Griff Rhys Jones returns to stage in I'm Sorry, Prime Minister
The political landscape has certainly changed since the 1980s. The fictional world of Jim Hacker seems benign compared to both the expletive-filled sitcom successor The Thick Of It and the modern reality. "Politics ought to be the art of the possible but it seems to be about is the art of the impossible," observes Rhys Jones. "One of the major problems is that government can't seem to do anything. That's one of the reasons why they are opening the door for people like Reform."
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Belfast Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Just sprinkle your swearing s*** all over it': How The Thick of It redefined expletives on TV
Armando Iannucci wanted to make something 'rough and ready' about what politics was really like in the 2000s. With a team of talented writers, he created a classic comedy that still resonates today. Katie Rosseinsky dissects the anatomy of its foul-mouthed invective It takes about one minute for a verbal grenade to be lobbed in The Thick of It's first episode. Spin doctor Malcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi, is on the phone, mouthing off about an MP, who, in Tucker's estimation at least, is not just totally rubbish at his job, he's 'as useless as a marzipan dildo'. As insults go, it's lewd but also ludicrous, utterly damning yet surreally silly. And, as the show's creator Armando Iannucci says, it 'sets the tone for everything' to come. Over the course of four series and one Oscar-nominated spin-off film, The Thick of It raised the bar with some of the most creative invective ever heard on television. The political sitcom, which debuted in an appropriately post-watershed late slot on BBC Four on 19 May 2005, ushered viewers behind the scenes in the fictional – but all too realistic – Department for Social Affairs (it would add Citizenship to its cumbersome remit in later seasons).
Sky News
20-05-2025
- Sky News
The Thick of It creator reveals scene which cabinet ministers say happened in real life
The creator of the hit political satire The Thick of It has revealed which scene in the series cabinet ministers have confessed to experiencing in real life. Armando Iannucci told Sky News' Electoral Dysfunction live event with Beth Rigby that the writers would make up scenarios to be "as stupid as they can" - only to be asked later by Whitehall officials how they had found out about it. One episode in particular that was close to the bone involves Malcolm Tucker, the fictional mouthy communications director of Number 10, telling a cabinet minister the policy he is due to announce to the media is being cancelled because it is too expensive - and he will have to come up with another one on the spot. Mr Iannucci said: "Sometimes we would come up with stories that were like, we had to invent them, you know, and we thought, let's push it as stupidly as we can. "And then a couple of weeks later, someone from Whitehall would say, 'how did you find out exactly? We thought we'd kept that very quiet'. "And you know, the opening episode has them in the back of a car trying to come up with a policy. Malcolm's rung up and said the policy you've called the press to hear, you cannot go ahead, It's too expensive. "So they've got to come up with a policy that sounds great but will cost nothing. And I've had various former cabinet members say to me quietly, 'I've been in the back of that car'." The Thick of It aired 20 years ago this month, when New Labour was in government. It satirised the inner workings of modern British government, with the focus on the fictitious Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship. Harriet Harman, one of the few senior female figures at the time and now a peer and co-host of Electoral Dysfunction, asked Mr Iannucci if anyone inspired the character Nicola Murray, who was the focus of series three. " I'm asking for a friend, because basically it's like she was so ineffective, but she was so hard working and a nice person. Yes, but she was utterly destroyed by Number 10 and her ministerial colleagues putting the boot in. "I just wondered if she was based on anyone in particular?". Mr Iannucci said everyone in The Thick Of It was "based either on a composite of different things we've heard in different people or on a kind of guesstimate of what this person might be".
