Yes, Prime Minister

First, the piece has been made topical in a way that could not fail to resonate. Prime Minister Jim Hacker has just been re-elected, but with a minority government that has forced him into a coalition, and the world is gripped by financial crisis. Cabinet Secretary, Sir Humphrey Appleby, however, is delighted because he was largely responsible for what went into the coalition agreement, and hence can exert much control. As we hear him report this, and witness how this old school brand of career civil servant is still able to wield his power, we realise that perhaps not that much has changed after all.

The success is also down to the brilliant writing of Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, who have reproduced many of the elements that made the series so memorable. The convoluted explanations Sir Humphrey spouts are as strong as ever, while once again the audience is provided with key lessons in how government operates. Such commentaries are, as always, hooked onto a conventional plot with a beginning, middle and end, but the temper is altered just enough to ensure that our attention is held for far longer than the standard thirty minutes. For example, there is a greater degree of ‘laugh-out-loud’ farce which, at times, makes the Prime Minister feel like Basil Fawlty and the play like Michael Frayn’s Donkeys' Years. But Lynn and Jay know when to insert these elements and when to rein them back, so that the work is always genuinely funny and never goes too far.

The cast is also excellent. As Sir Humphrey, Henry Goodman does not create a carbon copy of Nigel Hawthorne, but he maintains a lot of the individual elements - the air of superiority, the raised eyebrow and the wave of the hand - that made the original character so memorable. In contrast, David Haig is a far more aggressive and highly charged Prime Minister than Paul Eddington, but he still hits the mark because the key elements underlying his relationship with the Cabinet Secretary are retained. Jonathan Slinger, who following his portrayals of Richard II and Richard III for the Royal Shakespeare Company is more used to stealing shows outright, also does well as the third character, Bernard Woolley, rubbing his neck, scratching his ear and very much making Jim’s Principal Private Secretary the conscience of the piece.

It is sad that the relationship between Sir Humphrey and the PM’s Special Policy Advisor (Emily Joyce) is not exploited more. The greater emergence of institutions to support the Prime Minister in recent decades, of which she is a part, should surely have heightened the animosity between this pair, and yet there proves to be less than between the Cabinet Secretary and Jim’s Special Advisor in the original series.

But it is not often that a play that can be described as clever, nostalgic, topical and downright hilarious. If the television programmes are already classed as classics, this play has every right to join their ranks. It deserves a long run, and I am sure it will enjoy one.

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