The Thick of It: Difference between revisions

The first two series, each comprising three episodes, star Chris Langham as the hapless Minister for Social Affairs, Hugh Abbott MP. They were followed by two hour-long specials- ''Rise of the Nutters'' and ''Spinners and Losers''- which centred on the Prime Minister's <s>enforcer</s> Director of Communications Malcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi, and the issue of the Prime Minister's impending resignation. The third series introduced Nicola Murray MP, played by Rebecca Front, as Hugh Abbott's replacement following a Cabinet reshuffle. The fourth series has started filming as of March 2012, and is expected to air in the fall.

 

 

 

''Very'' popular in Whitehall, which can only be a bad thing for the UK...

 

{{tropelist}}

* [[Actually Pretty Funny]]: Malcolm insults everyone constantly but gets away with it by being [[Refuge in Audacity|audacious]], [[Magnificent Bastard|charming]], ...and funny:

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker: '''"You should try the chicken salad! If I'm lucky you'll get salmonella."<br />

* [[Ax Crazy]]: Jamie, the aggressive, foul-mouthed Scottish press officer who is ''[[Up to Eleven|even worse]]'' than Malcolm (but without any of the intelligence or wit):

{{quote| '''Olly Reeder''': "When I met you this morning I thought you were the ''nice'' Scot"- }}

{{quote| '''Olly Reeder''': It's like he's been to the vet and had his knackers done.}}

** And after he marches down the stairs again, barking orders, Sam walks into his office holding his suit, freshly dry-cleaned. [[Evil Costume Switch|It gets a close-up]].

** Nicola Murray has a similar phobia: "I just don't do lifts..." Rebecca Front is a [[Real Life]] claustrophobe.

* [[The Big Board]]: Opposition aide Phil uses one for his <s>Klingon Horoscope</s> DoSAC Implementation Matrix.

** Nicholson has a constant food motif. When he isn't munching biscuits, buying sandwiches, or eating takeaways, he's feeding the ducks. He even tries to go [[Through His Stomach|through Malcolm's stomach]] when he {{spoiler|wants Malcolm to come back after his sacking}}. However he will ''not'' eat the pissy biscuit, or THE FUCKIN' CHEEEEEEESE...

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker''': "Sam! No pissy biscuits!"}}

* [[British Brevity]]: The first two seasons had only three episodes each.

* [[British Newspapers]]: Malcolm's raison d'etre is to get them to print what he wants, when he wants. Angela Heaney, "the twatbubble from the ''Standard''", is usually pretty compliant (but becomes less so when she moves to the ''Daily Mail'').

** Peter Capaldi gets fans stopping him the street with [[Too Kinky to Torture|requests to tell them to fuck off]]: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2009/oct/17/peter-capaldi-malcolm-tucker-tv "...and sometimes I mean it."]

* [[Butt Monkey]]: Poor Glenn. "I feel like I'm in a therapy group being run by my own rapist."

* [[Casting Gag]]: Armando Iannucci admitted he cast Tom Hollander as Cal "The Fucker" Richards partly as an in-joke for fans who'd seen him playing Simon Foster in ''[[In the Loop]]''.

* [[Cerebus Syndrome]]: The first two series involve the bumbling Hugh Abbot's attempts to keep his political career afloat. Starting with the specials the focus shifts to Malcolm Tucker, and series three portrays his bailing-with-a-thimble fight to keep the government in power. The [[Ripped from the Headlines|ripped-from-the-headlines]] nature of the scripts combined with Tucker's character development (which somehow made him ''more impressive'') resulted in series three taking a distinct turn for the dramatic. The third series was also the first time an entire series had been commissioned, which gave the writers a more definite frame in which they could toy with story arcs.

** In Ianucci's own words (about ''[[In the Loop]]''):

{{quote| "We just had to give Malcolm as much as possible to say, he gets [through] his words so quickly. We have to keep feeding the monster."}}

* [[Competence Zone]]: The upper limit seems to have been set at fifty. Glenn is in his fifties and his incompetence is often linked to his age. Likewise for Peter Mannion: "We're not sending him to DoSAC to fatten him up, we're putting him out to pasture". When the usually competent {{spoiler|Malcolm}} hits the big 5-0 he too begins a descent into incompetence before {{spoiler|being given the sack}}.

* [[Compliment Backfire]]: "You're like a female John Major." Ouch.

