As a great admirer of the original BBC Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister series by the same esteemed writers (Jonathan Lynn and Anthony Jay), I very much looked forward to this programme. The fact it was cast aside for broadcasting by the BBC (despite still being credited as its series producer!) probably was a bit of a give-away with regard to the quality on offer...
I'm afraid it fails across the board. Where the original series made apt observations on the goings-on at Westminster (the UK's political centre), this one is based on crude generalisations, ridiculous and out-dated (sometimes slightly racist) views on "developing" countries, an under- developed understanding of EU politics and crass caricatures of political figures and office- holders.
It fails as political satire (the one thing you could really count on Lynn and Jay to provide in the past), it completely fails as a comedy (didn't laugh once and I really did stick it out throughout series 1) and unfortunately the acting is completely below par and I fear ALL parts were horribly miscast. Especially David Haig, who is probably known for his dire over-acting, shouting and face-pulling (see also the horrible, fortunately not re-commissioned comedy The Wright Way), unfortunately deliver some cringe-worthy performances. The supporting actors are also not bringing their A-game, despite scripts that could have worked better if the actors weren't treating the entire thing as one big farce or trying to provide examples for how comedy should NOT be done.
Failing as political satire, failing as a comedy and not providing even one strong actor to at least carry some of it along make this programme a complete write-off from start to finish.
I would hope Jay and Lynne would give it another go, with a better cast and stronger satire (based on sharper, more intelligent observations - and thus not just playing on oil/geopolitics and EU-scepticism which are easy targets for low-brow audiences who don't have proper political insight), but I fear this programme will be such a flop, it may not ever happen again during their careers.
I'm afraid it fails across the board. Where the original series made apt observations on the goings-on at Westminster (the UK's political centre), this one is based on crude generalisations, ridiculous and out-dated (sometimes slightly racist) views on "developing" countries, an under- developed understanding of EU politics and crass caricatures of political figures and office- holders.
It fails as political satire (the one thing you could really count on Lynn and Jay to provide in the past), it completely fails as a comedy (didn't laugh once and I really did stick it out throughout series 1) and unfortunately the acting is completely below par and I fear ALL parts were horribly miscast. Especially David Haig, who is probably known for his dire over-acting, shouting and face-pulling (see also the horrible, fortunately not re-commissioned comedy The Wright Way), unfortunately deliver some cringe-worthy performances. The supporting actors are also not bringing their A-game, despite scripts that could have worked better if the actors weren't treating the entire thing as one big farce or trying to provide examples for how comedy should NOT be done.
Failing as political satire, failing as a comedy and not providing even one strong actor to at least carry some of it along make this programme a complete write-off from start to finish.
I would hope Jay and Lynne would give it another go, with a better cast and stronger satire (based on sharper, more intelligent observations - and thus not just playing on oil/geopolitics and EU-scepticism which are easy targets for low-brow audiences who don't have proper political insight), but I fear this programme will be such a flop, it may not ever happen again during their careers.