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.
Episode menu
Series 3, Episode 7
Further details
The Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship need to find a major sports personality to be the face of their new Healthy Choices campaign. Malcolm is away on holiday and doesn't want to be disturbed, so they have to take advice from Steve Fleming, who is back on the scene as the Prime Minister's new fixer.
Is Fleming really as nice as he seems? And everyone knows Malcolm never takes holidays - so what is he up to?
Broadcast details
- Date
- Saturday 5th December 2009
- Time
- 10:30pm
- Channel
- BBC Two
- Length
- 30 minutes
Cast & crew
| Peter Capaldi | Malcolm Tucker |
| Chris Addison | Oliver Reeder |
| James Smith | Glenn Cullen |
| Joanna Scanlan | Terri Coverley |
| Rebecca Front | Nicola Murray |
| Alex Macqueen | Julius Nicholson |
| Peter Sullivan | Geoffrey (Guardian Editor) |
| Zoe Telford | Marianne Swift (Freelance Journalist) |
| David Haig | Steve Fleming |
| Samantha Harrington | Sam |
Press
The political satire continues. Nicola Murray MP (Rebecca Front) needs to find a celebrity to publicise a new "Healthy Choices" campaign. But Steve Fleming, the PM's new fixer (played with diabolical glee by David Haig) has competing priorities, demanding massaged crime figures for an urgent press briefing. When Murray's team bungles both tasks, spin-doctor Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is incandescent. Stuck between Tucker and Fleming, Murray can only ask, "Could you two tell me in which order and from which direction I'm going to be shafted?"
Jod Mitchell, The Telegraph, 5th December 2009The ailing government is spiralling into the abyss and Malcolm Tucker is both waving and drowning when he tries to charm a group of journalists. Though "charm" is an overstatement: "Journalists...one day you are writing for the papers, the next you are sleeping under them." It's typical Tucker bravado, but you can tell he's feeling insecure. There's a real sense of panic in the penultimate episode of Armando Iannucci's skin-piercing satire. Over at the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship, Secretary of State Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front) is thrilled to have won the support of tennis ace Andy Murray for a healthy-eating campaign. But the arrival of Steve Fleming (a terrifying David Haig), Malcolm's bete noire and fellow spinner, pitches everyone into chaos. There's something almost frightening about The Thick of It when it's this intense. And when Fleming and Tucker have a titanic, foul-mouthed battle, be afraid.
Alison Graham, Radio Times, 5th December 2009The Thick of It: series three, episode seven
Where does Malcolm go from here?
Paul Owen, The Guardian, 5th December 2009