Paul Eddington lets a pleased man become an uncertain one without losing our sympathy. In Yes Minister, his small reactions keep Jim Hacker worth caring about, even when Nigel Hawthorne has the more elaborate lines.
Fi1m perspective
Watch Jim Hacker looking pleased with himself in Yes Minister (1980), then beginning to doubt whether he has followed the conversation. Eddington lets both feelings show, without making the change into a separate joke. We felt for Hacker when his satisfaction gave way to uncertainty, because Eddington makes his wish to look competent so recognisable. He allows us to enjoy the man's vanity without treating every attempt at authority as proof that he is an idiot. That sympathy is a large part of why the exchanges keep working.
The route to that performance included supporting television work, with Cobb in The Prisoner (1967), and Richard Eaton in the horror film The Devil Rides Out (1968). Those credits are a useful reminder that the familiar sitcom figure was not his only employment. The Good Life (1975), in which he played Jerry Leadbetter alongside Penelope Keith, brought the breakthrough and gave his likeability and precise timing a more prominent place. By Yes Minister, those qualities could help an outmanoeuvred man remain engaging through a comedy built around difficult conversations.
Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn supply the elaborate language, but Eddington does essential work while Nigel Hawthorne's Sir Humphrey Appleby is speaking. Hawthorne can make a less and less useful answer sound reasonable; Eddington shows what it costs Hacker to keep up. We give Hawthorne the edge for sheer comic pleasure, yet his composure would be much less funny opposite a man whose confusion meant nothing to us. Eddington's responses give the speeches their rhythm and keep the scene from becoming one actor delivering a polished exercise in evasion.
The caveat with Yes Minister is that its comic habits become familiar, even with these performances. Eddington and his colleagues keep the exchanges worth hearing, but the writing cannot surprise indefinitely. He continued as Hacker in Yes, Prime Minister (1986). Start with Yes Minister, and watch Eddington when Hawthorne is talking.
Biography
Paul Eddington was an English actor. He played Cobb in the 1967 series The Prisoner and Jim Hacker in the BBC sitcoms Yes Minister (1980–1984) and Yes, Prime Minister (1986–1988). He was also known for the role of Jerry Leadbetter in The Good Life (1975–1978).
Eddington began his career in theatre and repertory productions before appearing on television in the 1950s, with roles in series including The Adventures of Robin Hood. He received the CBE in 1987 for services to drama. He died in London on 4 November 1995.
