DESPITE being brought bang up to date by writers Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn, with even a cheeky gag about the phone hacking scandal, this stage adaptation of the 80s TV sit-com, feels disappointingly dated.

After the spin of New Labour, political satire has moved on to paint a far less gentile picture of Westminster.

Programmes such as The Thick Of It make Yes, Prime Minister look like Blue Peter.

Prime Minister Jim Hacker (Richard McCabe) is struggling to hold on to power in a coalition government during a crippling recession.

His only hope of hanging on is to secure a pipeline project with an obscure oil-rich country called Kumranistan.

Unfortunately the deal will only go ahead if an underage teenage prostitute is sent to his room at Chequers.

Thanks to a razor-sharp script, fizzing with pithy dialogue and witty one-liners, the play’s second limited West End run has plenty to keep fans of the original happy, but maybe not rolling in the aisles with laughter.

Long periods go without a proper belly laugh and sometimes the chuckles from the audience felt forced, almost as if the cast were being willed to be a little funnier.

The play's biggest strength is its two leads - McCabe and Simon Williams as the PM's slippery Permanent Secratary Sir Humphrey.

Both make the characters their own and successfully manage to step out of the shadow of actors Paul Eddington and Nigel Hawthorne, who immortalised the roles in the original series.

It's an enjoyable couple of hours spent in the company of eloquently spoken bufoons with their fingers worringly inches away from the big red button, but yes, Prime Minister? It's more like a maybe.

Yes, Prime Minister is currently running for a limited period at the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, London. To book, visit yesprimeminister.co.uk