It links, for example, "The Help," Tate Taylor's mild and decorous look at master-servant relations in Mississippi in the early 1960s (based on Kathryn Stockett's novel), with "Django Unchained,"Quentin Tarantino's violent and profane (if no less fantastical) examination of the same subject in the same state a little more than a century before.
The Defence Secretary, Dr Liam Fox, is considered to have done well in his struggle with the Treasury, but senior civil servants say relations with Downing Street have become frayed.
(Franklin Roosevelt opposed this on the grounds that public servants had "special relations" and "special obligations" to the government and the rest of the public).
Loosely connected around the family of an elderly landowner, KK Harouni, the stories tell of servants and poor relations navigating the whims of their patrons with a mixture of mercantile calculation and surprising love.
It added that within DECC there is a senior civil servant responsible for managing relations with independent suppliers, to give them the opportunity to discuss concerns and shape policy developments.
The reform also implies potentially significant changes for the civil service and civil servants, particularly in relation to contact with opposition parties.
The disabled Roosevelt (Bill Murray), whom they see being carried to his office by a servant, seems to be having relations with at least two women who are not his wife: his secretary, Missy LeHand Elizabeth Marvell), and his distant cousin Daisy Suckley Laura Linneyy).
Does not a promise to protect the Constitution of the United States take precedence over whatever relations a public servant has with a lobbying group?
Ministers have been urged to be more careful about who they appoint as special advisers to ensure smoother working relations with civil servants and avoid resignation situations worthy of The Thick of It.
Cameron has said that he enjoys good relations with his civil servants.
Relations between senior civil servants and Downing Street are at an all-time low, with both sides engaged in a bitter blame game.
