Another 'Thick of It' special on the way

Armando Iannucci's critically acclaimed political sitcom The Thick of It is returning to BBC4 for another one-off special in the summer.

BBC4 have announced that writer Armando is now penning the follow-up to the hour-long special which aired on January 2. Once again, due to the personal problems of actor Chris Langham, the character of Hugh Abbot will not be appearing. Instead the comedy will again focus around the angry New Labour spin doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) and the opposition party's continually strengthening position.

The new episode will pick up the story from the moment where the last special left off - the prime minister had just resigned, an act which is clearly sending his party and the opposition into a tailspin.

"Armando's planning to pick it up the following day so it carries on from where the Christmas one-off left off" says Janice Hadlow, controller of BBC4. "So many people came up to me and said how much they'd enjoyed The Thick Of It over Christmas. It's almost become a drama, it's interesting to see what's happening with Malcolm as he loses control of the levers".

The new hour-long special will be a partnered with the recent one-off when it is broadcast in the summer.

BBC4 did not announce what they were doing about the potential ten part third series. We are therefore assuming that the series will be kept on hold until the BBC know the outcome of Chris Langham's legal case.