The Thick Of It series 2

[Blue Jam]

Is it too early for this thread? The director and cast are talking about it already so perhaps not- here are the two most teaseriffic interviews I've seen so far:

From this week: Armando Iannucci's Digital Spy interview

From a few weeks back: The Onion AV Club interview with Peter Capaldi

Lots of intriguing little hints in both and much to speculate on, but the main three things I gathered were:

1. Lots more Opposition

2. Nicola Murray being nothing like Simon Fluster

3. Malcolm struggling to keep his grip on power

All could be very good things... what do you reckon? Does Armando feel a Tory landslide in the next election is inevitable? Will we see Malcolm in some face-offs with worthy opponents, as we did in the film? Will Malcolm finally have that massive stroke?

We can probably expect a few teasers on Twitter too, so for those of you who are that way inclined:

@AIannucci
@mrchrisaddison
@RebeccaFront
@joannascanlan
@jessearmstrong1
@simonblackwell
@IanMartin

[wherearethespoons]

Article from The Independent; http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/armando-iannucci-i-dont-despise-politicans-1771551.html

[Blue Jam]

Oh gawd, that article is horribly written... but Armando comes across as charming as ever. Is The Audacity Of Hype just a collection of articles then? I was under the impression it was all new stuff.

Thanks Spoony, I think there's enough news on the new series coming out, and there should be more on Twitter if the three remaining episodes are about to start filming. Don't know how this will fit in.

[An tSaoi]

I can't wait.

[weirdbeard]

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/tv_and_radio/article6792165.ece

Peter Capaldi's venomous Tucker will, of course, return. Has the character's cult status affected the way Iannucci writes him? "I don't know. In the new series we want to show a slightly new dimension to Malcolm, maybe going back to the very raw Malcolm we saw in the first episode."

Set against the dying throes of New Labour and the resurgence of the Tories, this series will also feature The Day Today veteran Rebecca Front as the latest hapless Minister. "She has never really had any dealings with Malcolm, which is both good and bad because she treats him with a little less respect than he's used to."

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

In the new series we want to show a slightly new dimension to Malcolm, maybe going back to the very raw Malcolm we saw in the first episode

That's a bafflingly contradictory statement.

I'm looking forward to series 2 more than any other comedy thing.

It'd better be good Armando, or you're dead.

[Blue Jam]

Really enjoyed that interview Weirdbeard:

When I first got into classical music as a teenager

The Independent one also mentioned him listening to classical music while most people his age were listening to the Sex Pistols. Love the fact that he can name his top three politicians too, he's such an adorable nerd.

In the new series we want to show a slightly new dimension to Malcolm, maybe going back to the very raw Malcolm we saw in the first episode."

I'm trying to work out what this means too, I guess by "raw" he means undeveloped, maybe he'll be breaking the character down and rebuilding him a little. It would be good to show him being a bit shaken up by almost losing his job in Spinners And Losers.

. "She has never really had any dealings with Malcolm, which is both good and bad because she treats him with a little less respect than he's used to."

I love the idea of Nicola Murray treating him with less respect, possibly because he's never been a big deal to her before. What I'd really love to see is Malcolm coming up against an MP from the old guard, like a John Prescott figure. Someone from before the days of spin who finds the whole spin culture a pain in the arse and refuses to take it seriously, versus a New Labour-style spin doctor who gets frustrated because they're refusing to acknowledge that politics has moved on and he's just trying to help them. Like Peter Mannion refusing to take any crap from Stuart Pearson- I do like the Mannion character and I'm glad he's returning. I'm hoping this "major new enemy" of Malcolm's will be one of these.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

If anything, the specials were showing Malcolm Tucker that politics was moving on and leaving him behind. Being very relevant and up-to-date, having him tackling some old Labour type throwback might be funny but it wouldn't really be an up-to-date satire.

[Blue Jam]

If anything, the specials were showing Malcolm Tucker that politics was moving on and leaving him behind. Being very relevant and up-to-date, having him tackling some old Labour type throwback might be funny but it wouldn't really be an up-to-date satire.

