London's Apollo Theatre opened its doors this week to a new highly-anticipated production, I'm Sorry, Prime Minister. From the BAFTA Award-winning mind of Jonathan Lynn, co-creator of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, comes the final chapter in Britain's most beloved political satire! I'm Sorry, Prime Minister, has returned to the London stage - check out what the critics had to say below!

The Reviews

The Telegraph

"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."

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

"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."

The Guardian

"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."

The Times

"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."

"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."

Timeout

"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."

"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."

The Standard

"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"

"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."

"... 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."

The Independent

"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."