I’m Sorry, Prime Minister reviews round-up – Starring Griff Rhys Jones & Clive Francis

"Yes Minister returns to tackle dementia, trigger warnings and the woke brigade"

"Griff Rhys Jones and Clive Francis revive Hacker and Sir Humphrey in a topical farewell that probes a changing Britain"

"One of the funniest and best-loved BBC sitcoms of the 1980s is back"

"National treasure Griff Rhys Jones is a hoot as Jim Hacker, while Clive Francis is great value opposite him. While not in the same league as the original, it is an enjoyable, nostalgic coda – oddly topical and surprisingly poignant, too."

"Directing the show, Lynn – who co-wrote the series with Antony Jay – has cooked up a spicy scenario."

"While it helps to be steeped in the series, the piece stands alone as a witty meditation on contemporary Britain that’s unexpectedly even-handed."

"... there is something winning about Rhys Jones’s portrayal, which sees him hobbling madly about, boggling for Britain in exasperation"

"Hacker and Sir Humphrey return as baffled but charming old codgers"

"Jonathan Lynn’s farewell to the beloved parliamentary sitcom casts Griff Rhys Jones as ex-PM Jim Hacker, making one last call on his wily consigliere"

"Death comes to us all but, slightly before it, so too does that period when no one’s certain whether you’re still around. “I’m not dead,” splutters Griff Rhys Jones’s Jim Hacker in this Yes, Prime Minister reboot. “I’m in the House of Lords!”"

"... in Jonathan Lynn’s elegiac swansong for his well-loved sitcom duo, Hacker calls upon his old consigliere Sir Humphrey to rescue him from trouble one last time."

"Its ambition, as Hacker’s care worker Sophie telegraphs by quoting Shelley’s Ozymandias, is to examine the mighty once they have fallen."

"At its worst, it’s less a play than a vehicle for Lynn and his characters to discourse, not very insightfully, on trigger warnings and safe spaces."

"Rhys Jones and Clive Francis as Sir Humphrey are a treat"

"... Lynn’s perspective is arresting on age, irrelevance and their levelling effects – and the characters’ company is as charming as ever."

"Jim Hacker in the age of woke"

"Jonathan Lynn presents us with a gentle comedy that only occasionally rekindles the ultra-sharp satire of his classic sitcom collaboration with Antony Jay"

"In what’s billed as the final chapter in the politician’s progress on the Establishment’s greasy pole, Jonathan Lynn presents us with a gentle comedy that only occasionally rekindles the ultra-sharp satire of his classic sitcom collaboration with Antony Jay."

"The production at the Apollo lands a little more briskly than the version premiered at The Barn in Cirencester in 2023, thanks to the presence of Griff Rhys Jones, who gives Hacker an extra layer of dufferish imbecility."

"... Lynn and his co-director Michael Gyngell keep the humour simmering gently as Rhys Jones potters around Lee Newby’s convincingly cluttered, book-lined set, and Francis has fun with the stairlift."

"If the storyline doesn’t really go anywhere, the audience still gave a cheer whenever Sir Humphrey launched into one of his wheezy, multi-syllable bouts of obfuscation. Memories of a perfect TV show came flooding back."

"Griff Rhys Jones stars in the disarmingly elegiac final chapter of the ‘Yes, Minister’ saga"

"If the TV series... took aim at the state of British politics, that feels more like window dressing here. Yes, there are some funny takedowns of Brexit and the crassly self-serving nature of the modern political class, but these don’t feel hugely new. Instead, where the play works best is the elegiac tone it strikes. Beneath the wit is a warning: be careful of reaping what you’ve sown."

"A blustering Rhys Jones is amusing as Hacker"

"But Humphrey is the truly compelling character here... Francis delivers his lines with the same acidly snobby, guillotine-sharp dryness as Nigel Hawthorne did as Humphrey in the TV series but strikingly mixed with flashes of anger and frailty. "

"What works less well is Lynn’s attempts to confront Hacker and Humphrey with today’s landscape of de-colonisation, no-platforming and campus protests."

"Amuses despite the misplaced star casting"

"The much-loved TV classic is given a stage sequel by original co-writer Jonathan Lynn, which has fine moments but suffers from a miscasting"

"Here we have a baggy, old-fashioned stage finale to a 46-year-old political sitcom that amuses despite the misplaced star casting of Griff Rhys Jones in the role of ex-Prime Minister Jim Hacker."

"... in stark contrast to the sharp timing and comic physical precision of Clive Francis as Hacker’s sparring partner, former cabinet secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby."

"Jonathan Lynn’s script is as much about the loss of agency, influence and company in old age as it is about making fun of political old farts and the sensitivities of the young."

"If this swansong is slapdash and indulgent, he’s surely earned the right to it."

"... Lynn is brave (or old and therefore zero-f*ck-giving) enough to make jokes about dementia, incontinence and loneliness, issues that don’t just loom for political leaders and Whitehall mandarins, but which rarely get talked about on stage. And he knows how to write a set-up and a punchline."

