21 Facts About Humphrey Appleby

Humphrey Appleby was played originally by Sir Nigel Hawthorne, and both on stage and in a television adaptation of the stage show by Henry Goodman in a new series of Yes, Prime Minister.

Sir Humphrey was educated at Winchester College and Baillie College, Oxford, where he read literae humaniores and received a first.

Humphrey Appleby is recommended for a KBE award early on in the series in "The Official Visit".

Humphrey Appleby's holidays were probably spent walking in the Lake District and, occasionally, sailing in Lymington.

The fifth and final volume makes it explicit that Sir Humphrey Appleby is dead, and thanks his widow for her cooperation.

Politico's Book of the Dead states that Sir Humphrey Appleby died in 2001.

Sir Humphrey Appleby has been appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire and a Member of the Royal Victorian Order.

Sir Humphrey Appleby is a master of obfuscation and manipulation, often making long-winded statements to confuse and fatigue the listener.

Humphrey Appleby is even once heard singing, "We shall not be moved", to himself when unleashing a rabid left-wing labour union leader against his Minister's plans for replacing the civil servants filling out red tape all day in a London hospital with no actual doctors, nurses, and patients.

Humphrey Appleby often conceals vital documents underneath mammoth piles of papers and reports, strategically appoints allies to supposedly impartial boards, or offers to set up an interdepartmental committee to indefinitely block his Minister's proposals, and occasionally outright lying.

Humphrey Appleby genuinely believes that the Civil Service knows what the average person needs and is the most qualified body to run the country.

Sir Humphrey Appleby is on the board of governors of the National Theatre and attends many of the gala nights of the Royal Opera House.

Humphrey Appleby's interests extend to cricket, theatre, classical music, and the arts.

In Yes Minister, Sir Humphrey Appleby maintains a civil and outwardly deferential but fundamentally adversarial relationship with his new minister, Jim Hacker.

When keeping Hacker busy is not sufficient to prevent him from proposing new policy, Sir Humphrey Appleby is not above deceiving or even blackmailing him.

Humphrey Appleby has a slightly more amicable relationship with his subordinate, the Minister's Principal Private Secretary, Bernard Woolley.

Humphrey Appleby is married, although his wife plays virtually no role in either series and is only seen once: next to him in bed in the Series One episode "Big Brother".

Jonathan Lynn wrote in his book Comedy Rules that Sir Humphrey Appleby was named after a friend of his at Cambridge, Humphrey Appleby Barclay.

Sir Humphrey Appleby was voted the 45th greatest comedy character in Channel 4's 2007 "The World's Greatest Comedy Characters" poll.

Humphrey Appleby was voted 31st in a poll of "100 Greatest TV Characters", on Channel 4.

The sketches were written by Jay and Lynn, and Sir Humphrey Appleby was played by Henry Goodman.