Abstract
The Thick of It, devised, co-directed and co-written by Armando Iannucci and broadcast by the BBC,1 is the most popular and critically acclaimed political sitcom of the early twenty-first century. It presents the rather minor Department for Social Affairs and Citizenship (DoSAC)2 run by a succession of mediocre ministers — Hugh Abbot (Chris Langham), Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front), Peter Mannion (Roger Allam) and Fergus Williams (Geoffrey Streatfeild). While ministers come and go, the protagonist remains the same: head of communications Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), who has turned swearing into a fine art and bullying into a spectator sport. The mixture of satire, colourful expletives and well-made sitcom has won over audience and critics alike. The Thick of It was awarded the BAFTA for Best Situation Comedy in 2006 and 2010. Chris Langham received a BAFTA for best comedy performance in 2006, and so did Peter Capaldi and Rebecca Front in 2010. In 2012, the latter two actors also received British Comedy Awards.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
‘Bigotgate: The Day the PM Joined The Thick of It’. The Guardian, 29 April 2010. Available at: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/apr/29/gordon-brown-bigotgate-thick-of-it (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Colley, Linda. Britons: Forging the Nation 1707–1837, 3rd edn. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009.
Drew, Roger. ‘A Whole New Power Struggle: Plot Twists and Profanity behind New Series of The Thick of It’. The Independent, 1 September 2012. Available at: www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/a-whole-new-power-struggle-plot-twists-andprofanity-behind-new-series-of-the-thick-of-it-8092738.html (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Emig, Rainer. ‘The Family–a Sitcom?’ Journal for the Study of British Cultures 9 (2) (2002): 149–157.
Fairclough, Norman. New Labour, New Language? London: Routledge, 2000.
Feuer, Jane. ‘Situation Comedy: Part 2’ in Glen Creeber, Toby Miller and John Tulloch (eds), The Television Genre Book. London: BFI, 2001, 67–70.
Fielding, Steven. ‘Why The Thick of It is Safe Comedy’. The Guardian, 9 September 2012. ailable at: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/sep/09/thick-of-it-safecomedy (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Hall, Stuart. ‘Encoding/Decoding’ in Stuart Hall et al. (eds), Culture, Media, Language. New York: Routledge, 1980, 128–138.
Huck, Christian and Carsten Zorn. ‘Das Populäre der Gesellschaft: Zur Einleitung’ in Christian Huck and Carsten Zorn (eds), Das Populäre der Gesellschaft: Systemtheorie und Populärkultur. Wiesbaden: VS, 2007, 7–41.
Iannucci, Armando, Armstrong, Jesse, Blackwell, Simon, Martin, Ian and Roche, Tony. The Thick of It: The Missing DoSAC Files. London: Faber, 2010.
Jones, Nicholas. Soundbites and Spin Doctors: How Politicians Manipulate the Media–and Vice Versa. London: Cassell, 1995.
Kamm, Jürgen and Lenz, Bernd. ‘New Britain: Into the Third Millennium’ in Bernd Lenz (ed.), New Britain: Politics and Culture. Passau: Stutz, 2006, 7–23.
Klein, Thomas. ‘Diskurs und Spiel: Überlegungen zu einer medienwissenschaftlichen Theorie serieller Komplexität’ in Frank Kelleter (ed.), Populäre Serialität: Narration. Evolution. Distinktion. Bielefeld: Transcript, 2012, 225–239.
Lawson, Mark. ‘The Thick of It: The TV Programme of 2012’. The Guardian, 21 December 2012. Available at: www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/dec/21/thick-of-it-tv-programme-of-2012 (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Luhmann, Niklas. Die Realität der Massenmedien, 3rd edn. Wiesbaden: VS, 2004.
Marr, Andrew. ‘How Blair Put the Media in a Spin’. BBC News, 10 May 2007. Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6638231.stm (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Martin, Ian. ‘The Thick of It: The Agony of Tight Spaces’. The Guardian, 26 August 2012. Available at: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/26/the-thick-of-it-secret-of-success (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Marwick, Arthur. A History of the Modern British Isles: 1914–1999. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.
Midgley, Neil. ‘The Thick of It, BBC Two, Series 4, Episode 6, Review’. The Telegraph, 20 October 2012. Available at: www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/9621309/The-Thick-of-It-BBC-Two-series-4-episode-6-review.html (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Nagel, Oliver. Britcoms, 12 June 2014. Available at: www.britcoms.de (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Oakley, Giles. ‘Yes Minister’ in Jim Cook (ed.), Television Sitcom. London: BFI, 1982, 66–79.
‘Omnishambles Named Word of the Year by Oxford English Dictionary’. BBC News, 13 November 2012. Available at: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-20309441 (date accessed 3 August 2015).
O’Shannon, Dan. What are You Laughing at? A Comprehensive Guide to the Comedic Event. London: Continuum, 2012.
Räwel, Jörg. Humor als Kommunikationsmedium. Konstanz: UVK, 2005.
Rawnsley, Andrew. ‘Armando Iannucci v Andrew Rawnsley’. The Observer, 2 September 2012. Available at: www.theguardian.com/media/2012/sep/02/armando-iannucciandrew-rawnsley-interview (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Schmidt, Johann N. Großbritannien: 1945–2010: Kultur, Politik, Gesellschaft. Stuttgart: Kröner, 2011.
Sommer, Roy. Von Shakespeare bis Monty Python: Eine transmediale Geschichte der englischen Komödie zwischen pragmatischer Poetik und generischem Gedächtnis. Trier: WVT, 2011.
Stagg, Guy. ‘After The Thick of It a New Series of Yes, Prime Minister Will Feel Hopelessly Old-Fashioned’. The Telegraph, 29 March 2012. Available at: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/guystagg/100062035/after-the-thick-of-it-a-new-series-of-yesprime-minister-will-feel-hopelessly-old-fashioned (date accessed 3 August 2015).
Sturm, Roland. ‘Tony Blair’s Style of Government’ in Bernd Lenz (ed.), New Britain: Politics and Culture. Passau: Stutz, 2006, 25–38.
Tönnies, Merle. ‘“New Lingo–New Theatre”? New Labour’s Rhetoric and Political Drama in Contemporary Britain’ in Merle Tönnies (ed.), Britain under Blair. Heidelberg: Winter, 2003, 169–191.
Wagg, Stephen. ‘“They Already Got a Comedian for Governor”: Comedians and Politics in the United States and Great Britain’ in Stephen Wagg (ed.), Because I Tell a Joke or Two: Comedy, Politics and Social Difference. London: Routledge, 1998, 244–272.
Walters, Ben. The Office. London: BFI, 2005.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2016 Anette Pankratz
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pankratz, A. (2016). Spin, Swearing and Slapstick: The Thick of It. In: Kamm, J., Neumann, B. (eds) British TV Comedies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137552952_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137552952_19
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-55518-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55295-2
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)