* [[Country Matters]]: Terri's [[Irrevocable Message]], Malcolm's birthday cake... the show is full of [[Cluster F-Bomb|F-bombs]] and the writers aren't shy of C-bombs either.

** This was nicely referenced in Peter Capaldi's [[Self-Deprecation|self-deprecating]] ad for MacMillan Cancer Support, in which he discussed [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXeZHgkMHEU "The Big C- and not my usual Big C..."]

** Nicola's ''[[British Newspapers|Guardian]]'' meeting from series 3 may be the show's most cringe-inducing moment to date, although the radio interview with Mannion and Richard Bacon comes close.

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker:''' "Fuck me! This is like a clown running across a minefield!"}}

** ...and so is Jamie. This trope is pretty much Jamie's job description:

{{quote| '''Jamie:''' "You take the piss out of Jolson again and I will remove your iPod from its tiny nano-sheath and push it up your cock. Then I'll plug some speakers up your arse and put it on to shuffle with my fucking fist. And every time I hear something that I don't like- which will be every time that something comes on- I will skip to the next track by crushing your balls."}}

** It is also worth remembering that [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ik_RE2NEO3A paper jams] do ''not'' fall within Malcolm's remit.

*** [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/extra/video/p0052098 "Malcolm, I've got a lot on... not a problem."]

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker''' (answering phone): "Hello, Phillip Schofield, I fuck lobsters for money."}}

* [[Dirty Coward]]: The characters have a tendency to brag about the latest heroic scheme they're plotting or the stand they're planning to take, before chickening out of it at the last minute:

{{quote| '''Olly Reader:''' "I'm not being horrible but are you actually autistic?"<br />

'''John Duggan:''' "No, I'm not... but you'd be surprised how many people ask me that!" }}

** After Hugh asks "What's a circle jerk?" Olly gets most of the way through explaining what a circle jerk is before realising this was [[Cringe Comedy|a bad idea]].

* [[Downer Ending]]: Malcolm revealing that the [[Ironic Birthday|birthday]] he'd just spent alone in his office eating a cake iced with the words "Happy Birthday C* nt" was in fact {{spoiler|his fiftieth}}.

* [[Double Take]]: Malcolm does an especially priceless one when he discovers Hugh eating biscuits in the pantry.

** Olly does another during Nicola's Fourth Sector launch, when he notices Malcolm [[Death Glare|Death Glaring]] at him through a glass wall.

* [[Dude, Where's My Respect?]]: Malcolm has fought ''so hard'' for the party. If ''The Missing DoSAC Files'' are to be believed, however, no one has an ounce of respect for him after the election. The e-mail exchange regarding the titular missing files is also indicative that people aren't taking Malcolm very seriously anymore. The replies are snarky almost down to the last man. It's still hard to picture the characters saying any of those things to his face, however... and Ollie seems appropriately scared piss-less.

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* [[Flanderization]]: Throughout the first two series and the Specials, Terri is a reasonably motivated and competent civil servant. By the third series she becomes stupider, lazier and more useless, to the the point where even the Opposition refer to her as "the useless one". She also becomes ''one hell'' of a lot bitchier.

* [[Foe Yay]]: This ''abounds'', largely because of Malcolm's tactic of unnerving male characters by flirting with them:

'''Malcolm Tucker''': "''[[Gay Bravado|Au contraire]]''..." }}

** "You know Julius, if I wasn't a ''heterosexual'' man, I would ''kiss'' you."

** Jamie is the king of this trope. In S1E4 he's often seen in the background tag-teaming victims with Malcolm, shoving people around (even women), and at one point becomes literally hopping mad. In the first special he entertains us by fellating his pen behind Julius Nicholson's back.

** Affers really is a very slow fucker-offer.

** The Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship itself of course: "I've got no fuckin' idea what that means either but it spells 'SAC'!"

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{{quote| '''Nicola Murray''': "That's what this is all about for you isn't it? Fighting and fucking ''power''! Does it never occur to you that your poisonous, male obsession with conflict is making people despise politics?"<br />

'''Malcolm Tucker''': "Spare me your fuckin' psycho-fanny!" }}

* [[Laughing Mad]]: Steve Fleming has an annoying habit of breaking into laughter whenever he loses his temper, which happens frequently. It fools no-one.

* [[Lean and Mean]]: Malcolm. "He's more like a thin white Mugabe" and he probably [[Forgets to Eat]].

** Malcolm's [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/12/malcolm-tucker-election-briefing take on the state of the election], with typical Tucker flair, in ''The Guardian''.

