Stage comeback for political comedy

Yes, Prime Minister is to make a comeback after 22 years – as a stage comedy.

The political sitcom will follow the likes of Porridge and Allo Allo in being revived for theatre audiences when it opens at the Chichester Festival in May.

Creators Jonathan Lynn and Sir Antony Jay have written the play – about a tumultuous 48 hours in politics – in their first collaboration since the TV series ended in 1988.

Lynn, 66, told the Daily Telegraph: ‘People have been asking us for years about writing a play. We were always hesitant.

‘We both moved on and then last year for no reason that I could think we just thought, maybe this would be fun.’

It is perhaps no coincidence that last year was when the MPs’ expenses row broke, though the writers will not be drawn on details of the play’s plot.

Although Whitehall-based comedies – like politics – seem to have moved on in the past two decades, Lynn and Jay believe they have different approaches to The Thick Of It’s mastermind, Armando Iannucci. ‘Armando is a social and political reformer, says Jay. ‘We’re more entertainers.’

The actor stepping into Paul Eddington’s shoes as premier Jim Hacker has experience of both: Four Weddings And A Funeral star David Haig also played the PM’s fixer Steve Fleming – and spin doctor Malcolm Tucker’s nemesis – in The Thick Of It. Meanwhile, character actor Henry Goodman will play take Nigel Hawthorne’s role as civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby.

The play opens in Chichester on May 13, a date that is likely to be just a week after the General Election.

Published: 18 Feb 2010