Current to do list looks like this for the record: He Who Moans Fury from the deep animated (arrived the other day, still in its sellophane - kinda scared to watch it) Review of The Haunting of Hill House - also wanna do Bly Manor when I've seen it Class 12 for Halloween obvs Video about The Brass Eye special He Who Moans editorial asking why the fans always blame the showrunner for literally everything - I've tackled this topic in places before but I wanted a unified thinkpiece Also thinking about doing a HWM on Brain of Morbius since its now the most important episode ever
Oh that's an idea - cause thinking about it, Bigfinish's significantly massive additions to the gap between planet of fire and caves of androzani will have totally changed the context
One little thing - Malcom set a lot of Nicola Murray's problems up himself, because he didn't think she was good for the government. The biggest example is the "I am bent" one, where he actually made a small (almost missable) suggestion to Terry that Nicola should stand in that certain position.
He set up the I Am Bent thing to put her in her place when she refused to deal with either her husband's conflict of interest or to put her daughter in a comp. Malcolm told her to pick one scandal only and when she didn't, he showed her a taste of what the press would be like without his protection. It was strategic, he wanted her cowed and compliant not ruined. It wasn't until the fourth series when she's leader of the opposition that he writes her off as unelectable and deliberately sabotages her (for the good of the party, as he saw it).
I think what your analysis misses is that in The Thick of It, the government it mostly satirised was a Labour one, which are much more likely to get ripped apart by the press because of how screamingly right-wing our tabloids are. The Independent, the Mirror, and the Guardian are the only major papers that aren't openly biased towards the Tories, so that party always gets a much easier ride in the press. Boris Johnson can literally say that he doesn't care if bodies pile up in the streets, and it means nothing because the Tory press will just ignore it and bang on about how woke feminists want to ban steak pies, or some other inane shit like that. Even out of government, the Labour party, and other opposition parties, get absolutely hammered over the slightest thing. Just think about how badly Ed Miliband was brutalised for eating a bacon sandwich a bit weird, or how Jeremy Corbyn was eviscerated for saying that he didn't think that using nuclear bombs was a good idea.
Maybe they could do like an opposite of The Thick of It - a bunch of politicians actively trying to get involved in scandals to stay relevant... That could be interesting. ('The It of Thick', if you will.)
And genuinely relevant given that both the leaders of USA and Britain act stupid on purpose to an extent to distract from things (reports of Johnson messing up his hair before speaking to a reporter, Trump sometimes being pleased when something he's said causes outrage)
Imagine Malcom Tucker tackling the events of Children of Earth instead of John Frobisher... 4:57 Also funny that the first time Capaldi's Doctor used Psychic Paper made a reference to The Thick Of It.
Slight clarification: 2:55. Minor scandals do not matter...if you're on the political right. Major ones don't either. If you're on the left. *Imaginary* scandals are used to destroy you.
Well, yes. Speaking as a non-Brit living in the UK, your press is howlingly right-wing, low-brow, and as yellow as they come. I have been in the UK since 2014, and I dont think that such scandals mattered to the right-wing even before. Now, if you are a Labour politician and try to eat a sandwich...
Mate , scandals are reported on against everyone Is there bias ? Yea. Because EVERYONE HAS BIAS.....so what? It's how a party deals with it is how a party comes off looking better or worse The press can screech and moan all they like about ,but it never really changes a thing.
This is true. Boris has said all kinds of racist things in the past and its not affected him at all. Compare that to Corbyn who faced a relentless smear campaign because of his support for Palestine.
It's funny how we recently got GB news, a vaguely right wing controlled opposition news outlet, and yet, all the other supposedly centrist and supposedly unbiased media outlets are in an outcry about it and wanting to shut GB down. Yes, our media is so right wing biased. LOL
I agree the storylines have certainly aged The Thick Of It however I can certainly still enjoy them as sitcom storylines rather than something that could actually happen. Some of the things that the Tories actually do would be considered unrealistic if they happened on The Thick Of It which is just mental... depressing because they’re running the country but still mental.
