The Thick of It

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For the unproduced American adaptation, see The Thick of It (US TV series)

The Thick of It
Format	Comedy (political satire)
Created by	Armando Iannucci
Starring	Chris Langham Peter Capaldi Chris Addison
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	8
Production
Running time	30 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC Four
Original airing	19 May 2005

The Thick of It is a British comedy television series, which satirises the inner workings of modern British government. It was broadcast on BBC Four in 2005, and has so far completed six half-hour episodes and two special hour-long episodes to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as Prime Minister. To date, the series has earned Best New Comedy and Best Comedy Performer for Chris Langham at the 2005 British Comedy Awards,^[1] and won Best Situation Comedy and Best Comedy Performance, also for Langham (although Peter Capaldi was also nominated), at the 2006 BAFTAs.^[2]

A forthcoming film adaptation, In The Loop, featuring characters from the series was announced in May 2008 is scheduled for a 2009 release.

Contents 1 Production 2 Plot 3 Cast 3.1 The Government 3.2 The Opposition 3.3 The Media 4 Episodes 5 American adaptation 6 In The Loop 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Production

The series is written by a team of writers led by Armando Iannucci, who also directs the series, with Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell and Tony Roche.^[3] Some of the dialogue is improvised rather than scripted, and includes some very strong language. Peter Capaldi has stated that "Fundamentally 80% of the final cut is the script that we started with. The improvisation just makes it feel more real and not written."^[4] Prior to rehearsals, the scripts are sent to a "swearing consultant" in Lancaster called Ian Martin, who adds some of the series' more colourful language.^[5][6] The programme's producer is Adam Tandy, who has produced all of Iannucci's television projects since 2000. The programme is shot with hand-held cameras to give it a sense of vérité or fly on the wall documentary. The documentary style is furthered by the absence of any incidental music or laughter track.

On 2 April 2007, a DVD of the first six episodes was released as "The Complete First Series". It also included audio commentary, deleted scenes, and photo galleries.

[edit] Plot

The action centres on the fictitious Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship ("DoSAC" – previously the Department of Social Affairs, or "DSA", prior to the reshuffle of episode five), which supposedly came out of the Prime Minister's passing enthusiasm for "joined-up government". Thus, it acts as a "Super Department" overseeing many others, which enables different political themes to be dealt with in the programme, similar to the Department for Administrative Affairs in Yes Minister.^[7] Hugh Abbot, played by Chris Langham, is a blundering minister heading the department, who is continually trying to do his job under the watchful eye of Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), Number 10's highly aggressive and domineering "enforcer". The programme also features James Smith as Senior Special Adviser Glenn Cullen, Chris Addison as Junior Policy Advisor Olly Reeder, and Joanna Scanlan as Civil Service Press Secretary Terri Coverley.

The Thick of It can be described as the 21st century's answer to Yes Minister, highlighting the struggles of the media and spin doctors against civil servants. Iannucci himself describes it as "Yes Minister meets Larry Sanders".^[4] The former civil servant Martin Sixsmith is an advisor to the writing team, giving some of the storylines an element of realism to them; in particular, the character of Malcolm Tucker bears a distinct resemblance to Alastair Campbell.^[4]

