Iannucci pens Boris Johnson/COVID satire

[Menu]

Thank you, I still feel shitty about writing a bad review (and the one I posted on my blog was much shorter, it was still a 1 star review but I edited out some of my angrier moments), but eh, I doubt anyone involved with the production will see it and if they did I hope its clear I thought the cast were great, and it's Iannucci I'm angered by.

I still think everything up to The Thick Of It and In The Loop is pretty amazing*, but I only ever watched a couple of episodes of Veep, thought The Death Of Stalin was good (and the cast were amazing) but not great, and I didn't really get on with Avenue 5, some episodes were better than others, and I only watched the first season, but I found it mildly amusing but also sometimes mildly irritating.


*I mean the main shows he's famous for, I've no real recollection of Gash, and went to one recording of Charm Offensive but never listened to it on the radio.

Gash was terrible, so he's always had the potential to produce sub-par work. Veep is very good though, you should try to see it. Basically the same writing team as Avenue 5 so I don't get why the latter as so mediocre. My own theory is there were too many characters and too many locations. They needed to simplify it a bit - at least in the first season.

[Menu]

Iannucci's politics have always been warmed over centrism perfectly in keeping with the sort of comedian incapable of any truly biting satire.

It was probably not as glaringly obvious earlier on though it was still quite evident for anyone wishing to see it. Typically, he wasn't treated that way, however.

It certainly seems reasonable enough that some people might look backwards with this more in their minds and that they might see more continuity than not.

In a few years, people coming across his material might very well see it routinely as being all a very closely related body of work and centrist pablum not very dissimilar from how many people today view something like Yes, minister.

Is it possible you are confusing a man's (alleged)politics with the quality of his work? It's quite a limiting worldview.

[Menu]

He's had such a strong record of creative success overall - The Day Today, Partridge, The Thick of It, Veep, Death of Stalin - that I can't get too exercised about his occasional failures. His political views are irrelevant to this.
Who has been more successful in the last thirty years?

Jeremy Corbyn.

[MojoJojo]

In all likelihood this was one of Lee and Herring's contributions, borne of their time as jobbing commix in awful writers' rooms.

If you hear them talking about trying to write for Week Ending, it's obvious it's the inspiration to the OTH sketch.

[Virgo76]

Is it possible you are confusing a man's (alleged)politics with the quality of his work? It's quite a limiting worldview.

True enough. The main argument against him seems to be that he isn't Corbyn-ite enough.

[Famous Mortimer]

True enough. The main argument against him seems to be that he isn't Corbyn-ite enough.

Both reading and understanding are quite difficult, true.

[Brundle-Fly]

...isn't Corbyn-ite enough.

Tread carefully, child.

[notjosh]

The adoration of Malcolm Tucker is probably a great signifier of how empty and unserious our political setup is. He's so clearly meant to be a terrible cunt, someone who values shallow image over any form of political principle, and who actively perpetuates that culture. His overriding goal at all times is to keep hold of his proximity to power, just for the sake of it, and his claims that this is so he is able to help improve the country is repeatedly shown to be hollow insincere bullshit. It couldn't be made any clearer in In The Loop where he openly discusses supporting The Sun hounding a mentally ill MP in his own party in order to ruin her chances at achieving mental health reform - and then later threatens to use those same powers to hound Simon Foster to suicide for making the most vaguely principled stand of resigning over what's essentially the Iraq war. It's hardly subtext, and yet the general view of the show seems to be "oh that brilliant Malcolm Tucker holding all those useless politicians to account - the country would be so much better if we had him in the government!!!"

Yes, his character was definitely presented as more brilliantly Machiavellian and borderline heroic as the series went on (something that became a lot easier when he was in opposition). The only character capable of articulating the utter venality of everyone around him - even if it was because he was the worst offender. Everyone makes the Alastair Campbell comparison, but I would be surprised if Dominic Cummings didn't look upon him as a hero and an influence.

As much as I think it's a brilliantly constructed show, I do worry that TTOT may have had a genuine detrimental effect on politics in this country. In fact, here are my thoughts on this issue from waaaay back in April 2020...

doodleoodledoodleoodle....

I actually think that The Thick of It made politics worse. In advancing the criticism that modern political discussion tends to revolve purely around image and firefighting gaffes, it actually reinforced this behaviour.

It meant that when Ed Miliband made a funny face while eating a bacon sandwich ("like an episode of The Thick of It!") it was seen as some kind of major fuck-up, and evidence of his unsuitability as a leader. Or when a letter fell off the wall behind Theresa May at a speech ("like an episode of The Thick of It!"), the blue tick brigade was convinced this signalled the end of her premiership and the public would now turn their back on conservatism in droves.

Now, with the UK and US led by two of the most gaffe-prone PR-disasters in history, it is clear that a majority of voters never gave a fuck about any of this. So we are simply told that politics has become 'too stupid to satirise'.

Has it? Or were they just aiming at the wrong targets all along? In avoiding any discussion of genuine ideology and presenting politics as just a parade of fuck-ups and gotchas, we were essentially told to accept Hanlon's Razor - never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity. Except that there was and is malice in Westminster, and The Thick of It completely failed to examine it.

I do still love it though. Probably cos of all the naughty words and that.

[extraordinary walnuts]

I've often thought that The Day Today ended up making real news programming worse. Something should be done about this Iannucci cunt

[BlodwynPig]

Armando Iannucci is absolute garbage and that extended review confirms it yet again.

Much like I wrote in the Gervais thread, I never cared for Iannucci at all but those of you who did, have you gone back and looked at his work and attempted to square what you feel now with what you may have liked at the time?

Time Trumpet is the work of a baby Hitler

[extraordinary walnuts]

This got a lovely big tongue bath in the Guardian today. I know which review I believe! (not the Guardian's)

[idunnosomename]

Brian Logan has a strong reputation for being an inverse weathervane