14 – 18 November

In this, a swan song for the Minister of Administrative Affairs, Jim Hacker and his Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby of the TV series Yes, Minister, and later Yes, Prime Minister of the 1980’s, writer Jonathan Lynn reveals them as they have become in their 80’s.

Now floundering in a world of new values and sensibilities, where even care comes loaded with new political considerations, Hacker and Appleby’s egos rail against the sinking of influence and position. But the cracks in their once unassailable exteriors are beginning to open enough to allow them a sense of what true companionship could really mean. Age-induced humility is softening their edges… a bit.

Jim, now Lord Hacker, is the incumbent Master of an Oxford College founded in his name. Unfortunately he has been secretly recorded at a dinner saying non-PC things which have subsequently been posted on social media. His ‘cosy’ situation at the college is now under threat. Who you gonna call? Appleby of course. The former, wiliest operator in the Home Office could surely could help him see off one more sticky situation?

The action all takes place on one beautifully realised set by designer Lee Newby – a spacious living room in Hacker’s college-based apartment, with two large Georgian sash windows looking out upon tended lawns surrounded by mature trees. Cardboard boxes containing Lord Hacker’s archives are strewn about the room. Hacker himself sits in some dishevelment, awaiting his care worker Sophie (Michaela Bennison), who will help find his glasses and socks.

Christopher Bianchi is a credible inheritor of actor Paul Eddington’s original TV portrayal of Hacker, employing some of his iconic mannerisms that include the sudden asides of doubt, outbursts of wounded pride as he struggles to understand why his words could be so misunderstood. Clive Francis’s Appleby wins spontaneous applause and laughter from the predominantly silver-haired audience for some extraordinarily acrobatic tongue-twisting monologues which nobody can understand, adding to the sense of a finely tuned intellect missing a few synapse connections. Bennison as former Hacker University student, now care worker Sophie, a woman of colour and of the LGBTQ community, delivers a masterclass in assertiveness and controlled anger as she manoeuvres between the two old political and social dinosaurs. Andy Hawthorne amply fills the shoes of the threatening figure of Sir David Knell, the bringer of bad tidings to Hacker, and something of a touchstone to the former PM’s current failings.

If the first act is a slow burn, the second lights up with quickfire banter between the two old colleagues, more in the style that those of us who can fondly remember the original series so enjoyed. Whereas the TV production was a joy to watch for the close-up facial expressions, here on a large stage the quality of acting managed to communicate a residual chemistry between old colleagues while they struggle with old age – a fond farewell to some classic story telling by Jonathan Lynn.

★★★★☆  Simon Bishop, 15 November, 2023

Photo credit: Alex Tabrizi