ANTHONY Jay and Jonathan Lynn are immortalised in the television Hall of Fame as creators of Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, which together ran for 37 episodes between 1980 and 1988. Jonathan Lynn took up the parliamentary quill again in 2023 for a “last hurrah” originally entitled I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, I Can’t Quite Remember,” and after a bit of tweaking a second version was so successful (now with a London theatre and national tour) that a prequel has been created – something that allows a wickedly funny look at the timeless essence of the politicians who govern our country.
The new Yes, Prime Minister, on at The Barn Theatre until 3rd October, is set at Chequers, at some time between 1990 and now and shamelessly cherry-picking Blackberries and other items for supremely comic effect. Prime Minister Jim Hacker’s parliamentary future is in jeopardy – a conference he has unwisely convened is heading for stalemate, the economy is in crisis, the voters are revolting and it will take all Sir Humphrey’s skills, contacts and subterfuges to rescue the situation.
The PM now has a trendy special adviser called Claire Sutton, and she knows she has the academic heft and street cred to outwit Sir Humphrey … hmmm. Bernard is still waiting in the wings, quoting Latin and bearing the brunt.
A plan has been hatched (and don’t miss the pipeline map!) but it depends on American money. When the visiting Secretary of State, a guest at Chequers, asks for some very specific female company, the future of the country (and the PM) is suddenly thrown into a moral crisis. It all sounds awfully familiar, and much funnier for that.
Jay Villiers captures Hacker’s astonishing (is it?) ignorance, panic and bombast to perfection, and of course there is applause when Sir Humphrey, (gleefully played by Clive Hayward) launches into one of his breath-defying diatribes. Ruth Gibson’s Claire hits all the right notes as the accomplished but inexperienced advisor, and William Owen IS Bernard a few years on.
Yes, Prime Minister is often howlingly funny, casting its net wide over the news stories of recent years and throwing in references that draw titters from the enraptured audience.
It’s well worth the trip to Cirencester, or Bath, or wherever it hopefully will continue to tour. Another triumph for The Barn, where it runs until 3rd October, and moves on to Bath Theatre Royal from 6th to 10th October.
GP-W
A personal thanks: I could not have been more delighted to hear both the PM and Sir Humphrey pronounce “leverage” in the correct way, leeverage, rather than the now obligatory short-e version. When was the last time you tried to “lever” (short-e) something open. I believe the now-popular pronunciation can only be something to do with the fulcrum provided by a young hare.