I feel the need to preface this review by saying that I’ve seen hardly any of the TV shows Yes, Minister & Yes, Prime Minister. The two shows aired for the first time when I was just 0-8 years old. (Finally, something that makes me feel young!) I suspect my reluctance to watch it in subsequent years when it aired was because I figured if my parents loved it so much, it couldn’t possibly be something I’d be interested in. But here I am, 31 years old, working in spin, interested in politics and loving a laugh. I assumed this would be right up my alley.
Alas, I was quite disappointed. I didn’t laugh much; the humour was all so predictable. For example, at one point there’s reference to blackmail and Sir Humphrey (Philip Quast) says something like “We don’t blackmail, we leverage”… cue laughter from most of the room in the 50+ age group, but not me.
I found the acting so hammy and over the top. I get that’s the characters, but for me, it just wasn’t enjoyable to watch. It made me dislike them rather than find them endearing. Caroline Craig’s English accent was a distracting let-down and I didn’t laugh much at John Lloyd-Fillingham’s physical comedy as Bernard either.
My mate enjoyed it a bit more than me but we agreed on the things I’ve mentioned. I hung around in the foyer for a while to listen to what people were saying and the stuff I heard was largely positive so I accept I’m probably in the minority. A young minority.
I’ve never been a big fan of the Comedy Theatre and this experience reminded me why. Hardly any leg room and it was so hot and stuffy in there that a woman two seats away from me had to excuse herself for about 20 minutes to go and get some air.
Coincidentally, I happened upon a box set (series 1-3) of The Thick of It DVDs on Saturday and paid about the same price for it as I did for my ticket to Yes, Prime Minister. (The Thick of It has been described by some as a sort of 21st century version of Yes, Prime Minister.) For value-for-money & laughs when looking behind the scenes at UK