Metro
19-05-2025
- Metro
The worrying reason The Thick of It could never be made today
It's been 20 years since The Thick Of It launched on the BBC, making a total mockery of governments, past and present – but no one could have known quite how accurately it would predict the future. It's something that even shocked creator, Armando Iannucci, who revealed to Metro that three policies mentioned in the very first episode – when ministers were scrambling to come up with ideas in the back of a cab on the way to their big announcement – later became laws. '[The three laws were that] everyone has to have a plastic bag of their own, pet ASBOs and Chris Addison came up with a national spare room database, which became the bedroom tax,' he explained. At the time, the show was lauded for its sharp and hysterical portrayal of British politics. The raging foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) was a dead ringer to Tony Blair's former director of comms, Alastair Campbell. While many fans have long speculated that the parallels between the dimwits on screen and actual ministers was in equal measures uncanny and alarming. The first two series followed the fictitious Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship (DSAC), led by the colossally incompetent minister Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham) and his equally useless team of advisers. Early on, a TV critic described him as the 'political equivalent to the house wine at a suburban Indian restaurant', which proves to be quite kind. He's eventually sacked and replaced by Nicola Murray, who is inexperienced at every level of the job, but still manages to climb the ranks through sheer ineptitude of her party to become Leader of the Opposition. Two decades on, I still watch the DSAC trip-up repeatedly at the starting block – even making hurdles for themselves that don't exist – and wonder: Would they have done a better job than the 13 years of Tory rule we just survived? Abbot and his team essentially pluck policy out of thin air – like when Ollie suggests having a policy in your back pocket for the last cabinet before reshuffle. His suggestion: 'Tripling the number of quiet carriages on intercity trains', admitting that he 'just thought of that'. And we also see them backtrack when their policies are clearly a colossal mistake – the first episode is a shambles as we see them announce, un-announce and then re-announce the same policy. We've certainly seen plenty of U-turns in real life, but unlike The Thick Of It ministers, our government have broken promises on popular policies. HS2, limiting earnings on MPs' second salaries, conversion therapy – need I say more? Sadly, I'm beginning to fear they would have been better than this Labour government, too. At the very least, I don't think they'd pander to the opposition in the same way I believe Starmer and his ministers are. By far, The Thick of It is the single best political comedy of all time – every single performance is still the career highlight for actors who have gone on to win Baftas, Emmys, and travelled through time in the Tardis. But it could never return. Peter Capaldi perfectly summed up why on LBC's Tonight with Andrew Marr in 2024, telling the host: 'The reason I'm not terribly keen on [a revival] is because I think it's beyond a joke. And joking about it just in some way, takes the spotlight away from the problems. And I think that [the] problems are profound.' He's spot on. The fictionalised department of Social Affairs and Citizenship actually sounds like a very legitimate department in 2025. Even the Thick of It would have felt like it had pushed satire too far if it had introduced a minister for common sense. I remember watching Esther McVey – a Tory MP – on Question Time trying to explain her new role, which was reportedly set up to combat wokeness. In 2024 McVey said her aim was to tackle 'left-wing politically correct woke warriors' in the public sector, and she introduced a ban on public servants wearing rainbow lanyards. When Fiona Bruce asked if her position was created because the cabinet she belonged in didn't have 'enough' common sense, the entire Question Time audience burst into laughter. It could so eerily have been lifted from a scene in The Thick of It. And that's just the start. The Tories' reaction to the pandemic was The Thick of It on steroids. Matt Hancock – who implemented social distancing – couldn't have been closer to his aide Gina Coladangelo, caught on CCTV snogging her in his office while his wife and kids were locked down at home. Dominic Cummings broke lockdown rules to drive to Barnard Castle (after previously breaking them to drive to dad's house), but said the unnecessary trip was actually designed to 'test his eyesight' after having had Covid-19. But all that paled in comparison when it then emerged while most of the country stayed at home and didn't see loved ones on their deathbed, our government was having parties. Even our own Prime Minister attended his small birthday party while ordering his country to 'stay indoors'. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Malcolm Tucker would have imploded. It's been years of wince-inducing cock-ups from governments that make The Thick Of It feel all-too close to home. Labour isn't much better – its rudderless direction, lack of vision might be on par with what we see in the show, but its pathetic pandering to the right is truly unique to this government and becoming more disappointing than another four years of Tory rule. More Trending At times – as a lifelong Labour supporter – I sometimes wonder if I miss the Tory Government that was at least entertaining in its absurdity. I can't imagine Iannucci could ever have predicted that the bumbling fools running the country in his comedy would feel more reliable and trustworthy than the people actually in charge. Of course, it's still a great watch and always will be. View More » But it's a hard pill to swallow knowing that the truth has become so much stranger than fiction. Do you have a story you'd like to share? Get in touch by emailing Share your views in the comments below. MORE: Swipe right? Under 40s are more open to dating Reform voters than Tories MORE: Gary Lineker confirms he's quit the BBC after 'error and upset' over antisemitic post MORE: BBC 'warned about disgraced presenter Huw Edwards as far back as 2012'