* [[Life Imitates Art]]: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/apr/29/gordon-brown-bigotgate-thick-of-it Scarily often in UK politics].

...<br />

'''Hugh Abbott''': That was quite Tuckeresque, really very ''[[The Prince|Malciavellian]]''" }}

** Malcolm's opposite number, Stewart Pearson, also has issues with work-life balance: "I'm an extraordinarily precise man, that's why my wife left me."

*** At the end of Season 3 Episode 7 as Malcolm is returning to his home after 'resigning', there is a small child looking out of the downstairs window.

* [[Necessarily Evil]]: Malcolm occasionally reminds people that he's working to ensure the Party stays in power, and that the alternative to following his orders would be the Opposition getting in. He tends to do this when he's particularly exasperated, and even then his efforts are usually unappreciated.

* [[New Era Speech]]: Malcolm delivers a [[Rousing Speech]] to his assembled minions as {{spoiler|the general election is called}}. Over at Opposition HQ Cal Richards [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElNlIfwlF-w also delivers a speech], but his is a tad less rousing, and a lot less articulate:

'''Cal Richards''': "It will... be... FUCKED!" }}

** After {{spoiler|Malcolm's sacking}}, Steve Fleming delivers what might be the creepiest [[New Era Speech]] ''ever'' by comparing everyone present to the [[Dude, Not Funny|Fritzl children emerging from the cellar]].

{{quote| '''Steve Fleming''': "Right now, you're all emerging from the cellar...pleased, that the beatings have stopped...scared, of what the future might hold..."}}

* [[Newscaster Cameo]]: ''Rise of the Nutters'' uses spliced [[Stock Footage]] of Jeremy Paxman and ''Newsnight'' for Ben Swain's interview, and in series three Richard Bacon guest-stars as himself hosting a debate between department ministers on [[The BBC|Radio 5]].

* [[The Nicknamer]]: Malcolm has insulting nicknames for everyone, but makes a particular point of not using Olly's real name. "Stem Cell", "Joe 90", "Twatweasel"... but never "Olly".

** Malcolm is the most habitual [[The Nicknamer|nicknamer]], but [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJMNHu9YM-4 most of the characters are nicknamers to some extent].

** Julius Nicholson (now Lord Nicholson) bears similarities to [[wikipedia:Peter Mandelson|PeterMandelson]] (now Lord Mandelson) and also to [[wikipedia:John Birt|John Birt]], the "Blue Skies Thinker" to Tony Blair whose meaningless utterances were ridiculed as "Birtspeak".

** Steve Fleming's personality and mannerisms are thought to have been based on Mandelson's to an even greater degree.

** Even from the little we hear of them, we can gather that the two [[Invisible President|invisible party leaders]] resemble their [[Real Life]] counterparts.

** Dan Miller is pretty clearly based on [[wikipedia:David Miliband|David Miliband]]

** Inverted with Malcolm: [[Tranquil Fury|when he stops swearing]] it's a sign that he's ''really'' angry.

* [[Professional Butt-Kisser]]: Opposition MP Peter Mannion's top aide Phil Smith: "You're such a ''bumlicker'', Phil!"

{{quote| '''Olly Reeder:''' "This inability to talk without using ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' metaphors is one of the very many reasons we could never be friends."}}

* [[Psychotic Smirk]]: Malcolm gets in quite a few, with several in the final episode of series 3.

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* [[Real Men Wear Pink]]: At work Malcolm seems assured enough of his own sexuality to be [[Gay Bravado|entirely comfortable flirting with men]], while the scenes in Malcolm's house show him to have pride in his cooking skills and an eye for interior design. He also got rather alarmed at the thought of journalists damaging his hedge. However he gains the most pink points for coming out with the wonderfully fey "DON'T TOUCH THAT SCARF, THAT'S PAUL SMITH!". ''During a fight''. He is also played by a [[Real Life]] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD7Dz_1u2Jo Real Man Who Wears Pink].

* [[Ripped from the Headlines]]: More like Scripted From The Headlines; the show is intended to reflect the current UK political climate.

