Everything you need to know about 'I'm Sorry, Prime Minister'

Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby are back in action in this hilarious new stage comedy inspired by the legendary TV sitcom.

Summary

• I'm Sorry Prime Minister is coming to the Apollo Theatre in the West End
• This new comedy continues the adventures of Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby from the award-winning sitcom
• The story sees Hacker get into hot water at his new Oxford college
• Griff Rhys Jones and Clive Francis star in the London production

Britain’s most beloved political comedy is back with a razor-sharp new chapter. Jonathan Lynn, co-creator of 1980s sitcoms Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, brings his Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby to the West End for a masterclass in satirical chaos.

Starring Griff Rhys Jones as Jim Hacker and Clive Francis as Humphrey Appleby, this amusingly mismatched team revive their uneasy alliance as Hacker faces a fiendish new challenge at Oxford University. Vote yay and head the Apollo Theatre for a comedy as hilarious as it is timely.

Book I’m Sorry, Prime Minister tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

What is I’m Sorry, Prime Minister about?

In the original series, Jim Hacker was first an MP and later Prime Minister, but always outmanoeuvred by the wily bureaucrat Sir Humphrey Appleby, the senior civil servant and his ministry’s Permanent Secretary.

Hacker is now retired from the Government but soon finds himself in a tricky situation as head of an Oxford college, and must call upon the master of obstruction to save him once again when he is “cancelled” by the college committee. Can they face down hostile students and Fellows, and will Appleby’s patented double-speak save the day?

Who wrote I’m Sorry, Prime Minister?

I’m Sorry, Prime Minister is written and co-directed by the BAFTA-winning Jonathan Lynn. He co-created the multi-award-garlanded sitcoms Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, and previously co-wrote, with Antony Jay, the first stage adaptation of the show.

Lynn has also directed stage shows such as The Glass Menagerie, Songbook, Anna Christie, Three Men on A Horse (Olivier Award for Best Comedy), and was the artistic director of the Cambridge Theatre Company. He has directed films like Clue, My Cousin Vinny, Nuns on the Run, The Fighting Temptations, and The Whole Nine Yards.

When was I’m Sorry, Prime Minister first performed?

This new comedy began its life at the Barn Theatre in Cirencester in 2023 under a different title: I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, I Can’t Quite Remember. It then toured to Bath and Cambridge. This West End run is the play’s London premiere.

Who are the characters in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister?

The characters in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister include:

• Jim Hacker: a retired politician who is now master of Hacker College, Oxford.
• Sir Humphrey Appleby: a retired civil servant who comes to Hacker’s aide when he gets into trouble.
• Sophie: Hacker’s Oxford graduate care worker.
• Sir David Knell: a High Court judge.

Where is I’m Sorry, Prime Minister playing?

The show is playing at the Apollo Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue right in the heart of London’s West End. The theatre has a capacity of 658.

When is I’m Sorry, Prime Minister playing?

I’m Sorry, Prime Minister is booking from 30 January to 9 May 2026. Performances take place from Tuesday to Saturday at 7:30pm, with matinees on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2:30pm.

How long is I’m Sorry, Prime Minister?

The running time of the show is 1 hour 55 minutes, including a 20-minute interval.

Who is in the cast of I’m Sorry, Prime Minister?

I’m Sorry, Prime Minister stars Griff Rhys Jones as the bumbling Jim Hacker. The legendary comedian and actor rose to fame on BBC sketch shows like Not the Nine O’Clock News and Alas Smith and Jones, and has won Olivier Awards for his stage work in shows such as Oliver!, A Christmas Carol, The Miser, and An Hour and a Half Late.

Clive Francis reprises the role of Sir Humphrey Appleby. Over his extensive career, Francis has performed in theatre productions such as The Importance of Being Earnest, Enron, An Inspector Calls, and A Small Family Business. His screen work includes David Copperfield, Poldark, Yes, Prime Minister, The Crown, Anatomy of a Scandal, and Bridgerton.

Who is in the creative team of I’m Sorry, Prime Minister?

Jonathan Lynn co-directs the show with Michael Gyngell. His previous work includes Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, Yes, Prime Minister, The Play What I Wrote, Urinetown, and Relatively Speaking. He also co-wrote the stage adaptation of Summer Holiday!.

What are some fun facts about I’m Sorry, Prime Minister?

• The original sitcoms all took place behind closed doors, rather than having scenes set in the House of Commons, because Jonathan Lynn felt that government work actually happens in private – with Parliament as the public performance. The series gave its audience a tantalising sneak peek at these secretive dealings.

• The show won the approval of real-life politicians and civil servants for its wry humour and surprising accuracy about what it was trying to enact change but encountering a robust bureaucratic system. It was then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s favourite TV programme.

• The series scrupulously avoided saying which political party its characters belonged to, never using the words “Labour” or “Conservative”. It was more about the methods of governance, and this eye-opening depiction of spin influenced numerous other satirical writers, such as Armando Ianucci.

• This latest chapter in the Yes, Prime Minister story also explores ageing, according to Griff Rhys Jones, who called the play “elegiac” and explained: “It’s about two retired people whose power has gone.” It’s also very funny, of course, as his character and Clive Francis’s team up for more “political shenanigans” to try to come out on top.

Book I’m Sorry, Prime Minister tickets on LondonTheatre.co.uk.

Main photo credit: I'm Sorry, Prime Minister (courtesy of the production). Inset: Clive Francis and Christopher Bianchi in I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, I Can’t Quite Remember (Photo by Alex Tabrizi)