"I'm Sorry, Prime Minister packs a surprisingly poignant punch"

"Jonathan Lynn reunites Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby to reckon with fading power and familial relationships"

"In what is billed as the “final chapter”, Lynn (Jay died in 2016) now updates us on the duo deep into their respective retirements – and the result is more elegiac and emotive than we might have been expecting."

"... as the first half plodded along more than somewhat laboriously, I feared that the whole venture would prove to be nothing more than a shoo-in for those who like to harrumph about the absurdities of young people “nowadays” with their “woke nonsense”."

"Sir Humphrey is as smooth and sharp as ever and Francis makes neat work of his trademark, dauntingly long and wordy speeches."

"It is poignant to watch these two old men with withered power, money worries and no meaningful emotional connections in their lives; all those years of political machinations meant that scant time was left to nurture family relationships."

"The ending, engineered by clever Sophie, packs a surprising punch and thus time’s whirligig enfolds even the all-conquering Sir Humphrey."

"Affectionate portrait and a fond farewell”"

"Jonathan Lynn’s final instalment of the comedies is a witty, wistful and still-relevant satire"

"Providing a bittersweet coda to the much-loved political satire, this thoughtful comedy from series co-creator Jonathan Lynn reflects wistfully on the fleeting nature of power and the brevity of life."

"The script is typically witty and wordy, built around a series of extended conversations that touch on a range of hot-button topics"

"Lynn and co-director Michael Gyngell ensure that these debates never become too heated. The play’s pacing is languid and the energy dips during long, static conversations, but Lynn and Gyngell balance out the cerebral dialogue with plenty of sight gags and lightly farcical moments."

"Stealing every scene, Clive Francis’ Sir Humphrey is poised, astute, yet fragile."

"... Jones’ warm, playful performance keeps him just on the right side of obnoxious. Ultimately, this is an affectionate portrait and a fond farewell to the familiar characters in their last years."

"I'm sorry, Prime Minister, you're out of power - and out of wit"

"... I'm Sorry, Prime Minister stars a grizzled Griff Rhys Jones as the doddery ex-PM Jim Hacker, alongside the exquisite Clive Francis as Sir Humphrey Appleby, his former senior civil servant."

"We are left in a low-stakes fug, buried under an electric blanket of humorous nostalgia."

"Rhys Jones deploys the intellectual acuity of the grunting farmer in Shaun The Sheep. 'I'm not dead, I'm in the House of Lords!' remains his best joke. But the funniest moments belong to Francis – with a little help from the phone on vibrate in his trouser pocket."

"There are some interesting themes bubbling away in this... but centrally, it feels like an elongated howl against the dying of the light."

"There are, as one would expect from original series writer Jonathan Lynn... a smattering of decent bon mots"

"But much of it comes over like an extended and clumsy attempt to work through a list of hot-button issues"

"The cast, which also includes William Chubb as a college mandarin, work hard nevertheless, with Francis shining particularly brightly as Sir Humphrey with the gloves off (he’s dropped the p’s and q’s since retirement). But they’re fighting an uphill battle with material that feels more of a disappointing coda than a fond farewell."

"The Yes Minister universe has finally lost the plot"

"Johnathan Lynn’s trilogy of sitcom-to-stage adaptations culminates in a slow, implausible satire of modern politics and the age of ‘woke’"

"This is the messy world of I’m Sorry, Prime Minister... which vividly captures what it feels like to lose the power you spent your whole life chasing. It’s undeniably poignant. But ultimately, its directionless satire of woke politics doesn’t just lose the plot – it forgets it was meant to be looking for one."

"At least it’s hard to be offended by Hacker’s seemingly ghastly views when they’re so clearly just laziness and opportunism."

"Rhys Jones captures all the harrumphing self-importance of a man who’s held together by charm and establishment approval, not principles. But it’s Francis who really gets to showboat as Sir Humphrey"

"If this were TV, you’d be sure that Sir Humphrey had some kind of ingenious plan to save Hacker from his enraged adversaries. Unfortunately, this two-hour show has less plot than your average 30-minute episode."

"There’s a truth, too, in Lynn’s explorations of the new, gloves-off political landscape, where no indiscreet aside is truly private, and politeness is no longer an effective weapon."

"Yes Minister update I’m Sorry, Prime Minister shows that politics may be beyond a joke"

"Stage version of the beloved sitcom relies on jokes about social progress and cancel culture rather than Westminster machinations"

"I thought the story would centre on political machinations: how Hacker and Sir Humphrey scheme in their new, diminished environs. In fact, Lynn is more ambitious and arguably less successful. In the play, Yes Minister’s old buffers collide with the new world of gender identities and cancel culture."

"Too often the story veers into a middling exasperation at social progress. The reason that the original Yes Minister has aged so well is partly because it avoids such issues"

"The interesting issue, only partly explored in the play, is how the big beasts of previous eras might engage with today’s atmosphere of decline. Were we really better governed then?"

"I’m Sorry, Prime Minister does not defend the boys’ club era. However, it skirts perhaps the big reason why ministers are held in such low esteem"