Antony Jay

A closer look at Yes, Prime Minister's newspaper joke

A partial history of Yes, Prime Minister's joke about who reads the newspapers.

Looking back on Yes Minister as it turns 40

It was 40 years ago tomorrow that the first episode of Yes Minister was broadcast on BBC 2.

Yes Minister: political comedy MPs voted the greatest

The consummate political satire might be about to celebrate its 40th anniversary but, in many ways, it has barely aged at all.

Jonathan Lynn on Sir Antony Jay

He was a very funny writer.

Interview with Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn

Writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn talk about how was it to come together again and write.

By far the longest scene of the week arrived courtesy of the new (but unimproved) version of 80s sitcom Yes Prime Minister (G.O.L.D.), which was surely - and admittedly I may have dozed off for a moment - just one endless sentence. I'm sure fans of nostalgia thrilled to the new Sir Humphrey (Henry Goodman) Appleby's familiar mastery of verbal bamboozling as he led coalition leader Jim Hacker (David Haig) up the garden path towards the euro via some Byzantine shenanigans concerning an oil-rich former soviet republic. Writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn have lost none of their genius for the marathon one-liner - or indeed their other formula, in which Bernard innocently feeds the master a line about democracy only to receive a homily on the dangers of allowing politicians to think they are clever enough to run the country. But it seemed woefully out of date, in its staginess and jokes that were old when Paul Eddington was alive. It isn't just that Britain has moved on, dragging politicians with it (here we had the absurdity of Jim Hacker talking about "wops", "frogs" and "dagoes" while the other two exchanged Latin epigrams), but that comedy has. Certainly I preferred David Haig in The Thick of It.

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.

Much like PM Jim Hacker, Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's update of Yes, Prime Minister seems on a hiding to nothing. With the sublime original series and profane progeny The Thick Of It looming large, one might wonder what YPM2.0 can bring to the cabinet table. As it goes, just enough to stand out: it's a trad-sitcom delving into a modern political climate (this first episode revolves around a Eurozone summit). David Haig portrays a less likable Hacker and the performances are too stagey (understandable, given the reboot's theatrical beginnings), but it's different enough by current standards to stick with.

Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn's Eighties comedy series Yes, Minister - and its sequel Yes, Prime Minister - set the bar for political comedy very high. Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne were immaculate in their roles as cabinet minister/PM Jim Hacker and his permanent secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, and provided an almost impossible act to follow. This updated remake, which went to G.O.L.D. when the BBC refused to commit, follows the recent stage production and has a workmanlike David Haig, Henry Goodman and Chris Larkin in the roles of the PM, Sir Humphrey and private secretary Bernard Woolley. The satire is gentle and perceptive as they tackle coalition issues, the Euro crisis and a European summit. But, given that the foul-mouthed The Thick of It has transformed the way we approach political humour, it lacks bite and the studio laughter is very tacky.