The BBC lost the TV revival of political sitcom Yes, Prime Minister to digital channel Gold because it demanded a pilot episode, it has been revealed.

Both Yes, Prime Minister and its antecedent, Yes, Minister, were originally BBC series, and BBC In-House Comedy has made the six new episodes, based on the stage play. However, co-writer Jonathan Lynn has told Chortle that when he and Antony Jay were looking to bring the show back to TV screens, following an approach by Gold, the duo decided to give first refusal to the BBC "as a courtesy" but the corporation told them to write a pilot first.

Lynn said that they pointed out to the BBC: In response, a BBC spokesman said: Yes, Minister ran for three series of seven episodes each from 1980 to 1982, winning BAFTAS for Best Comedy Series in 1980, 1981, and 1982. An hour-long Christmas special called Party Games in 1984 paved the way for Yes, Prime Minister, which comprised two series of eight episodes each, airing between 1986 and 1988. Nigel Hawthorne won the Best Light Entertainment Performance BAFTA four times - in 1981, 1982, 1986, and 1987 - for his portrayal of Sir Humphrey Appleby.

The new series of Yes, Prime Minister - starring David Haig as the premier Jim Hacker, Henry Goodman as Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, and Chris Larkin as Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley - starts on Gold on Tuesday 15th January at 9pm. It co-stars Zoe Telford as political adviser Claire Sutton, and will guest-star Robbie Coltrane.

The first episode - called Crisis At The Summit - will be followed at 9.40pm by the documentary Yes, Prime Minister: Re-Elected, which will celebrate the phenomenon of the show and reveal how influential it was in its 1980s heyday.

The revived and updated political sitcom Yes, Prime Minister will start airing on Gold on Tuesday 15th January at 9pm.

The six episodes have been made by the BBC, which also made the show's antecedents, and star David Haig as the premier Jim Hacker, Henry Goodman as Permanent Secretary Sir Humphrey Appleby, Chris Larkin as Principal Private Secretary Bernard Woolley, and Zoe Telford as political adviser Claire Sutton.

The titles for the first three episodes have been given as Crisis At The Summit, The Poisoned Chalice, and Gentlemen's Agreement, with the remaining three unknown as yet. All six have been written by the TV series' original authors, Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn.


Following the broadcast of the first episode, Gold will be showing a documentary called Yes, Prime Minister: Re-Elected celebrating the phenomenon of the show and revealing how influential it was in its 1980s heyday.

It will feature the thoughts of John Sergeant, Rufus Hound, Richard Wilson, Andrew Neil, Nigel Lawson, and Roy Hattersley, while former cast members Diana Hoddinott (who played Jim Hacker's wife, Annie) and Deborah Norton (political adviser Dorothy Wainwright) will reveal what life was like on the set of the original series and what they thought of their most famous fan, Margaret Thatcher.

An excerpt from the documentary, narrated by Tamsin Greig, can be seen below.


Gold is available on Sky 110, Virgin Media 126, and Top Up TV 20.

The BBC today released pictures from the forthcoming TV adaptation of the children's novel Mr Stink.

Originally written by David Walliams, who along with Simon Nye has adapted the comedy for BBC One, it will air at 6.30pm on Sunday 23rd December. (It had been provisionally scheduled for Boxing Day.)

It stars Hugh Bonneville as the eponymous tramp, Sheridan Smith - companion Lucie Miller to the Eighth Doctor in the Big Finish audio dramas - as Mum, with Walliams playing the Prime Minister.


The one-hour production was filmed in October in both standard definition and in 3D - the first time the BBC has filmed a fictional programme in 3D. The free-to-air broadcast in 3D will be available to anyone who has access to a 3D TV set and to the BBC HD channel, regardless of which digital TV provider they use.

With Red Dwarf blasting back on to our TV screens in just four days' time, the final teaser clip heralding the sci-fi comedy's return has been released by digital channel Dave.

In the clip, Kryten (Robert Llewellyn) discovers that Lister (Craig Charles) has lost Starbug in a card game - but there is an upside to it!

The six-part series - the cult show's tenth - begins on Dave on Thursday 4th October at 9pm with the episode Trojan and ends on Thursday 8th November with The Beginning. Each episode will also be available via catch-up on the Dave website for seven days following its transmission but only to people in the UK.

The latest in a series of teaser clips from the forthcoming tenth series of Red Dwarf has been released by TV channel Dave.

In the excerpt, which can be seen below, Rimmer (Chris Barrie) finds himself afflicted by an auditory problem but gets little sympathy from Lister (Craig Charles).

Next weekend will see the final teaser clip released by Dave before the new, six-part series of the cult sci-fi comedy starts on the digital channel on Thursday 4th October at 9pm.

In addition, as part of the publicity drive, posters - as seen beneath the clip - promoting the return of the show have started appearing on hoardings across the UK.

A third series of the award-winning comedy Episodes has been commissioned by BBC Two.

The show - starring Tamsin Greig as Beverly Lincoln, Stephen Mangan as Sean Lincoln, and Matt LeBlanc as a stylised version of himself - will enter production in London and Los Angeles next year and will again be written by David Crane and Jeffrey Klarik. As with the second series, it will comprise nine episodes.

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said:
Gregor Sharp, executive editor for comedy, said: Series 2, which aired in the UK between 11th May and 6th July 2012, averaged a consolidated audience of 1.1 million (5.17 per cent share).

In January this year, LeBlanc won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series - Comedy or Musical for the seven-part first series of Episodes, which was shown in the UK from 9th January to 20th February 2011. The programme was nominated for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical but lost out to Modern Family.

The show, which is a Hat Trick/Crane Klarik production for the BBC and Showtime Networks, will be executive-produced by Jimmy Mulville, Crane, Klarik, and Sharp.