The Thick of It Season 1 Episode 3 Abbots Two Houses Reaction

[@adamcashin4021]

The entire first series (all three episode) was made for only £100k and aired on BBC's new (at the time) 'high brow' channel BBC4; which mainly aired repeats of old documentaries and had only a tiny budget to create new content. This is why the series is so short at only three episodes. It was shot in vacant offices to save money, there is a very small cast and hardly even any extras, so most of the action is set after 5pm when most of the civil servants have left for the day, or takes place in a separate meeting room. The series was a success and a second series of three more episodes were commissioned on a higher budget, and actually aired within months of the first series. (S1 May 2005, S2 Oct 2005). Unfortunately the actor that plays Hugh Abbot, Chris Langham, was arrested just after S2 aired, which delayed S3 from progressing on BBC4. Instead BBC2 repeated all six episodes from S1 and 2 and it was here that the show became successful. Two Hour long 'Specials' premiered on BBC2 in 2007, ironically the specials were actually longer than the series. The move to BBC2 significantly increased the budget, leading to a much larger cast and different locations. The success lead to the Movie 'In the Loop' in 2009 which featured most of the same cast playing different characters, save for Peter Capaldi continuing as Tucker. S3 also debuted in Oct 2009, with 8 whole episodes (doubling the number of episodes). In the Loop lead to Creator Iannucci and most of the writers launching 'Veep' in America. The final 4th series on the Thick of It, aired the same year in 2012. This series had 7 episodes, but one ran for an hour giving the same run time as S3. This Series was always intended to be the last and wrapped up the story.

[@rudolphclancy8293]

Yeah, and the two specials keep Hugh off-screen before he's replaced in a cabinet reshuffle.

[@James-ju4gj]

I knew Langham's son well and met the man himself many times as a child. Always gives me chills looking back

[@FurQ69]

"Chris Langham, was arrested" I will fill in the gap for you Chris Langham, was arrested for having hundreds of images of CP which he claimed was for "Research".

[@JackRascal]

We were really spoiled when we were getting 7 reactions a week, weren't we? Really enjoy these.

[@AfterWorkReactions]

Unfortunately, blocks have gotten harder to get around.

[@eggboundanddown9851]

​@@AfterWorkReactionskeep grinding brother, enjoy yer shit 👍👌

[@Jigsawn2]

This is a show that gets better the longer it goes on and the special episode between series is a masterclass bit of TV. For a bit of context because I haven't seen many other comments on this: yes Malcolm is the communications head for the party, but he is heavily inspired by the real life figure Alistair Campbell, who was Prime Minister Tony Blairs head of communications (Campbell is Scottish as well and was known for being a fearsome, nasty guy just like Malcolm). The slang for this role is 'spin doctor' because it's their job to spin media and politics in favour of their prime minister/party. So in this era the spin doctors had a lot of power in their parties and did lots of dubious shit just like you see Malcolm doing to twist things or fix PR problems. They answer directly to the PM but also shield them from a lot of crap that they never get to know about, and act almost like a party whip in strongarming/threatening other politicians to get the results that work best for them/the party/the PM, and as you see in the show can just get people fired or promoted on a whim. So although its not super clear because of the low budget of the show, Malcolm is actually a very powerful player in politics and has the PMs ear, and pretty much has carte blanche to do whatever he wants to keep people in line. Series 2 is quite a bit better and funnier, looking forward to it!

[@gohumberto]

The series matures beautifully. I assume anyone working in government or associated departments, from London to Peru, will recognise this.

[@jimmy2k4o]

The show gets better and better as it goes on. Don’t forget the specials between season 2 and 3. They were written and made round about the time that Tony Blair resigned. So they’re kinda a commentary on that.

[@Jigsawn2]

Yeah I just watched this show recently all the way through and the specials are truly brilliant!

[@danshaggy292]

He actually did miss them when he was reacting on Patreon, he went back to them after he'd done the first episode of Season 3

[@barblessable]

Consistently, caustically, witty writing, Rebecca Front is a good addition to the excellent cast .

[@jimmy2k4o]

@@barblessable Rebecca Front, did she play Edwina Miliband? Or whatever her character’s name was…..she’s she was a comic genius and really authentic. She’s a disastrous minister like Hugh Abbott, but disastrous in a totally different way. Afterall we know in Britain’s politics there’s a diverse spectrum of incompetent one can be.

[@barblessable]

@@jimmy2k4o NICOLA MURRAY , was the character she played .

[@malcolmbell5266]

Season 2 is even better and Malcolm gets even more vicious. If memory serves me right all other seasons are 6 episode long

[@kenny832]

American version of this (that came after) by the same creator (Armando Iannucci) is “Veep” about the US Vice President & is also hilarious

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

MALCOLM, THE SCOT, SWEARS LIKE A TRUCK DRIVER!!! THERE'S ANOTHER SCOT WHO SWEARS MORE THAN HIM!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@retrowatches1655]

Jimmy crankie?

[@michael_177]

Whoa whoa, If the Thick of it is on Patreon, I'm re-joining RIGHT NOW

[@dbfoxybrown]

Love this show..Well written. Malcom is the harsh one.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

This series came after movie "IN THE LOOP" HILARIOUS!!!! JAMES GANDOLFINI PLAYS A GENERAL, HYSTERICALLY FUNNY!!👍👍👍👍👍

[@stevemoppett2759]

Again, no it didn't. You don't have Google where you live?

[@hesmanification]

Best comedy of all time imho

[@charlesbrown4941]

Missed the main bollocking.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

MINISTER, HUGH...IS CLUELESS!!!! AS MOST ARE!!! THEIR STAFFS KNOW FAR MORE WHAT'S GOING ON!!!! ERGO, IN THE THICK OF IT!!!!! DIRECTOR, IRANATU, GENIUS!!! HE DIRECTED "THE REVERENT", " BIRDMAN" OSCAR WINNERS!!!

[@esinach]

Are you a troll? Every one of these videos, is you just typing the same nonsense. The director of this is Armando Ianucci who created UK tv comedies The Day Today and Alan Partridge. He is Scottish. Who you are referring to is Alejandro Iñárritu who is Mexican. Jeez.

[@danshaggy292]

Wow

[@richjay1565]

​@@danshaggy292ignore the mong. Absolute embarrassment to all us British people.

[@cynthiaschultheis1660]

I actually tweeted an episode to Trump...to show him how chaotic politics are!!!! Evidently, he never saw it and has kept his mouth open, with his large foot in it since 2016!!!!!.😵😵😵😵😵😵😵😵