"The Grand Design" is the first episode of the BBC comedy series Yes, Prime Minister, first broadcast 9 January 1986. It follows on directly from the Yes Minister Christmas special, "Party Games".

It is a classic satire on Cold War era nuclear policy, with quotations from this episode appearing in sources ranging from books on the Cold War and collections of political quotations, to an exhibit in the National Cold War Exhibition at the Royal Air Force Museum, Cosford.

Jim Hacker has recently become Prime Minister. With several of his officials, Sir Humphrey Appleby among them, he visits the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall. General Howard shows the PM the nuclear button. He tells him that there is a hotline in 10 Downing Street that can “theoretically” get him through to the Kremlin in an emergency, though it’s not tested frequently, as it creates unnecessary panic at the Soviet end. The United Kingdom is about to purchase Trident missiles from the United States (US), and Hacker finds it difficult to take in the magnitude of the decision he would have to make in such a situation, but is told that by comparison, conventional forces are prohibitively expensive.

Back in Downing Street, Hacker is mulling over his options for defence policy and Bernard Woolley, his Principal Private Secretary, advises him. It seems that NATO’s forces are largely unpredictable and most modern nuclear weapon systems, such as Trident and Cruise missiles, are initially undependable as the warheads don’t fit the rockets. Bernard explains that for the most part, the UK is still reliant on defence technology designed during World War II. Hacker seeks a way to boost conventional forces, and the civil servant urges him to speak with the government’s Chief Scientific Advisor.

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