Covid 19 has made things even worse. You have people arguing over whether the virus is even real, or the vaccine is safe. Politicians can claim that they were too busy to notice that their own department awarded their own sister's company (that they own 25% of) million pound contracts and people will say that they have been fantastic at rolling out a vaccine... that they didn't develop, administer or even pay for (the cost is added to the national debt that the public has to pay back)
I think the premise of the thick of it would work nowadays but only with a non Tory government. These minor candles are catastrophic to labour, Libdem, green, etc because of the media tearing them apart but I think cos everyone expects the Tories to be twats they ignore everything they do and vote purely on matters such as brexit or immigration
I can only speak to the American experience and not the British one, but I get a similar feeling looking at seasons of the West Wing. Watching old episodes where verbal slip-ups and the appearance of impropriety does massive damage to the administration has rendered that show even more of an oddly idealized version of politics than it was at the time of its airing. In the digital era of various famous figures of all stripes have old dubious quotes constantly brought up and both parties can easily point to events that make the other look bad, its makes plots where so a person connected to the White House has an unflattering interview or statement seem almost like stealth comedy. It comes across as so divorced from the actual reality today it practically renders it into high concept show retroactively.
What if it is time to revive the show? I can imagine a whole different take on Marcolm where he wanders around bemused and depressed in an obsolete role whilst the rest of the cabinet swan around getting into brazen scandal after brazen scandal
i think the key point here is that the thick of it focuses, for the most part, on the labour party. even now, i don't think labour could get away with, well, much more than they've faced--and as it is, they're not quite looking healthy at the moment. but the tories? they've brought us to expect this crap from them. imho they're judged by different standards
Same here in the U.S. There's no accountability at all and no matter what horrible, inhuman shit our politicians do or say---like supporting or taking part in an insurrection--they continue to have political careers.
I think the show could be revived because all the reasons you said in video . It could talk about how much the political landscape has changed sense the show has finished
Just going to pretend that Christopher Eccleston doesn't exist then? (Or John Hurt?) That said. I liked The Thick of It and I'm the only person in my group of friends that even knows it exists :D
@@Unethical.Dodgson Okay, John Hurt is an odd one, fair enough, you can have that one. Christopher Eccleston is most associated with Doctor Who among people I know, though I've also heard people mention Fortitude and Let him have it as well (Which is brilliant by the way), so I could accept that too.
@@Unethical.Dodgson What is Eccelston famous for? I genuinely have no idea. John Hurt is a film star who made a special one off appearance, that doesn't really count.
I actually really liked series 1. Chris Langham was so good as Hugh Abbot and Tucker was hilarious in it as well. I thought the episodes were really funny. But tbh, each series is great.
He was pretty great, I did prefer Rebecca Front though, watching her just get mauled by the Political System, and get backstabbed and doing the backstabbing, herself, was incredibly entertaining. She's also not a paedophile, which helps.
Belge Belgravia, I preferred Hugh Abbot just because of how realistically tired and depressed you could tell he was, which made way for some of the funniest moments in my opinion
Only minor political affairs don't matter? I live in a country where event the huge supposedly carreer ending problems do shit and even improve your election results. Our prime minister has been criminally prosecuted for the last 4 years, he's the 2nd richest person in the country and the owner of a huge state subsidy driven conglomerate thus in a massive conflict of interest. When facing the prosecution, he fired the minister of justice and replaced him with his friend and suddenly the charges were postponed indefinitely. The people held a largest protest since the end of communism against him and he just laughed in their faces and said it's a campaign from the opposition and all of 100 000 people were bribed to protest by them. In the coronavirus crisis, he's more concerned about maintaining profit of his own company than anything else. He just gave some money from the state budget to pensioners literally as a "compensation for being afraid of the coronavirus" and definitely doesn't have anything to do with elections we hold next week and pensioners are his most loyal voters. And do you know what all did to his political status?? SHIT, TOTAL SHIT. It just strengthened his preferences from 29,5% to 31% (for comparison the next party has roughly 12%)
This essay is absolutely on the money. TTOI was/is my favourite british comedy for its original peek under the curtain, reality meets bizarrity and the use of septic, violent and colourful dialogue that was like poetry. Shame that politics has taken a leaf out of the sports world where player empowerment (in this case minister empowerment) where they can knock a few shots down in a nightclub with a tie around their head and still receive votes in the next election. Key word. Tribalism. Politics should never be treated like a football team where they can do no wrong in your eyes. With that, we are doomed for decades of middle england voting the tories in because it's the 'only way they can keep affording that second land rover discovery'.