Yes, but isn't Mannion an old Conservative throwback? It still works for him... There are still a few Labour ones around, as with Mannion they'd just change the name. A character like Julius Nicholson but with some real power and responsibility could work.

Good point about politics moving on and leaving Malcolm behind, now he could be up against the spin doctors taking the David Cameron approach. Maybe the new enemy will be a new rival spin doctor like Stuart Pearson- "trendy" glasses, loud shirts, no tie. Capaldi made a point about Malcolm getting older so maybe he'll have younger rivals. I'm also hoping Nicola Murray will be someone Malcolm's aggressive approach won't work on at all, leaving him to rely on his charm and deviousness instead. Would be good to have a bit of light and shade there.

Does this make Jamie even more behind the times? I hope not as I'd love to see him return.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I'm hoping there will be some absolute cunt character based on Andy Coulsen.

Going back to Iannucci's politics nerdiness, I think he does respect or at least sympathize with the difficult job of being an M.P. The series shows the M.P's as being tired, beleagured and stressed out largely thanks to the external unelected characters applying pressure to them and often making their performance far worse as a result. The exception I can think of would be the Miliband-type guy who swans around in the knowledge that he's the anointed heir to the throne.

[Blue Jam]

In the film I thought the Linton Barwick character was great, utterly charmless and unlikeable and the perfect foil for Malcolm, so "an absolute cunt character based on Andy Coulson" could work really well. I bet we're all wrong here and they've thought up something else entirely, they've got so much scope it feels like they can do no wrong.

Lots of real-world comparisons here, which real-life events do you think will be referenced? I'm guessing there'll be something on expenses, and I wouldn't be surprised if a minister says "twat" on the radio because a spin doctor secretly instructed them to do so.

[amputeeporn]

October?!

[Blue Jam]

More on Armando's sex'n'drugs'n'rock'n'roll past in today's Observer...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/aug/16/armando-iannucci-comedy-body-soul

...if gas and air counts. Love this quote:

I've never taken drugs... I've never thought, "Wouldn't it be great if I could get absolutely out of control mentally."

Hehehhe... I can definitely relate to that. The other day I was wondering why Iannucci never seemed to do those "This Much I Know"-style interviews, and suddenly there he was, doing one! Does the wee fella ever stop doing interviews though? We could have a whole thread full of them (oh hang on, we have several).

[wherearethespoons]

Does anyone have the series one script book (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thick-Armando-Iannucci/dp/0340937068/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250434069&sr=1-3)?

It says it includes extras and I was just wondering what that is, and if they're any good.

[Blue Jam]

Predictably I have it. The scripts from the two specials are in there too, but not the Opposition Extra for some reason. There is a nice introduction by Armando Iannucci and a section called Malcolm Tucker's Sent Items, full of various sweary email exchanges possibly written by Ian Martin. There are stills and photos too, I think that's it. It's worth getting, pretty cheap on Amazon Marketplace too.

Going back to Iannucci's politics nerdiness, I think he does respect or at least sympathize with the difficult job of being an M.P.

Oh totally, and Capaldi seems to have a similar respect for PRs, judging by the interviews. I hadn't thought about this before but I've been rewatching Absolute Power this week and if anything the portrayals of MPs and PRs in The Thick Of It are more sympathetic. Absolute Power makes them all look selfish and corrupt in a very smug and knowing manner, TTOI shows them as having limited power and allows them to explain their actions to some extent. That considered, the titles of those two series seem very apt.

[Blue Jam]

^^^ I can't edit that post now but this was the interview with Capaldi saying nice things about PRs. It was quite refreshing to read... and it reminded me of things Iannucci has said about weary politicians. I love Absolute Power but if the writers made a political satire it would probably feature politicians strutting about the corridors of power rubbing their hands and going "Mwahahahaha".

[Pylon Man]

Absolute Power makes them all look selfish and corrupt in a very smug and knowing manner, TTOI shows them as having limited power and allows them to explain their actions to some extent.

