The Thick of It


The Thick of It is a British comedy television series created, co-written and directed by Armando Iannucci that satirises the inner workings of British government. It was first broadcast for two short series on BBC Four in 2005, initially with a small cast focusing on a government minister, his advisers and their party's spin doctor. The cast was significantly expanded for two hour-long specials to coincide with Christmas and Gordon Brown's appointment as prime minister in 2007, which saw new characters forming the opposition party added to the cast. These characters continued when the show switched channels to BBC Two for its third series in 2009. A fourth series about a coalition government was broadcast in 2012, with the last episode transmitted on 27 October 2012.
The series has been described as the 21st century's answer to Yes Minister. It highlights the struggles and conflicts between politicians, party spin doctors, advisers, civil servants and the media. In similar fashion to Yes Minister, the political parties involved are never mentioned by name, and in series 1 and 2 most policies discussed are fairly generic and non-ideological. Iannucci describes it as "Yes Minister meets Larry Sanders". Journalist and former civil servant Martin Sixsmith was an adviser to the writing team, adding to the realism of some scenes. The series became well known for its profanity and for featuring storylines which have mirrored, or in some cases predicted, real-life policies, events or scandals.
A feature film spin-off, In the Loop, was released in the UK on 17 April 2009. Sony Pictures produced a remake of the show for the United States piloted on ABC but was unsuccessful. Iannucci was subsequently invited to create Veep for HBO, a programme with a very similar tone and political issues, with the involvement of some The Thick of It writers and production members.

Production

Planning

originally conceived of a modern political satire after "arguing the case" for Yes Minister in a documentary made for a 2004 Best British Sitcom poll for BBC Two. After re-watching the whole run of the older sitcom, he realised that whilst many of the political issues it discussed were still relevant, political dynamics had changed, with ministers' ability to act being constrained less by resistance from the Civil Service than by pressure from 10 Downing Street to hew closely to a centrally set agenda. Iannucci conducted background research by speaking with policy makers and political journalists, and was struck by the extent to which responsibility was being placed in the hands of recently graduated special advisers: "Cabinet ministers were bringing in these junior spads because they thought they were so clever and bright but actually they were just confident. They'd never fixed a car or bought a house or really done anything complicated".
His idea was commissioned by Roly Keating, the controller of BBC Four, who granted Iannucci a limited budget of £100,000, telling him to "turn that into what you can." Iannucci subsequently said that the small budget turned out to be a positive, forcing an experimental approach to producing the show. Iannucci created the first series of three episodes, which aired in May–June 2005, and a second series, also of three episodes, which followed in October.

Writing

The series was written by a team of writers led by Iannucci, who also directed the series, with Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Roger Drew, Sean Gray, Ian Martin, Will Smith and Tony Roche. Some of the dialogue was improvised rather than scripted, and included some very strong language. Peter Capaldi said "Fundamentally 80% of the final cut is the script that we started with. The improvisation just makes it feel more real and not written." Prior to rehearsals, the scripts were sent to Ian Martin, described as a "swearing consultant", who added some of the more colourful language.

Filming

The programme's producer was Adam Tandy, who had produced all of Iannucci's television projects since 2000. The first series was filmed in the former Guinness brewery in Park Royal in west London, adjacent to the A40 road. The programme was shot with hand-held cameras to give it a sense of vérité or fly-on-the-wall documentary. The documentary style was furthered by the absence of any incidental music or laughter track. One of the key reference points for the style of direction was the realistic approach of the Dogme 95 film movement in general, and the first Dogme film The Celebration in particular. Actors were free to move around the set as they wished during takes, with camera operators following them, and wireless microphones were used to capture dialogue at all times.

Plot

The action centres on the fictional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship, which supposedly came out of the prime minister's passing enthusiasm for "joined-up government". Thus it acts as a "super department" overseeing many others, with some similarities to the Cabinet Office. This concept enables different political themes to be dealt with in the programme, similar to the Department of Administrative Affairs in Yes Minister.
Hugh Abbot, played by Chris Langham, is a blundering minister heading the department, who is continually trying to do his job under the watchful eye of Malcolm Tucker, Number 10's highly aggressive and domineering "enforcer". The programme also features James Smith as senior special adviser Glenn Cullen, Chris Addison as junior policy adviser Ollie Reeder, and Joanna Scanlan as civil service press secretary Terri Coverley.
The beginning of the third series saw Hugh Abbot replaced as head of DoSAC by Nicola Murray, who arrives without her own staff, so Ollie and Glenn find themselves keeping their jobs.
From series 4, after a general election which results in a coalition government, Peter Mannion MP is the new Secretary of State for DoSAC, supported by his team of special advisers, commanded by Number 10's director of communications Stewart Pearson and thwarted by his new coalition partner, DoSAC's junior minister Fergus Williams MP. Nicola Murray MP is now leader of the opposition, and opposition spin doctor Malcolm Tucker is desperate for a return to power.

