Yes, Prime Minister [2013]

Skid

GOLD (The UK Station) are about to broadcast a remake of the Classic 1980's Whitehall Sitcom, Yes Prime Minister

The lauded satire, with new episodes produced by BBC Productions exclusively for Gold, will return in a contemporary setting, scripted by the original writing team, Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay, and based on their hit play. This is the first commission to follow Gold's announcement that it will inject "double-digit millions" into original content as it seeks to add to its 'crown jewels of comedy' schedule in 2012, its 20th year on air.

http://uktv.co.uk/gold/homepage/sid/7451

It will be interesting to see how this is received. The writing was always very sharp but it is hard to imagine Yes Prime Minister (or Yes Minister) without Nigel Hawthorne's brilliant portrayal of Sir Humphrey. Still, it is nice to see the Digital channels invest in new(ish) comedy. The three main characters all return (Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, PM Jim Hacker and Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley)

Episode 1 'Crisis at the Summit' airs Tuesday 15th January at 9pm on GOLD

Rovi

SKY box set to record series.
It'll be interesting to see if this works or not.

GRMA

Could be good.

Lady Chatterton

Margaret Thatcher was a big fan of Yes Minister/Yes Prime Minister, she even appeared in an episode. In the following clip Margaret Thatcher and Neil Kinnock discuss the show and why they like it.

GRMA

Ah dont ruin things by mentioning her! lol

The one ad I've seen looked awfully stilted and that.

brian_t

PhoenixParker

Why would you remake it?

I have the box set of yes minister and my Dad has the box set of Yes, Prime Minister.
It's completely watchable (and unbeatable) right now.

It's dated incredibly well, all that's really missing is the technology on the desks and in their pockets.

AnonoBoy

The Thick of It minus the creative swearing?

Skid

PhoenixParker wrote: »

Why would you remake it?

I suspect the writers were stung by the acclaim which The Thick of It has received in recent years. Yes Minister was once peerless but is now seen by some (unfairly) as a gentle satire compared to Armando Iannucci's show. One of the writers had a dig at the newer show recently

The man behind Yes, Prime Minister thinks The Thick Of It has had its day, whereas his political comedy – which returns to the small screen in January – is timeless.

“I think [The Thick Of It] was very time-specific to a period with Tony Blair and Alastair Campbell," said Jonathan Lynn, who co-wrote the original 80s series and the forthcoming remake with writing partner Antony Jay. "I think it was ridiculing the characters and basically saying that these are terrible people doing terrible things and that’s why they’re funny, and I do find it funny.

http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-11-27/jonathan-lynn-the-thick-of-it-is-dated-yes-prime-minister-is-timeless

I think they are both great programmes - dealing with similar concepts very differently. I hope this new series is decent, but it is rare for a revival to be anywhere near as good as the original.

omahaid

Well, what's the verdict? Some people on twitter have said that the characters should have been renamed and I kind of agree. I felt it was only fair, the second half was better than the first half.

I liked Hacker, he's a bit sharper than the last Hacker but a bit more dislikable too imo. Didn't care for Humphrey or Bernard though. I was taken by surprise by the quick ending but I'll give it another week.

GrahamThomas

I'm a bit disappointed, hadn't realised that this "new" season was just a rehashed version of the stage production that I saw in London a few months back.

Clareman

The characters don't seem to have the same rapport as the originals had, and they will always be compared to the originals, I'll give it a passing mark and will watch it again

Lapin

Missed it.

All my satelite channels are down for the last 2 days.

Anyone know if its repeated during the week.

I'm a huge fan of the original YPM and was looking forward to comparing the two.

ArmaniJeanss

Lapin wrote: »

Missed it.

All my satelite channels are down for the last 2 days.

Anyone know if its repeated during the week.

I'm a huge fan of the original YPM and was looking forward to comparing the two.

If its anything like their new Comic Strip episode, it'll be repeated about a dozen times over the next week.

******
Only watched the first 5 minutes before giving up, the laughter track was so wrong it made it unwatchable for me.
May try again when in a better frame of mind.

FloatingVoter

Absolute ****e. A bit like rebooting The Beatles using Westlife members. The new actors must be hard up for cash to step into Hawthorne and Eddington's shoes. As for Bernard - he turned up for Shameless and wound up in this.

Qualitymark

Didn't know about this till today (any repeats coming up?)

One review I read said it had that awful BBC thing of self-congratulatory pauses for people to get the jokes. That, and the shuddermaking self-satisfied music used in every BBC comedy set in Ireland, and in the new Blandings series, are deathly.

Skid

Lapin wrote: »

Missed it.

All my satelite channels are down for the last 2 days.

Anyone know if its repeated during the week.

Qualitymark wrote: »

Didn't know about this till today (any repeats coming up?)

It is repeated on Friday (10.20pm) and Monday (10.25pm)

http://www.locatetv.com/tv/yes-prime-minister/season-1/7911410

I haven't had a chance to watch myself yet.

Qualitymark

Skid wrote: »

It is repeated on Friday (10.20pm) and Monday (10.25pm)

http://www.locatetv.com/tv/yes-prime-minister/season-1/7911410

I haven't had a chance to watch myself yet.

Ah, thanks - I'll have to skip it, though; there is a Gold channel on Freesat, but it turns out to be a radio station.

steve_r

I watched this last night. As someone who didn't watch a lot of the originals (but might go back and watch them on UPC on demand), I can see why people would have problems with it.

I thought some of it was quite sharp - the EU bit was quite pointed, I enjoyed it but it was clever for the sake of being clever, not for the story.

Everyone seems to be comparing it with The Thick of It, and the original series, which are very well regarded.

The laughter track and the way it is filmed doesn't help - the interview piece just doesn't work because the TTOI have mastered how to do a scene like that, close up, pauses, reactions etc.

I'll keep watching, becuase despite its flaws I still enjoyed it.

donegal_man

Well, I've watched two episodes of this now and I have to say I'm disappointed. None of the actors seemed terribly comfortable in their roles, perhaps they're aware that they are going to be compared with the original cast or they're playing as they did in the theatre and it's just translating to television and where were Humphrey's wonderful flights of rhetoric? He just comes across as a bit of a smarmy wide boy

trying to dupe Hacker into joining the Euro so he can secure his place on the board of a bank which was just a cheap rehash of the Sir Desmond Glazebrook story from the original series anyway.

As for Bernard he's just a shambling incompetent and Zoe Telford's character, I can't even remember her name, lacks the barely suppressed rage of Frank Weisel. One gets the impression she is just there to make up the numbers and tick a demographic.

steve_r

donegal_man wrote: »

Well, I've watched two episodes of this now and I have to say I'm disappointed. None of the actors seemed terribly comfortable in their roles, perhaps they're aware that they are going to be compared with the original cast or they're playing as they did in the theatre and it's just translating to televisionQUOTE]

+1 on this. Watched the most recent episode and the same problems apply.

It looks so much like someone has just filmed a play. I love theatre but that doesn't translate to screen at all.

I did like the bargaining thing at the end but I'm starting to think that I would be better just going to on demand and watching the originals, and I hate to say that, becuase I love shows with a political slant that challenge me, and there's so few new ones of them that I know of.

Gonna check out Borgen instead. *does a search for Borgen thread*