Quite similar to Yes Minister in that regard. On the point of Yes Minister, it seems this thread would be as good a place as any for drawing comparisons between the two. Obviously since the 80s the power of mandarins has decreased and the role of spin doctors massively increased, but it does seem slightly strange to me that there aren't any senior civil servants in TTOI at all, surely they have some influence even today? This article, about an MoD mandarin joining the boards of some helicopter companies after the MoD had some big deals with them, despite the confused title (it is the Daily Mail) sounds like exactly the sort of thing Sir Humphrey would do. As the article says though, the civil service is probably more in the hand of government than government in the hand of the civil service (as in Yes Minister).

Sorry if that was widly off topic, but it's an interesting topic, the business of government, although my interest is entirely influenced by these two sitcoms.

[Waking Life]

I need to re-watch Yes Minister, as it has been a few years since I've seen it and I now have the box set sitting there.

Certainly nowadays, I don't imagine Senior Civil Service exerting much influence over ministerial affairs.  A guy I worked with recently transferred to the Private Office and from what I understand, the civil servants who work there just carry out administrative support/management.  He's one grade off Senior Civil Service and think his main tasks are to write and research minister speeches, manage various staff and provide general support.  The Ministers are generally just accountable to parliament and the general public.

[Blue Jam]

Good question Pylon, I couldn't comment on it because the civil servants I know are all pretty junior and mainly work on things like road accident stats.

One thing I'd like to ask is why the enforcers- Malcolm, Jamie, Nick Hanway and Stuart Pearson- are all male. The Number 10 press office seems to be full of blokes too, and the only female press officers we see are civil servants. There are mentions of Fat Pat Morrissey ("Pumpkin Ticks") but we're never told what her exact role is. The "profession" is female-dominated, and in most press offices I've worked in the men have been outnumbered, so I'm wondering if political PR is different. I don't think it's a gender issue- the most ruthless and unscrupulous PRs I've met have been female- unless perhaps a female enforcer wouldn't be taken seriously by a male-dominated cabinet.

Is the "enforcer" role one that mainly attracts men, and are all the real-life enforcers male too? I can't name any female ones, but then again most PRs work hard to stay under the radar anyway. Is it because these enforcer-type PRs tend to be recruited from journalism, unlike say, Terri who was previously head of press at Waitrose?

Anyway, wouldn't it be great if Malcolm's new enemy was female? It would certainly make for an interesting dynamic.

^{damn, there's so much in this post which could look dodgy when taken out of context...}

[Saucer51]

I always thought that Malcolm Tucker was a male PR enforcer primarily so we would secretly identify shades of Alistair Campbell

A female one would be interesting. I think Magda the vulgar and morose magazine editor in Ab Fab (played by Kathy Burke) would be a great nemesis.

[Blue Jam]

I wasn't referring to Malcolm specifically, but to the fact that ALL of the enforcers are male. All the real-life ones I can name are also male, and I'm wondering why. Are there female enforcers we never hear about, or is there something keeping women away from these roles?

[Jemble Fred]

Thatcher was her own enforcer. With knives.

[Blue Jam]

Monkey glands. And she was mad.

[Blue Jam]

I wouldn't be surprised if a minister says "twat" on the radio because a spin doctor secretly instructed them to do so.

Ahahahahahaha...

[Blue Jam]

Looks like the last three episodes start filming soon, and that the Opposition will be in them: just noticed Will Smith is on Twitter and saw he's posted this in reply to this.

[neveragain]

What's Sarah Millican got to do with this?

Nothing, I hope.

[Languid]

Pleased to learn that Miles Jupp is definitely in this too.

[chand]

Looks like the last three episodes start filming soon, and that the Opposition will be in them: just noticed Will Smith is on Twitter and saw he's posted this in reply to this.

A mate of mine who works at the BBC in London just made this status update:

Tim is so excited that the Thick of It is being filmed in the office. Capaldi is in tomorrow!

[Blue Jam]

Looks like DoSAC will still be based in the same BBC building then. Thanks chand, now tell Tim to get in the huddle and send us updates every five. And to get someone standing by on Jamiewatch.

[Uncle TechTip]

Presumably this was what Richard Bacon was droning on about last night. A comedy programme was filming about the place and the newsreader got a part.