Yes Prime Minister signs Robbie Coltrane
Series revived for Gold
UK TV SHOWCASE: Robbie Coltrane is to make a guest appearance in the revival of Yes Prime Minister.The Harry Potter actor will play a key role in an episode of the new series based around Scottish independence, it was announced today.
The show is being brought back by the Gold channel for six 40-minute episodes early next year, written by the original team of Jonathan Lynn and Sir Antony Jay.
David Haig – who played the Prime Minister in the recent stage show based on the sitcom – will be reviving the role of Jim Hacker for TV.
Also from the theatre version, Henry Goodman will be reviving his role as Sir Humphry Appleby and Chris Larkin as Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley.
To mark its revival of the show, Gold has also ordered an hour-long documentary about her original, called Yes Prime Minister Reshuffled featuring the likes of John Sergeant, Nigel Lawson and Rufus Hound speaking about the show
UKTV’s chief executive Darren Childs said the new episodes would chime with real-life events.
‘The stories are topical and up to date,’ he said at a season launch in London. ‘There are episodes about coalition, the euro crisis and Scottish devolution. And Robbie Coltrane has agreed to play a very key part in that episode, which is exciting. ‘
Earlier this year it was revealed that for his Oxford thesis, David Cameron had to write an essay on How True To Life Is Yes Minister?
Meanwhile, Coltrane is also starring in another UKTV revival, the latest instalment in The Comic Strip’s Famous Five series, Five Go To Rehab.
The hour-long one-off, to be screened late this year, also stars Dawn French, Jennifer Saunders, Adrian Edmondson and Peter Richardson reviving their original roles. Stephen Mangan, who played Tony Blair in last year’s Comic Strip film The Hunt for Tony Blair will also be in the new episode.
This revival will also be accompanied by a documentary, 30 Years Of The Comic Strip Presents, a two-hour show in which today’s comedy stars look back over the influential franchise.
UKTV has vowed to spend £100million on original programming across its ten channels this year.
Published: 11 Sep 2012
