Hello, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Discs archive.

For rights reasons, we've had to shorten the music.

The program was originally broadcast in 1986, and the presenter was Michael Parkinson. It was once said of our castaway that he spent the first 20 years of his career being ignored

and the next 10 being discovered. It took one television program, yes minister, to make him

in the words of the old showbiz joke, an overnight success after 30 years in the business.

The part of the devious civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby has one in both critical and popular acclaim.

In short, he's become a star. He is Nigel Hawthorne.

Nigel, did you ever imagine when you read the script of Yes Minister for the first time that it would

so transform your life?

No, I don't think so because I think when I read the script and

we did one to start with it was a pilot. I was very aware of the quality of the

writing. I never thought it would go and certainly Paul and I when we discussed

it, thought it was just a one-off anyway and we didn't know until we were about four days into rehearsal

that the BBC was going to make a series of it and I don't

think they decided. So I certainly didn't think that. It did transform my life but

because it's been done so gradually you know we don't do one a year, we do one every so often

when the writers really feel that they have something to say.

So it hasn't really taken over my life as such, but it is the thing that people know me for.

It must have changed to the extent that you become recognised in the street now after years

of being fairly non-imous in your

craft and I suppose also too it's opened up all kinds of other offers

I suppose yes and the danger is that people offer you the same sort of yes a

...