The Thick Of It - Series 3 Page 8

Cameron is very much the Tory Tony Blair, so I doubt we will see much change in how Government is conducted. Basically we now have a political class who, whatever their supposed ideological affiliations, have come up through a similar career path, and know nothing else and for whom the world New Labour created represents normality. The culture in Westminster is now pretty much self-perpetuating.

It is also woth pointing out that odious as Alistair Campbell was, he was not Malcolm Tucker. The world of The Thick of It stretches parody to the point of fantasy. The reality won't change much whoever is in charge.

I liked this comment made by Caitlin Moran in her review of the show in today's Times.

A. A. Gill gave it a kicking last week, but what does he know? His best friend is Jeremy Clarkson, and he shot a baboon, for kicks. It's an entirely different value system. It's like heeding the opinions of a man eating coal.

Full review

Thought tonight's show was funny in places, but generally weak (the plot especially). Always enjoyable, but tonight was very disjointed, It never really got going and the pace was too slow, or rather there wasn't a good enough story to sustain it.

There just seemed to be lots of swearing and an "Office" feel to it.

Quote: Tim Walker @ October 31 2009, 11:47 PM BST

Thought tonight's show was funny in places, but generally weak (the plot especially). Always enjoyable, but tonight was very disjointed, It never really got going and the pace was too slow, or rather there wasn't a good enough story to sustain it.

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I'd largely agree with that. And add in a 'same old'. Felt too similar to stuff from the first 2 series. And whilst I appreciate that there's only so much mileage...

Not that it was bad as such. Just not great.

Hopefully Rebbecca Font's character will come into her in the next few weeks. I reckon a major problem is that at the moment it is too similar to Chris Langham's.

I was surprised as there didn't seem to be as much story and twists as the other episodes, however I love the line "I'm a sucker for cress".

I think the new series just shows how important Chris Langham was to the show and how much is lost without him. (I felt this during the "specials" as well to a degree, but due to their plots they managed to get away without him more easily.) His performance really encapsulated the absolute ennui of the middle-aged man who's desperate to survive in a job he pretty much hates. The little looks and little lines that Hugh came out with whilst chaos reigned around him were so priceless and added richness to the show as a whole.

I adore Rebecca Front, but for the show's dynamics, Hugh worked perfectly. It is rather just 'Malcolm Tucker's Half-Hour' now. Previously, a scene where Malcolm turned up seemed like the icing on the cake, whereas now I find myself waiting for them. For example, the scene at the Guardian would have worked without Tucker in Hugh's day, but here they obviously felt the need to bring him into it. Glenn, Terri and Ollie's characters have not benefited from the new dynamic either.

Perhaps they shouldn't have started this series with Rebecca Front's character's first days in the job. Just have relied on the audience to get the idea of a personnel change and launched straight into ongoing, everyday madness. This was how they first introduced us to Hugh, the audience getting the character's situation by the end of the first episode. Harder to do in a third series, but may have been a more successful way to get the wheels moving.

I accept the producers' hands were tied when it came to dumping Chris Langham, but I really can't see the show ever working as well without him. It will have good lines, funny stuff, but it used to be more than the sum of its parts. The programme doesn't have that real sense of tragedy about it, which used to make it so cutting and hilarious.

For me, the line that sums up what made The Thick Of It so funny, sad and painful (all at the same time) comes in the first series. Hugh, Ollie and Glenn are on their way to a school visit and, because they can't announce the policy they were intending to (blocked by Tucker), they have to come up with something to say on their way there. So there they are, all sitting in the back of a car, Hugh squashed in the middle, travelling down a faceless, grey A-road. Eventually...

HUGH: What about zoos? My kids went to a zoo, said it was f**king disgusting. What about... "clean up zoos"? (Silence. Beat.) That's shit, isn't it?

I think maybe they could match the Langham series if they had a totally different character to Hugh, someone who wasn't scared of Malcolm, but I guess that would change the show too much.

I'm still really enjoying it, but there does seem to be something missing.

Quote: Tim Walker @ November 1 2009, 10:30 AM BST

I accept the producers' hands were tied when it came to dumping Chris Langham, but I really can't see the show ever working as well without him.

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If they had the will, I think that he could have returned. Pity they were too gutless to try it - weather the tabloid storm.

A show that mocks political correctness and fires it's due to political correctness, can't be taken seriously.

And satire needs to be atleast slightly serious.

The Thick of It is a collection of excelent jokes and performances in search of a point.

Bring back Langham.

Or, if not, more Olly.