Back in the corridors of power

The election campaign is almost over, but a stage revival of Yes, Prime Minister recalls a golden age of Westminster and Whitehall battles, writes Al Senter

It's now more than 20 years since the final series of Yes, Prime Minister was first transmitted and yet it hardly seems to have faded from public consciousness. Two of the principal actors may have died, Paul Eddington (Jim Hacker) in 1995 and Sir Nigel Hawthorne (Sir Humphrey) in 2001, and yet the series is seldom far from our screens with snippets from the shows used to illustrate aspects of daily life in Westminster and Whitehall. And Sir Humphrey has become part of common currency, an expression used to denote the kind of suave, worldly mandarin who no doubt still patrols the corridors of power.

One of the reasons for the continued vitality of a 30-year-old series is the uncanny prescience which the writers Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn displayed in both Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. They appeared to forecast the growing influence of the media and the politicians' need to respond to it. And now, cunningly scheduled to open at the Chichester Festival Theatre within days of a general election, comes Yes, Prime Minister the stage play, with David Haig as prime minister Jim Hacker and Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey Appleby.

"It's sheer coincidence, I assure you," insists Jay. "As is the fact that senior civil servants live in Godalming, then retire to Littlehampton and Chichester is conveniently placed between them. It's a chronological and a geographical accident."

It seems that the idea of bringing Yes, Prime Minister to the stage has been in the ether for some time. But the events of 2008/2009 and the prospect of a cataclysmic financial meltdown concentrated minds. Having completed shooting on his latest film, Wild Target, Lynn was reunited with Jay and the two men set to work for the first time in more than two decades.

"It was as if we'd stepped back in time: it was as if we'd gone back 22 years and we'd never stopped writing together," says Jay.
"The eternal verities of the series hadn't changed. The essential relationship between politician and civil servant is still the same. Since the series went out during the 1980s and so coincided with the governments of Margaret Thatcher, it was assumed that it was about her. But Hacker is much more of a 1970s figure, a Heath or a Wilson. Mrs Thatcher was a conviction politician who felt that what she was doing was best for the country. What has changed is that the Blairs and the Browns are now more obsessed than ever with getting re-elected; they neglect everything except whatever will buy them votes."

Yes, Prime Minister is set in Chequers with Hacker, Sir Humphrey and PPS Bernard Woolley still forming an eternal triangle but now the PM has a strong-willed female political adviser adding spice to the mixture. Neither Haig nor Goodman are unduly concerned about filling shoes worn so elegantly by Eddington and Hawthorne.

"I loved the original series and the performances by Paul and Nigel were iconic but I'm not good at being frightened away from playing a part that is closely identified with another actor," Haig explains. "It never occurred to me to be worried: it's been other people who have mentioned it. In a way, Hacker and Sir Humphrey are like Shakespearean roles, open to any actor. There may be five minutes needed for the audience to adjust to seeing Henry and me rather than Nigel and Paul but we'll have fun striking a balance between audience expectations and what Henry and I can bring to the characters."

Goodman, whose recent West End credits include Duet for One and Fiddler on the Roof, says: "Yes, Prime Minister was a legendarily well-written comedy, part of a tradition of elegantly crafted, intelligent comedy that stretches back to Sheridan and Wycherley. It's exciting for me because I'm seldom offered the part of an upper-class nglishman. When you play leading Shakespearean roles as I've done, you're often compared to other actors who've played that part. Rather than running away from that aspect, I embrace the challenge and try to make my mark on the character."

It could be argued that the urbane, civilised wit of Yes, Prime Minister is now seen as a little too genteel and well-bred in the era of The Thick of It. Has Armando Iannucci's savage satire outrun the subtle manoeuvrings of PM and cabinet secretary? One could hardly imagine Sir Humphrey giving vent to the kind of foul-mouthed tirade that is the speciality of spinmeister Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It. "I love The Thick of It but I think that it's misleading to compare it to Yes, Prime Minister," argues Jay. "We go for gentle laughs rather than bitter satire."

Lynn draws a further distinction. "I'd describe Yes, Prime Minister as comedy rather than satire and I imagine that Armando [Iannucci] really does want to change society. The Thick of It focuses on politics but we've always been about government rather than politics."

If, as Lynn suggests, there is a real appetite for political and social change fuelling The Thick of It, does that mean that there is no similar agenda lurking beneath the polished surface of Yes, Prime Minister? Interestingly, Jay and Lynn occupy somewhat different positions on the political spectrum. "I once talked to Antony about that," Lynn reveals. "I wondered why our different opinions had never bothered us. He replied that we both see the same problems: where we differ is on the solutions."

Jay adds: "I don't get angry about issues because I believe that it is the system that is at fault rather than particular individuals. But I also believe that things can change and that Yes, Prime Minister has exerted some influence. I hope that it does make people feel informed and causes them to think about the issues."

The television series was notably strong on authentic background detail, a reflection of the exhaustive research undertaken by the writers. Once again, Jay and Lynn have been prowling the bars and the eateries of the Westminster village. "Call it lunchtime confidential," quips Jay.

"Reality always outstrips anything we might invent and this is still the case," says Lynn. "Who'd have thought that any MP would have tried to have the taxpayer foot the bill for his duck pond?"

A highlight of the series were the masterpieces of convoluted Byzantine circumlocutions which Hawthorne's Sir Humphrey used to baffle a sceptical Hacker. At the time of writing, Goodman is hard at work, committing them to memory. "I'm spending weeks trying to learn them," he admits. "They're like a Shakespeare sonnet-complex, mellifluous bombast."

Lynn ascribes the success of the series to its depiction of the classic master/servant, Jeeves and Wooster relationship in which the nominal inferior (Sir Humphrey) runs rings around the nominal superior (Hacker).

"The fascinating thing about Hacker is that just when you think he's as thick as pigshit, he'll do something very shrewd," argues Haig. "And then just when you think he's quite smart, he'll do something incredibly stupid. Hacker cannot resist being in the spotlight. He's like a rock star; he enjoys being the man whom everybody comes up to at opening-night parties. Sir Humphrey is more like a theatre director. He likes to exert power, but at a distance."

Lynn concludes: "Getting back to the old routine and writing together has been the most tremendous fun. It's been totally entertaining. Let's hope the Chichester audience agrees."

Yes, Prime Minister opens at the Chichester Festival Theatre on 13 May and runs until 5 June