Dysfunctional government is rather in the news these days—whether it’s a U.S. president who hires and fires almost weekly; the same president who won’t concede an (apparently) unquestionable election result; a UK prime minister who even his own party accuses of dithering and incompetence; not to mention all the politicians around the world whose corruption and blatant self-interest are impossible to ignore.
There’ve been plenty of TV series that have portrayed or satirized this—think of West Wing in the States, Yes Minister in the UK, and House of Cards on both sides of the Pond.
But none of these, nor any of the many political movies, have come as close to the bone as Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It.
Here we have a series that portrays the byzantine machinations of politics brutally and (I’m pretty sure) honestly. As Wikipedia‘s typically po-faced article says, “It highlights the struggles and conflicts between politicians, party spin doctors, advisers, civil servants and the media.”
Hard to know where to start here. Maybe with the stellar performance of Peter Capaldi as director of communications and spin-meister of his party. Or is it the ever-sharp writing, or the wonderful ensemble-playing of the cast . . .
A team of writers produced consistently edgy scripts, and when I tell you that there was a dedicated “swearing consultant” whose task was to add even more colourful language, you’ll get an idea of just how rich the dialogue is.
The series featured no incidental music, no laughter track. All shot hand-held. Plus Capaldi is on record as saying that “Fundamentally 80% of the final cut is the script that we started with.” In other words, some 20% of the dialogue is improvised, which only adds to the sense of realism.
The four series of The Thick of It ran from 2005 to 2012, and never flagged. It was hugely successful, spawning spin-offs on both sides of the Atlantic (the movie In the Loop, a U.S. remake, and the HBO series Veep).
It’s also a series that repays repeated watching, each time discovering new nuances of performance, new appreciation of the quick-fire dialogue and the scabrously inventive invective.
I love it . . .
The Thick of It was at one time on Netflix, also on BBC’s iPlayer, but I’ve also seen it on the UK’s ITVx and various other streaming services. I promise you it’s worth looking out. More about it on Wikipedia.