It stars David Haig as Prime Minister Jim Hacker, Henry Goodman as Sir Humphrey, Chris Larkin as Bernard Woolley, and Zoe Telford as Claire Sutton.

Hacker must use all his wits to deal with economic downturn, his coalition partners having a leadership crisis, and the growing tensions involving Scottish independence.

Sir Humphrey is a master of obfuscation and manipulation, baffling his opponents with long-winded technical jargon and circumlocutions, strategically appointing allies to supposedly impartial boards, and setting up interdepartmental committees to smother his minister's proposals in red tape.

Woolley tends to side with Hacker when new policies are announced, because they seem radical or democratic, only for Sir Humphrey to point out the disadvantages to the status quo and the civil service in particular.

In response to a sarcastic interjection about "starving permanent secretaries", Sir Humphrey patronises her as "dear lady" (as he did "that Wainwright female" in the TV series).

[14] The play began a tour of the United Kingdom in February 2011, with Simon Williams as Sir Humphrey,[citation needed] Richard McCabe as Jim Hacker,[15] Chris Larkin as Bernard and Charlotte Lucas as Claire Sutton.

It returned to the West End in July 2011 for a ten-week run at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, with Williams and McCabe reprising their roles.

Further rewrites took place before the 2012 UK tour and subsequent Trafalgar Studios run, the crucial change having replaced references from underage to multiple partner sex.

[19][20][21] Jay and Lynn revealed that they had offered the show first to the BBC, but that the corporation had asked for a pilot episode which the writers thought was unnecessary in the light of the earlier series.