Writers: Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn

Director: Jonathyn Lynn

Reviewer: Selwyn Knight

The Public Reviews Rating:

Many people of a certain age (and, I’ll confidently wager, most of the audience of “Yes, Prime Minister” fell into that category) will, like me, recall “Yes, Prime Minister” as a staple of the BBC’s output, reputedly the favourite programme of Mrs Thatcher herself. The excellent writing and inimitable performances of Paul Eddington, Nigel Hawthorne and Derek Fowlds are engraved on our memories. And here the original writers revisit those characters and bring them up to date: running a coalition government and trying to deal with worldwide recession, global warming, the Eurozone and all the other current issues.

Then action takes place over a weekend at Chequers. The Prime Minister, Jim Hacker, has called a conference to address the issues faced by Europe and the collective deficit. This venture seems doomed to failure. Then enter an unlikely potential saviour in the form of the oil-rich country of Kumranistan. They are willing to give a massive loan and to transport oil to Europe via a pipeline avoiding Russia, in return for certain concessions. Sir Humphrey, of course, is not totally transparent when he briefs the Prime Minister on the likely concessions, but the PM has an ally in the form of his Special Policy Adviser, Claire Sutton. All seems to be well until a delegate from Kumranistan makes morally reprehensible demands after he is treated, in his eyes, disrespectfully, by Bernard Woolley. Much of the action centres around how this should be dealt with and whether the greater good can excuse it. Eventually, of course, Sir Humphrey comes up with a solution that sidesteps the problem and allows the Prime Minister to appear to save the world and himself to remain on the Gravy Train for years to come.

Michael Simkins, as Sir Humphrey, has just the right amount of bluster and pomposity. He has mastered Sir Humphrey’s circumlocutory style of exposition when addressing the PM. He is essentially self-serving and reads the writing on the wall when the PM threatens a new Civil Service act that might impact on his pension. However, Graham Seed’s Hacker is something of a disappointment. He is rather too needy and weak. One of the joys of the TV series came when Sir Humphrey was occasionally outmanoeuvred by Hacker but we hardly saw any evidence of that. This was compounded as he frequently stumbled over lines which disturbed the smooth flow. Clive Hayward gives a creditable performance as Bernard Woolley, a man wrestling with his conscience as he tries to serve Hacker, the greater good and Sir Humphrey. However, the other performances are curiously flat and even the addition of Polly Maberly’s Claire Sutton, the glamorous, practical and loyal Special Policy Adviser, does not lift things. Indeed, the middle section, when Hacker, Woolley and Sutton are trying to find a way of dealing with the request of the Kumranistani Foreign Secretary is rather too long and makes for a stodgy pace.

Undoubtedly, fans of the show will find much to enjoy. The interplay between Sir Humphrey and Hacker is generally humorous and effective. The tensions between the civil servants and Sutton are sketched well. It is certainly entertaining, but, sadly, not a great tribute to the truly incomparable original.

Runs until: 11 February 2012

 

Yes, Prime Minister - Belgrade Theatre , Coventry, 2.5 out of 5 based on 4 ratings

Tags: Antony Jay, Belgrade Theatre, Clive Hayward, Coventry, Graham Seed, Jonathan Lynn, Michael Simkins, Polly Maberly, Yes Prime Minister