[edit] Cast

Character	Artist(s)	Role(s)	Duration
[edit] The Government
Malcolm Tucker	Peter Capaldi	Prime Minister's Press Co-ordinator, Number 10	Episode One -
James "Jamie"	Paul Higgins	Press Officer, Number 10	Episode Four -
Julius Nicholson	Alex McQueen	'Blue Skies' Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, Number 10	Episode Five -
Nick Hanway	Martin Savage	Enforcer for Tom Davies	Special Two -
Hugh Abbot	Chris Langham	Secretary of State for Social Affairs (later Social Affairs and Citizenship)	Episodes One - Six
Clare Ballentine	Eve Matheson	Chair, Select Committee for Social Affairs and Citizenship	Episode Six; Special Two
Ben Swain	Justin Edwards	Junior Minister for Immigration, DoSAC	Special One -
Dan Miller	Tony Gardner	Former Junior Minister, DSA	Episode Three; Special Two
Glenn Cullen	James Smith	Senior Special Advisor to the Secretary of State, DoSAC	Episode One -
Oliver "Olly" Reeder	Chris Addison	Special Advisor to the Secretary of State, DoSAC (formerly Junior Policy Advisor to the Secretary of State, DSA)	Episode One -
Terri Coverley	Joanna Scanlan	Director of Communications, DoSAC	Episode One -
Robyn Murdoch	Polly Kemp	Senior Press Officer, DoSAC	Episode Four -
Cliff Lawton	Tim Bentinck	Former Secretary of State for Social Affairs	Episode One; Special Two
[edit] The Opposition
Stewart Pearson	Vincent Franklin	Opposition Public Relations Officer	Special One -
Peter Mannion	Roger Allam	Shadow Secretary of State for Social Affairs and Citizenship	Special One -
Emma Messinger	Olivia Poulet	Policy Advisor to the Shadow Secretary of State	Special One -
Phil Smith	Will Smith	Researcher for the Shadow Secretary of State	Special One -
[edit] The Media
Adam Kenyon	Ben Willbond	Night Editor, Daily Mail	Special Two -
Angela Heaney	Lucinda Raikes	Junior Political Correspondent, Daily Mail formerly Evening Standard	Episode One -

[edit] Episodes

The first run of three episodes screened on BBC Four from 19 May 2005. A further three episodes were transmitted 20 October – 3 November 2005. The six episodes were repeated on BBC Two in early 2006, and later on BBC America. Originally, the two runs were presented as two series of three, but this changed with their DVD release, as The Complete First Series.

An hour-long Christmas special, "The Rise of the Nutters", aired in January 2007 with a further ten episodes planned for later on in the year. However, Chris Langham did not reprise his role as Hugh Abbot, due to legal allegations against him,^[8] and his subsequent conviction has ruled him out of any further roles. To fill this void, Iannucci introduced new characters into the series forming the opposition.

Another one-off hour-long episode "Spinners and Losers" aired on 3 July 2007.^[9] It was followed by a 15 minute extra episode, available through BBCi, following the same story from the opposition's point of view.

Episode	Original airdate
Episode One	19 May 2005
After his 'Snooper Squad' idea is killed, the Minister has 40 minutes to come up with a new policy...
Episode Two	26 May 2005
Hugh gets a very focussed focus group in to tell him which one of two contradictory policies to go for.
Episode Three	2 June 2005
Tucker thinks an empty flat in London could pose a problem for the Minister's Housing Bill...
Episode Four	20 October 2005
Something goes terribly wrong at a ministerial visit to a factory – only Malcolm can help, but will he?
Episode Five	27 October 2005
There's a reshuffle in the offing and the PM's new 'blue skies' advisor is making trouble...
Episode Six	3 November 2005
Someone sends an email they shouldn't have, while Hugh lies to a Select Committee...
Special, Part I: "Rise of the Nutters"	2 January 2007
While Hugh Abbot's away, new enemies rear their heads inside and outside the government.
Special, Part II: "Spinners and Losers"	3 July 2007
When the PM resigns six months early, will Malcolm finally spin out of control?
Opposition Extra	3 July 2007, BBCi
Peter Mannion's attempts at a peaceful evening are thwarted by public relations.

[edit] American adaptation

Main article: The Thick of It (US TV series)

On 27 October 2006, it was announced that The Thick of It would be adapted for American television, with Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz executive producing, along with Armando Iannucci and Richard Day. The pilot was directed by Christopher Guest.^[10]

ABC did not pick up the show for its 2007 Autumn schedule,^[11] although other networks, including HBO, Showtime and NBC, have since expressed interest in the show.^[12]

[edit] In The Loop

In May 2008, the BBC issued a press release stating that filming had commenced on a feature length spin off named In The Loop starring Tom Hollander, James Gandolfini, Chris Addison, Peter Capaldi, Gina McKee and Steve Coogan.^[13] The film is a joint collaboration between BBC Films and the UK Film Council.^[14]

[edit] See also

• Politics in fiction
• List of British TV shows remade for the American market

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• The Thick of It at bbc.co.uk
• The Thick of It at BBC Comedy
• In the Loop at the Internet Movie Database

Videos

• The Thick of It Special - Armando Iannucci - BBC Four on BBC YouTube channel
• The Thick of It:Spinners and Losers-The Opposition - BBC Four on BBC YouTube channel