I see your point, these tory mp's seem to always have something in the papers about them, but that was from a time when the Tories were on the front foot, but the series is (from malcolm tuckers perpective) is about a government - and then opposition - that's always on the back foot, from 2005-2007 (end of the blair era) 2007-2010 (gordon brown's crawl to defeat), and 2010 onwards. However, in the labour party, the accusations of anti semitism caused Jeremy corbyn to resign, and that scandal still looms over his head today , as he runs as an independent candidate.
I always thought The Thick of It was merely a sweary updating of Yes, Minister/Yes, Prime Minister. Both series were extremely pleased with their send-ups of the foibles and inconguity of political behaviour without realising that the real thing was so much more venal, self-serving and downright stupid. Like you say, Malcolm Tucker's foul-mouthed rages were completely out of proportion to the problems he was dealing with. Similiarly, Sir Humphrey's slimy, supposedly Machiavellian manipulation of Jim Hacker seemed like a lot of wasted energy when he could have just made sure that everyone did their jobs competently (or at least less badly). Good video - we are indeed living in a post-satire age (not only a post-truth one).
The characters in the Thick of It could not possibly be more venal and self-serving. Pettiness and jockeying for position occupies 99.99% of their time, where policy and accomplishment is a distant afterthought. Malcolm is the only person who seems to care about the party for its own sake and have genuine loyalty to it, but his focus is solely on keeping the party in power rather than helping to ensure they actually do anything useful or have any moral hard lines- he considers that not his department. The only time in the series someone does something entirely unselfish for no ulterior motive strictly because it's the right thing, it's Peter Mannion refusing to use Nicola's daughter's expulsion against her. And he's immediately punished for it. Like, nothing has ever managed as honest a depiction of politics as shallow and downright stupid. I don't think more cynicism than TTOI has is actually possible without turning into a drama about the rise of fascism. Yes, Minister was about overpowered and byzantine bureaucracy stymieing the ability of government to make meaningful change. That was the whole point. If it was just about a fair and dedicated civil servant trying his best to get everyone to do their job properly... it wouldn't be a satire, would it.
A depressing but unavoidable observation. And it's even worse in the States. I remember when Democratic presidential frontrunners eliminated themselves from contention by PR gaffes like emitting one weird noise during their rally speech, or having a photo taken with a bikini model sitting on their lap. Imagine.
My national Broadcaster recently started streaming the series, so I'm only now getting into it. Loving it, but it's hard to believe the lofi season 1 I'm watching is the same as those clean looking Season 3 clips you showed.
Serious question: Does anybody else wonder if Donald Trump and Boris Johnson have some kind of bet going, to see who can do more harm to their respective countries, while being overtly stupid about it, and still have a job?
I don't know. Do you think anyone is having a bet as to how many times Joe Biden can forget who he is, where he is and what he's doing, on live TV, before the media will start to question his ability? LOL
I agree that series 3 is the best jumping on point though the specials are my go to and I think S4 is the best series. Have you given any thought to checking out Veep (hope that's its name) ?
I think people had a similar view of Yes Prime Minister when The Thick of It first came out, it looked positively quaint in comparison to this new sweary edgy portrayal of British politics, but I still find both shows funny, just within the context of when they took place.
Man i too late on your subscribers party. I'm always finding all these unpopular great channels too late. Keep up on this, it's actually worthy to doing.
@@Damo2690 Nah let's face it. It's English politics. Wales is just along for the ride and Scotland is essentially doing its own thing. It's English at this point. With Wales in tow.
So it's run into the American Satire problem: when real life gets too stupid, satire no longer works. It's why movies like Office Space and shit like The West Wing/The US Office/office comedy in general ages like blue cheese in the wake of CEO fuckery and Donald Trump's Trumpiness. Like, it's almost cute to watch Office Space in the Year of Elon 2023 and laugh at how soul-crushing Initech is supposed to be.
That's another thing that Br'exit has fucked up then, the Thick of It. The show revolved around credible yet simple incidents being exploited and exaggerated and turned into full blown scandals, and since it's departure, ludicrous and incredible stunts of sheer incompetence do not have an impact at all. Unless you're in the Labour party.
I blame wholy the 4th estate for our current affairs. Mr. Johnstone, after all was bourne of the press and his administration still has plenty of chums in that institution. It's been a veritable revolving door.