* [[Rousing Speech]]: Malcolm and The Fucker both deliver Patton-style pep talk speeches to their underlings at the climax of season three. Malcolm's is met with rousing applause and celebration, while The Fucker's ends in silence and gloom. Compare them yourself:

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker''': I know what people say to you right. They say: "We hate you. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you. Everybody hates you." So fucking what? Some people, they just fucking love to hate. Some people, they'd fucking walk around the fucking Garden of Eden, fucking moaning about the lack of fucking mobile reception! These are the kind of fucks who watched ''Mandela'', fucking ''Nelson Mandela'', walk to freedom...and said "is ''[[Diagnosis Murder]]'' not on the other side?" So we fucking forget about them. JB, Cal Richards, and their hordes of fucking robots - they're coming over the hill. And all you have to do now is bend down, pick up any fucking weapon - AND TWAT THE FUCKERY OUT OF THEM! LET'S GET OUT THERE, AND LET'S FUCKING KILL THEM! LET'S SET FIRE TO TEARS! LET'S GO!}}

* [[Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness]]: Julius Nicholson:

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker''': Where do you learn to speak like that? Is there a special school that only you and [[wikipedia:Brian Sewell|Brian Sewell]] go to?}}

* [[Shout-Out]]: "The Lair Of The White Worm" is one of Hugh's nicknames for Malcolm's 8.30 briefings. It is also the name of a film Peter Capaldi appeared in long before ''The Thick of It''.

** "He looks like a lego policeman"- Olly on spin doctor Steve Fleming, played by David Haig of [[The Thin Blue Line]].

** A [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[The West Wing]]'' acknowledges the two shows' polar opposite depictions of politics:

** Steve Fleming, Malcolm's rival with about a millionth of the charm. He would dearly love to overthrow Malcolm but can't help bragging about his various schemes, and his indiscretion is often his downfall.

* [[Somebody Else's Problem]]: NoMFuP.

* [[Spiritual Successor]]: To ''[[Yes Minister]]''.

{{quote| '''Peter Mannion''': Christ, she's actually a bit creepy, it looks as if she's going to launch herself at us at any second.}}

* [[The Starscream]]: Olly Reeder with his many attempts to enter the "political fuckoffosphere".

** By the time ''Spinners And Losers'' rolls around Jamie has become this to Malcolm, blaming him for the events of the first special.

** Dan Miller MP ''is'' this trope. While the "brushed-aluminium cyberprick" never openly admits it, everyone knows he has designs on being the Party leader.

* [[Stealth Insult]]: "I'm not talking above you. Neither am I talking ''down to you''." Perhaps Malcolm's only foray into [[Gentleman Snarker]] territory.

** Another foray: "I know that these are hard times for print journalists, yeah? I mean, I read that on the internet..."

* [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]]: Nicola replacing Hugh. Her only points of difference are that she's a woman, and that Glenn's not her best mate. Entirely justified, as the premise of the show is that all politicians are the same.

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'''Nicola Murray:''' "I honestly never thought you had one." }}

** There is also something of a gulf between Olly's opinion of himself and his abilities and everyone else's opinion of him and his abilities.

* [[That Makes Me Feel Angry]]:

{{quote| '''Malcolm Tucker:''' "[[Death Glare|You've made me very, very happy]]."<br />

'''Olly Reeder''': "[[Sarcasm Mode|Yeah, you look it]]." }}

* [[Those Two Guys]]: Glenn and Ollie fulfill this role as secondary aide characters, often appearing together and playing off each other, with an older/younger contrast.

* [[Too Kinky to Torture]]: Malcolm's sweary rants don't work on Nicola... because she [[Foe Yay|actually rather enjoys]] being on the receiving end of them.

* [[Truth in Television]]: The two specials tied in with Tony Blair's resignation.

* [[We Want Our Jerk Back]]: Glenn on {{spoiler|Malcolm's sacking}}: "Is this good? I mean, it ''feels'' good, but are you sure it's good?". The situation sends Nicola into a state of [[Antagonist in Mourning]], thanks to her [[Foe Yay]].

** In one episode we see Malcolm wearing a snuggly fleece, smiling at the DoSAC staff and making tea for everyone. Somehow the new "[[Not Himself|Nice Malcolm]]" is even more frightening than "YesterMalcolm".

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Series 3, episode 7. The last few scenes drop a [[Drama Bomb]].

* [[Whitehall]]

* [[Work Com]]: Virtually the entire show occurs within the confines of Whitehall. We never see Hugh's wife and kids, or see Malcolm and Jamie at the pub, for example. We do get to see Olly with his girlfriend at her flat, but only because she works for the Opposition.

* [[World of Snark]]

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[[Category:Britcom]]

[[Category:The Thick of It]]