I'M SORRY, PRIME MINISTER to transfer to the West End
Following a successful run at The Barn Theatre, followed by runs at Theatre Royal Bath and Cambridge Arts Theatre, it has been announced that I’m Sorry, Prime Minister will transfer to the West End at the Apollo Theatre from 30 January- 25 April 2026.
Making his return to the West End, Griff Rhys Jones stars as ex-Prime Minister Jim Hacker, alongside Clive Francis who reprises the role of Sir Humphry Appleby he played at The Barn Theatre. This is the final chapter of Yes, Minister, written and directed by BAFTA Award-winning Jonathan Lynn, which sees the pair in their old age facing up to life in their retirement. The production is co-directed by Michael Gyngell.
Further casting and creatives are to be announced.
Griff Rhys Jones said: “I am delighted and honoured to be stepping into the shoes of Jim Hacker in this the final, funny and poignant episode of his long career. The great TV series, and latterly the plays, are part of my architecture of British Comedy. They have always been the first and last word on the shenanigans that we call politics. (What Americans have taken to calling the swamp.) Sorry, Prime Minister is as acute and apposite as ever. It will be a hoot. What can the great comedy sparring partners make of what the modern world throws at them? I urge everybody - old fans, young fans and yet-to-be fans to come and join us at the Apollo to find out.”
Jonathan Lynn said: "I wanted to write the final chapter about Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby, now in their 80s, discarded, ignored, watching today's world with utter bewilderment. An elegiac play about old age and loss - loss of power, loss of influence, loss of friends, loss of family. The only play I've ever seen on this theme is King Lear. This will be funnier."
This is the first Barn Theatre production to transfer to the West End. CEO and Artistic Director of The Barn Theatre, Iwan Lewis said: “This is a landmark moment for the Barn Theatre — our first West End transfer since opening our Cotswold home in 2018. It has been a true honour to work with Jonathan Lynn, a giant of British comedy whose generosity and friendship I will always treasure. I’m equally indebted to Mark Goucher and Bob Benton, whose unwavering belief in our vision has made this milestone possible. When we launched the Barn, Chairman Ian Carling and I believed we could create world-class theatre that could reach the West End — all while building a bold, sustainable producing house without subsidy. This transfer is proof: the model works.”
From the BAFTA Award-winning co-creator of Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, Jonathan Lynn, comes the long-awaited final chapter of British political satire — and it is as cutting, and catastrophically funny as ever.
Jim Hacker is back — older, but perhaps not wiser, and still utterly baffled by the real world. Hoping for a quiet retirement from Government as the master of Hacker College, Oxford, Jim instead finds himself facing the ultimate modern crisis: cancelled by the college committee. Enter Sir Humphrey Appleby (played by the acclaimed Clive Francis), who has lost none of his love for bureaucracy, Latin phrases, and well-timed obstruction.
Can Humphrey and Jim out manoeuvre the hostile students, the Fellows, and reality itself? Or is it finally time to say, "I’m Sorry, Prime Minister..."? Brimming with razor-sharp wit, nostalgic brilliance, and more double-speak than a press briefing, this is political comedy at its most timeless — and timely.
For more info on I’m Sorry, Prime Minister, please click here.
