Good videos, with context.
Welcome to the Private Police | A Bit of Fry and Laurie | BBC

Welcome to the Private Police | A Bit of Fry and Laurie | BBC

BBC Studios
0 HN recommenders · discussed 2010–2025
Open YouTube ↗

About this video

A short Fry and Laurie sketch in which a man returns from vacation to find his local police station has been privatized, with paid tiers of service. It satirizes privatization of public services.

Why it appears in the archive

HN commenters use it as a joking reference when discussing privatization, outsourcing and absurd bureaucracy.

AI-generated summary and labels from the source dataset; verify important details against the video. Source & credits.

From the Hacker News discussion

jamii · 2010-08 · joke

This is what the USA looks like from socialist-land (aka Britain): [VIDEO] Whilst the idea of the government paying for healthcare may seem ridiculous to you it seems just as ridiculous to us that you might be ill and not be able to afford treatment.

Read original comment ↗
parennoob · 2014-10 · joke

Having used some of the best and worst public transport systems in India, I wish they would consider their passengers customers. Most of the times, people who run public transport systems where their jobs are guaranteed treat you like an annoyance to be somehow tolerated, and often yelled at. I guess there is a golden median between that and something like this ( [VIDEO] ).

Read original comment ↗
roywiggins · 2016-06 · joke

You can't sell yourself into chattel slavery even if you are an "expert." For good reason. Either you allow those sorts of contracts or you acknowledge that some contracts are unconscionable. Being able to opt out of the legal system would result in private "security" forces with the legal right to hold you upside down by the ankles and shake until you pay up (but, hey, the interest rate was better than the payday loan company that didn't make you sign away your rights, so you took the one with the opt-out). The result would be something out of "Snow Crash." Or a TV sketch: [VIDEO]

Read original comment ↗
heurisko · 2022-07 · joke

They qualify their usage of business-speak: > Our growth strategy is obviously not about making profit, but we are a small team at the centre of government and we need to make sure our people and our money are focused on services that have the biggest reach and the most impact. It's not quite Fry and Laurie yet. "Oh, you have shares in the Royal Family?" [VIDEO]

Read original comment ↗
KingOfCoders · 2025-03 · joke

The plan is to have no government agencies at all, but to have private companies run everything, like jokingly in this Fry and Laurie sketch [VIDEO]

Read original comment ↗