The Thick Of It. Image shows from L to R: Oliver Reeder (Chris Addison), Terri Coverley (Joanna Scanlan), Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front), Glenn Cullen (James Smith), Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi). Copyright: BBC
The Thick Of It

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.

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Episode menu

2007 Specials - Spinners And Losers

Malcolm Tucker's political career hangs in the balance. He has just seventeen hours to spin himself back into power, and it's going to be the longest night of his life.

Further details

The Thick Of It. Image shows from L to R: Angela Heaney (Lucinda Raikes), Adam Kenyon (Ben Willbond). Copyright: BBC

All hell has broken loose at Number 10 as the Prime Minister resigns six months too early. Suddenly everyone that wants to keep their jobs has to become best friends with the Nutter faction - headed up by Chief Nutter Tom. Or failing that, they have to find someone stupid enough to stand against him and force a leadership contest.

Malcolm's psychotic henchman Jamie loathes the Nutters so he's found himself a stalking-horse in the form of Cliff Lawton, the minister replaced by Hugh Abbot. And Hugh is literally up in the air (on his way back from Australia) so his advisor Glenn is working hard to keep Hugh's name in the frame with the new regime. But the rest of the team at the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship is too pre-occupied with other things. Terri is off home for a dental appointment, Robyn is fire-fighting a walkout at the Immigration Sorting Centre (courtesy of Peter Mannion's team in the Opposition), and Ollie is being seduced over to the Dark Side - he's suddenly become big buddies with Ben Swain, the young Nutter hopeful.

But when Tom's dark past starts to unravel the Nutter plans almost anyone could make a play for the top job, providing they have a proper media strategy behind them!

Notes

Following this episode was a 15 minute extra episode available via the Red Button. The episode saw Peter Mannion's attempts at a peaceful evening thwarted by public relations.

Broadcast details

Date
Tuesday 3rd July 2007
Time
9pm
Channel
BBC Four
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Tuesday 28th April 2009 10:45pm BBC4
Sunday 2nd January 2011 10:30pm Gold
Friday 29th April 2011 11:10pm Gold
Saturday 21st January 2012 12:00am Gold
Sunday 26th February 2012 11:30pm Gold
Monday 27th February 2012 1:40am Gold
Thursday 19th July 2012 1:50am Gold
Sunday 22nd July 2012 11:20pm Gold
Friday 14th June 2013 10:00pm Dave
Sunday 22nd September 2013 10:15pm Gold
Monday 23rd September 2013 1:30am Gold
Tuesday 14th July 2015 11:00pm Gold
Wednesday 15th July 2015 2:00am Gold
Saturday 3rd October 2015 11:00pm Gold
Sunday 4th October 2015 2:15am Gold
Sunday 24th January 2016 11:00pm Gold
Monday 25th January 2016 1:40am Gold
Thursday 1st December 2016 10:40pm Gold
Sunday 15th January 2017 11:00pm Gold
Monday 26th June 2017 2:05am Gold

Cast & crew

Cast
Peter Capaldi Malcolm Tucker
Chris Addison Oliver Reeder
James Smith Glenn Cullen
Joanna Scanlan Terri Coverley
Lucinda Raikes Angela Heaney
Tony Gardner Dan Miller
Polly Kemp Robyn Murdoch
Paul Higgins Jamie
Alex Macqueen Julius Nicholson
Justin Edwards Ben Swain
Ben Willbond Adam Kenyon
Guest cast
Timothy Bentinck Cliff Lawton (ex-Minister)
Rob Edwards Geoff Holhurst
Eve Matheson Claire Ballantine
Martin Savage Nick Hanway
Diveen Henry Elizabeth
Writing team
Jesse Armstrong Writer
Armando Iannucci Writer
Simon Blackwell Writer
Tony Roche Writer
Ian Martin Writer (Additional Material)
Martin Sixsmith Script Development
Kate Conway Script Development
Production team
Armando Iannucci Director
Adam Tandy Producer
Jon Plowman Executive Producer
Billy Sneddon Editor
Anthony Boys (as Ant Boys) Editor
Simon Rogers Production Designer

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