that end, most so far have come in at a similar length (with the exception of "The Challenge", which I hope is nevertheless "pared to the bone", to use an Applebyism). Regarding the "Quote" section, the template does not lend itself to multiple quotes, as the inverted commas appear in different places according to the line length, and in any case are designed to enhance a single block of text. There will be arguments, I'm sure, concerning which should be selected from each episode, but if we go down the road of multiple quotes, experience has shown me that sooner or later you end up with an entire transcript, which ends up being moved to Wikiquote. While I of course welcome any improvements to these articles, please try and keep in mind each one's place within "YM on Wikipedia" to ensure a uniform approach. Thanks. (Postscript: as of today I'm about to embark on "The Whisky Priest", which marks the half-way point.) Chris 42 11:58, 20 September 2006 (UTC)

Title sequence

The DVD release uses a different one from the rest of the series but I think I've seen the more familiar one on repeats - was it tacked on to make the series more uniform? (A lot of BBC DVDs seem to go back to the original versions of the programmes, regardless of later title sequence changes.) Timrollpickering 18:09, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it was added to later repeats and the relevant section within the main Yes Minister article mentions this. Chris 42 21:00, 25 March 2007 (UTC)