- Radio Times
- Review by:
- Alison Graham
It’s 24 years since Yes, Prime Minister was last on our screens but, along with Fawlty Towers, it’s probably the most fondly remembered of all British sitcoms. Doubtless fans will come to this updating by original writers Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay carrying big bags of goodwill.
But political satire has changed in those intervening years, everyone’s a critic and politicians are routinely savaged on social networking sites. And we’ve had The Thick of It, which attacked government and opposition with equal comic ferocity.
So all of this makes Yes, Prime Minister seem the most gentle and polite of comedies. There are no hard edges, just knowing winks and gags about Greek bail-outs. Its good manners feel dated, but luckily it is saved by the peerless David Haig and Henry Goodman as hapless PM Jim Hacker and suave cabinet secretary Sir Humphrey.
About this programme
1/6. Modern update of the classic political comedy. Jim Hacker's coalition government is in crisis, while he also has to contend with hosting a eurozone summit at Lancaster House. However, an unlikely saviour is at hand. David Haig plays the embattled PM, with Henry Goodman as Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby and Chris Larkin as Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley.
Cast and crew
Cast
- Jim Hacker
- David Haig
- Sir Humphrey Appleby
- Henry Goodman
- Bernard Woolley
- Chris Larkin
- Claire Sutton
- Zoe Telford
- Simon Chester
- Tim Wallers
- Reporter
- Chandrika Chevli
- Newsreader
- Sophie Raworth
- Weatherman
- Chris Fawkes
Crew
- Director
- Gareth Gwenlan
- Producer
- Gareth Gwenlan
- Writer
- Antony Jay
- Writer
- Jonathan Lynn
- Share this episode
-