Phillipe Pétain, a tough, uncompromising soldier who rose through the ranks to save France in 1916 Battle of Verdun. Charles de Gaulle, the aristocratic, academic and equally uncompromising soldier who led France to freedom when, decades later, Petain became a Nazi collaborator. Two giants of the twentieth century who loved each other like father and son until they found themselves on opposing sides in World War II. In 1945 de Gaulle had his oldest friend tried for treason. Their complex relationship - noble, comic and absurd - changed history. Jonathan Lynns The Patriotic Traitor tells the extraordinary story of these great men as Petain awaits his verdict.The Patriotic Traitor premiered at the Park Theatre, London, in February 2016.
I have a voice in the University, Im in the House of Lords, I have this lovely permanent home. Everythings hunky-dory. I just need a bit of help.I wanted to write the final chapter about Jim Hacker and Sir Humphrey Appleby, now in their eighties, discarded, ignored, watching todays 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 Ive seen on this theme is King Lear. This will be funnier. The hit BBC television series by Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, Yes, Minister, and Yes, Prime Minister, captured the political consciousness of the nation in the 1980s. Lynns stage play Im Sorry, Prime Minister, I Cant Quite Remember . . ., set in a contemporary Hacker College, Oxford, opened at the Barn Theatre, Cirencester, in September 2023.
Four episodes of the television comedy series, including "The Smoke Screen", "The Ministerial Broadcast", "Official Secrets" and "A Conflict of Interest", in which Jim Hacker has reached No 10, and Sir Humphrey Appleby puts a spanner in the mechanisms of government.
Four episodes of machinations and manipulation from the classic BBC political satire. Jobs for the Boys/The Right to Know/Doing the Honours/The Devil You Know The sustained dry wit of the dialogue and the wonderful interplay between the three main characters - Jim Hacker, Sir Humphrey and Bernard Wooley - made Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay's satirical comedy compulsive viewing. The strength of the writing makes these audios a joy to listen to.
Unlike most collections of scripts from TV comedies, this has been skilfully edited to make it into a highly plausible diary. 'Scalpel-sharp in observation, deceptively simple in construction...at its frequent best Yes Prime Minsiter exhibits the classical perfection of a Mozart sonata' - Richard Last in The Times. 'Its closely observed portrayal of what goes on in the corridors of power has given me hours of pure joy' - Rt Hon. Margaret Thatcher MP. 'Yes Prime Minister....is not only a continuing marvel of editing by Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay but also a collector's must' - John Coldstream in the Daily Telegraph. 'Yes Prime Minister is a comedy in a class of its own' - Celia Brayfield in The Times.
Four episodes of machinations and manipulation from the classic BBC political satire. Open Government/Big Brother/The Economy Drive/The Writing on the Wall The sustained dry wit of the dialogue and the wonderful interplay between the three main characters - Jim Hacker, Sir Humphrey and Bernard Wooley - made Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay's satirical comedy compulsive viewing. The strength of the writing makes these audios a joy to listen to.
Four episodes of machinations and manipulation from the classic BBC political satire. The Compassionate Society/The Greasy Pole/The Skeleton in the Cupboard/A Question of Loyalty The sustained dry wit of the dialogue and the wonderful interplay between the three main characters - Jim Hacker, Sir Humphrey and Bernard Wooley - made Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay's satirical comedy compulsive viewing. The strength of the writing makes these audios a joy to listen to.
Jonathan Lynns credits include creating and co-writing the long-running comedy series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister, as well as hit films Clue, My Cousin Vinny, Nuns on the Run and The Whole Nine Yards. With experience as a comedy actor, writer and director, here Jonathan Lynn shares valuable and hilarious lessons in all aspects of creating great comedy, all illustrated with brilliantly insightful and revealing anecdotes about his work and the legedary actors, writers and comedians hes worked alongside.
Yes, Minister, and the equally successful sequel Yes, Prime Minister captured a niche in the political consciousness of the nation. First broadcast thirty years ago, the original writers of these classic series have reunited to create a bang up to date Yes, Prime Minister for the stage. Spin, blackberries, sexed-up dossiers, sleaze, global warming and a country on the brink of financial meltdown form the backdrop to mayhem at Chequers as the Foreign Minister of Kumranistan makes a seriously compromising offer of salvation. Prime Minister Jim Hacker remains in power with his coterie of close advisors including Cabinet Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby and Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, but for how long? They govern a whole new world. Yes, Prime Minister premiered in the Festival Theatre, Chichester, in May 2010.