@@Stubagful I get that lol. Your point about Thick of It applies to it too, but most scandals feel prescient of something that's happened since and it's a good time
@@Stubagful "Veep" pretty much starts as an American version of "The Thick of It," and ends with a truly sickeningly dark final season that's absolutely gut-wrenching to watch. Especially with hindsight, seeing the show move steadily towards the Trump era really shows how we got to where we are now, and ends up playing like a Greek tragedy. I'd definitely check it out while it still feels contemporary, before it inevitably ends up looking nostalgic and quaint in ten years' time.
Great video! To be honest, I think a lot of what you mention was already increasingly apparent in S4, when political life started imitating art within days of episodes airing (what with leaks and silicon playgrounds etc.) And thinking about it, it's clear that the Thick of It ended the only way it could - with the 'worst' characters left in charge of a political machine that is becoming more ludicrous by the day - which is exactly what has happened in real life. Whilst Armando Ianucci can't predict the future, I suspect he left the Thick of It where he left it as he saw the way the wind was blowing. As much as I love the Thick of It, this video is right- since 2016, the Thick of It seems far too tame and dare I say optimistic to be believable in 2021, particularly compared to the antics of the May and Johnson Cabinets. Who needs The Thick of It when we have the news? We are living in it!
Stubagful- Listen- You Have to listen to 8th Doctor Time War Vol 4- The opening story is one of the best things- if not the best thing- they have Ever put out!
I wonder if this principle applies to Veep, i always thought that show had another edge because so much of the commentary being about sexism in politics.
Episode one of the first series was sort of boring. Episodes two and three were better, series 2 has Jamie so what more can you ask for? Almost at series 3.
The Boris "hiding" in a fridge story was disingenuous press nonsense anyway. Food factory fridges like that have multiple access doors to other departments, so it was actually used as a short cut.
Nah in fairness he was hiding there. He didn't go anywhere else. He dropped in there. Had a chat with his minders and came back out with a few bottles of milk from the freezer. It's not rocket science. It's not like anyone was implying that there was a small house-fridge and he just closed himself in for the night. Boris legitimately wanted to avoid the press at that time. A short reprieve was what he got. In fact the hubbub about it was overblown but he didn't use it as a fucking short cut.
I'd love to see a sequel or soft reboot where he's fired for sucking at his job because in moderntimes, he's taking unnecessary action over pointless shit and wasting time and money, and then he becomes a political extremist who tries to get the politicians fired just because he fucking despises them
i mean, like watching back the series the obvious contrivance is the weird fantasy that the tv spin doctor man is actually the one running the whole show, a premise so ridiculous that only a tv writer could come up with it. the reality is that spin doctors were never that important simply because media and the state are frequently on the same team and act together more often than they're at odds with each other. now that alt media has become super prominent, scandals are more pronounced. it's not a degradation of politics, they were always kind of a sham, it's a degradation of the media landscape as they struggle to keep relevance. also ianucci really shows his limits in how he portrays british politics, stuff like populism totally flies over his head. really the thing that is at most odds with reality is that everyone in the thick of it is some sort of unlikeable smarmy bookish technocrat. on second thought, maybe it really is a product of its time lol.
I think you could do an In the Thick of it type show but with the american political climate instead. Have a set of civil servants losing their shit over a set of insane things trump says and does.
It is impossible to satirise Trump. You literally cannot exaggerate. Nothing is more ridiculous than the shit he actually says and does. If you put this stuff in a comedy, it'd be too unrealistic and wouldn't work.
@@trinityj1 Yeah agree tbh. Having reflected on it and grown older a little - real life really is far too absurd to satarise. Especially in that shows like in the thick of it rely, I think, on the civilities of British culture to sell the comedy. Politicians saying stupid shit is funny from a 2000's British perspective where we're very used to our particular mannerisms and codes of engagement. Of course, that doesn't particularly hold up so more.
Yeah, I didn't really understand why he said that. I recently watched series 1 and 2 (without knowing about Chris Langham's conviction) and found it really enjoyable. I thought - despite what Stubagful thinks of the underwhelming scandals, there was something about how out of touch with the public the politicians were presented as (not getting the little Britain references, the DVD to watch popular media, the "normal people" scene, etc) that really seemed to hit the nail on the head.
They were trying to make an updated Yes Minister in my view. Also, too much cursing for the sake of it... and what was with the shaky camera work?! It's a pass from me.
