The Thick Of It
- TV sitcom
- BBC Two / BBC Four
- 2005 - 2012
- 23 episodes (4 series)
Satirical political sitcom. Number 10's foul-mouthed policy enforcer Malcolm Tucker rules the Government's PR team with an iron fist. Stars Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, James Smith, Joanna Scanlan, Rebecca Front and more.
Streaming rank this week: 278
Key details
- Genre
- Sitcom
- Broadcast
- 2005 - 2012
- Channels
- BBC Two, BBC Four
- Episodes
- 23 (4 series)
- Creator
- Armando Iannucci
- Stars
- Peter Capaldi, Chris Addison, James Smith, Joanna Scanlan, Rebecca Front, Chris Langham, Roger Allam, Lucinda Raikes and more
- Writers
- Jesse Armstrong, Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche, Sean Gray, Ian Martin, Roger Drew, Will Smith and more
- Directors
- Armando Iannucci and Natalie Bailey
- Producers
- Adam Tandy, Armando Iannucci, Jon Plowman, Mark Freeland and Andy Forssell
- Company
Caustic comedy, set in the corridors of power. This satirical sitcom focuses on the civil servants, the PR team and ministers who work for the (fictional) Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship.
Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is the Prime Minister's Director of Communications. He uses bullying, intimidation and lots of swearing to try and keep The Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship in the press for the right reasons, but out of the press whenever there is something that needs covering up.
Staff in the department include naive spin-doctor Ollie, jaded Senior Special Advisor Glenn, and Terri, the ineffectual Departmental Press Secretary.
Series 1 focused on Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham), a put-upon MP who is continually harassed by Malcolm and let down by his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.
With Hugh "away in Australia", the two specials that followed in 2007 expanded the show's premise to observe Peter Mannion (Roger Allam) and his team over at Opposition HQ too.
The third starts just after a reshuffle - the last shift around before the General Election. As a result, Malcolm now has a new Social Affairs Secretary to deal with in the form of Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front).
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Additional details
- Production
- Location
- Camera set-up
- Single camera
- Picture
- Colour
Website links
- BBC Homepage
The official BBC Four homepage for the series (this is no longer updated). - BBC Comedy Guide
A guide to the series from the BBC. - IMDb
- Wikipedia
Broadcast details
- First broadcast
- Thursday 19th May 2005 at 10:30pm on BBC Four
- Most recent repeats
-
- Wednesday 17th July 2024 at 10:00pm on BBC2 - Series 3, Episode 1
- Thursday 2nd May 2024 at 11:30pm on BBC Scotland - Series 1, Episode 1
- Sunday 1st October 2023 at 1:00am on BBC4 - Series 3, Episode 8