Episodes

Series 1 (2005)

The first series of three episodes tracks the installation of Hugh Abbot as the new Minister for Social Affairs following the orchestrated ousting of Cliff Lawton in response to press pressure. Subsequently, these episodes follow Abbot's attempt to make his mark as a member of the Cabinet whilst simultaneously avoiding the ire of Malcolm Tucker, the Government's Director of Communications. Abbot begins his tenure by misinterpreting the Prime Minister, assuming his support for developing a benefit fraud detection unit known colloquially as the 'Snooper Force'. Malcolm learns of concern that the Treasury were bypassed in the announcement decision, however, leaving Hugh and his advisors Oliver Reeder and Glenn Cullen forty minutes to improvise a policy to a press briefing. Later, Abbot is forced by Malcolm to enhance his cultural knowledge by watching clips from EastEnders and The Bill, only to discover that one of the extras was a member of a focus group that drove the decision to choose one of two contradictory policies. In the series finale, the press learn Abbot is intentionally keeping a second property empty for his use by listing it on the market and rejecting all offers, bringing him close to resignation.

Series 2 (2005)

The second batch of episodes takes place before a cabinet reshuffle, and follows Hugh's attempts to keep his job. Ollie Reeder is seconded to number 10 "to phone his girlfriend" Emma Messinger, a member of the shadow defence policy team, where he is under the close eye of enforcer Jamie. Meanwhile, Terri Coverley is on compassionate leave following the death of her father, leaving her role to Robyn Murdoch, a senior press officer. The department also has to contend with the interference of the prime minister's "blue skies" adviser Julius Nicholson. The minister and the department survive the reshuffle, with the department being rebranded as the "Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship" and moved to a new building. However, the mistakes and compromises continue.

Specials (2007)

In the two specials, following the Christmas break, Hugh Abbot is in Australia and the department has to "babysit" junior minister for immigration Ben Swain, who is described as a "nutter". The first special—"Rise of the Nutters"—revolves around a computer problem at Immigration, which is exacerbated by the junior minister appearing in a disastrous Newsnight interview. The opposition policy adviser, Emma Messinger, capitalises on the error by stealing an idea from her boyfriend, Ollie Reeder, to send the shadow minister Peter Mannion on a fact-finding mission at an immigration centre. Meanwhile, Tucker is concerned about his position in the government after speculating that the prime minister's handover to Tom Davis is expected in less than six months. Tucker conspires with Ollie to leak the prime minister's "legacy programme" in the hope of stalling his departure, inadvertently leading the PM to resign early. The next episode—"Spinners and Losers"—follows a single night of spin, as advisers, junior politicians and enforcers all try to better their position during the transition, but only Malcolm gets anywhere.

Series 3 (2009)

In series 3, Hugh Abbot is replaced as minister by Nicola Murray, played by Rebecca Front. She is an unexpected, last-minute choice for the position, and given her inexperience and lack of staff, she is forced to retain Ollie and Glenn as her advisers. The series continues to focus on the general running, or mis-running, of DoSAC, with Murray's attempts to formulate her "Fourth Sector Pathfinder Initiative" being a running thread throughout the series. With the cloud of the forthcoming general election and tension at 10 Downing Street looming, the series also broadens its scope to include episodes set at the annual party conference and BBC Radio 5 Live. We also see more of Murray's opposite number, Peter Mannion, in the Shadow Cabinet and other members of the opposition first seen in the 2007 specials. The gradual breakdown of Malcolm Tucker and appearance of new threats to his control, in particular Steve Fleming, are also major plotlines. The series ends with Fleming forcing Malcolm's resignation, only to be ousted himself a matter of days later. Having regained dominance, Malcolm decides to call an election immediately to seize the initiative from his enemies in the opposition and his own party.