“Man Overboard” is the ninth episode of the BBC comedy series Yes, Prime Minister and was first broadcast 3 December 1987. It satirises the Westland affair, which took place the previous year.

The Employment Secretary has come up with a plan to relocate up to 300,000 service personnel from the south to the north of England. The idea is that setting up new bases in the north will create many civilian jobs in such things as maintenance and administration and boost the local economy.

The Ministry of Defence is thrown into turmoil. There are few strategic arguments against the move, in fact, militarily, it does make sense. The main objection is that senior officers and their wives will be denied such pleasures as Wimbledon, Ascot, Henley, and Harrods.

Sir Humphrey Appleby, Britain's top civil servant, agrees that the scheme must be blocked on these grounds but since there are no strategic or economic objections to the plan he decides that it would be better to cast doubt on the loyalty of the Employment Secretary towards the Prime Minister.

The PM, Jim Hacker, chairs a cabinet committee on the subject, and all present are in favour of the proposal, save for the Defence Secretary, whose department stands to undergo enormous upheaval if it goes ahead. The Employment Secretary is delighted at the majority decision and specifically requests that it is reflected in the minutes. Afterwards, Sir Humphrey stays behind and discusses the plan with the PM. Hacker knows that the defence chiefs object on purely social grounds, but, by claiming his own support for the idea, Sir Humphrey proceeds to praise the Employment Secretary profusely and remark on his general popularity within the government party and the country at large. Thus, the Cabinet Secretary successfully sows the seeds of doubt in Hacker’s mind. The PM asks to see the Chief Whip immediately.

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