The Thick of It Retrospective - Something Cathartic

It's fair to say British Politics is a gigantic mess right now, we're in the middle of a global crisis and logging on to Twitter these days feels like the equivalent of getting an aneurysm. That is why I was compelled to revisit one of the most cathartic television shows ever made: 'The Thick of It' and really delve into how it is mesmerisingly entertaining. I tend to just be watching an episode of this show consistently if I'm hungover it is my go-to cure (who knows what that says about me) and I'm lucky enough to have friends that enjoy watching this on social gatherings. It's one of those shows that I just find myself thinking about and quoting repeatedly, there's a 'Thick of It' reference in most of my daily life and that is probably a worrying sign but it just goes to show that this is one of those iconic shows in British History. I am a gigantic fan of everything Armando Iannucci does and this will always be his Magnum Opus, his best work of satirical madness that combines everything insane about British Politics in a brutal sweep of sweary honesty. It is a very cathartic experience to watch how idiotic these politicians are, I love how Iannucci doesn't really care about 'right-wing or left-wing' politicians, in fact, he doesn't care about politicians at all, he very clearly thinks they are all idiots and incompetence is the word of the game.

There are just 26 episodes of this wonderful show to tuck in to and every single one of them is perfectly designed, it works in this beautiful political sitcom structure that is fascinating. Each episode is basically "How did the politicians massively screw up this week" and it somehow never gets old. It's crisis after crisis that are all absolutely incredible, they manage to perfectly encapsulate how each character is a disaster and they just cause everything wrong with British politics. The focus is on pace and chaos, structurally the episodes are quite repetitive but the interactions are what keeps it fresh and exciting, the way each episode just snowballs into madness is something that I find so entertaining and rewarding. Scandals are probably more common in British politics than morally sound politicians and the way Ianucci pulls the curtain to the behind the scenes of these scandals is fascinating because he creates this chaotic world of idiots. The scandal from the outside looks like politicians being inhuman idiots and the scandal from the inside looks like the politicians being inhuman idiots trying their best to not come off as inhuman idiots. He's not scared to get ridiculous, to relentlessly mock these characters and to pull no punches in how stupidly incompetent these people are, I find it so entertaining to watch them scramble about to solve their own problems without a care in the world about the actual politics, just on their own appearance.

The first couple of series revolves around Hugh Abbot, a pathetic excuse of a Minister who sort of lulls about the place with this pathetic naivety. There's something about Hugh Abbot that is so entertainingly depressing, the character is such an out of touch idiot and he is a perfect way to introduce this series. There's been a lot of controversy around Chris Langham, he was convicted for possession of child pornography and luckily he is such a genuinely unlikable character. I adore how they treat a minister as an absolute fool, usually, his scandals boil down to laziness, stupidity and a complete lack of awareness, watching him screw up just about everything with this pathetic attitude is something that never gets old. Basically, the rest of our main characters are all introduced in consistently trying to mop up Abbot's mess, whilst also still managing to make their own messes consistently. The highlight will always be the one and only Malcolm Tucker, he is essentially 'The Thick of It', he is one of the funniest characters in television history and he has every right to be the poster boy of this show. Loosley based on Alastair Campbell, Tucker is the Labour Party spin doctor, running around and consistently cleaning up people's mess in an aggressive foul-mouthed spur of vengeance. He commands each scene, his anger is entertaining and at times genuinely intimidating, Capaldi absolutely kills it at making this force of pure political anger rampage through everyone. 

Every couple of day an inevitable political scandal seems to break and there's something quite entertaining to imagine a sweary Scottish man desperately trying to control what the general public knows. Obviously, Ianucci is exaggerating but he managed to perfectly combine everything disastrous about British Politics, it has this 'through the looking glass' quality that maintains a naturalistic style whilst managing to get incredibly silly in places. Each scandal is somewhat reminiscent of a real-life scandal, the basic plot of the government happenings run parallel with the real-life politics of the time but sometimes the specific scandals manage to cut through to reality and even predict some scandals that happened years after the original release. The casting of relatively unknown actors really benefits the show, obviously, Addison and Capaldi are the big stars of the show, but a lot of the other political characters are so well-formed that they just believably melt into this world. Oliver Reeder, Glenn Cullen, Terri Coverly and Robyn Murdoch are the essential characters that fumble about the place trying to do their jobs whilst butting heads with the people in power.

My personal favourite era of the show is the specials into Series 3. 'Rise of the Nutters/Spinners and Losers' is by far the episodes I have watched the most in the whole show. They are perfect, they are incredible and they are so ridiculously entertaining I can't stress enough how much fun they are. It all revolves around a change in leadership and it is the first time we are introduced into the opposition, it combines everything I love about the show in two hours wonderfully. There isn't a more concise or beautiful two hours of this show than this, the pacing is wonderful as everything slowly ramps up as the power struggle rumbles and explodes and idiots turn on idiots. I don't think there is a stronger set of supporting characters than this episode, Ben Swain (Justin Edwards) blinking his way through an interview, Jamie (Paul Higgins) being Tucker's rabid Scot causing chaos throughout Number 10, Julius Nicholson (Alex Macqueen) stirring trouble over a takeaway and of course a collection of opposition idiots. There is certain anticipation around finding out how the opposition works and this delivers wonderfully, Peter Mannion (Roger Allam) as this disgruntled tory old-fashioned minister being paraded around by Phil (Will Smith), Emma (Olivia Poulet) and of course Tucker's opposition counterpart Stewart Pearson (Vincent Franklin)

The opposition carries on into series 3 and 4 and they keep the show alive. Stewart Pearson is absolutely hilarious, he was exactly the right move for a Tucker counterpart, his bizarre hippy fluffy nonsense just makes me laugh at every turn, it's exactly what I picture someone who is attempting to drag the Tory party into the 21st century would act like. Series 3 is probably my favourite overall series, Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front) is just incredible as the new minister, her constant overwhelmed attitude is wonderful, you feel sorry for her but no punches are pulled in showing her own selfish stupidity. Series 4 is a bit weaker, it splits up the episode between the two parties, the finale is fantastic and it is a pleasure seeing the disastrous coalition from the inside but often the plots feel a bit repetitive. The height, for me, is probably the Radio 5 episode in Series 3, seeing the two parties go head to head is so hilarious and accompanying this with a subplot revolving around Ollie breaking up with his girlfriend makes it a perfect disaster. No matter what, it always comes down to the characters for me, guest stars such as Miles Jupp as John Dugan, the most idiotic and out of touch man ever put to television or Steve Fleming (David Haig) a probably insane man who's cosy personality barely hides a sociopathic temper and a hatred for Tucker. 

I just wanted to gush a bit about this show that I absolutely adore, it's a really tough time for basically everyone and somehow I always find 'The Thick of It' weirdly comforting. It may be one of the most vulgar shows ever written, the insults and swearing are so creative and entertaining as they often cut to the core in a witty brutal fashion. But when you're angry at the government or the state of politics right now, there's something beautiful about being able to laugh at the incompetence of it all. It's weird, the show is devoted to naturalistically portraying British Politics, but that peek behind the curtain is both hilariously absurd and amusingly spot-on somehow at the same time. Now is a perfect time to revel in watching a bunch of idiots shout at each other trying to one-up each other's appearance to the general public, as they simply don't care about actual political ideologies which makes so much sense for British Politics. A wonderful show and an important part of British history. 

Thanks for Reading!