Television The Thick Of It

[alastair]

Judging by the trailer, there seems to be a new guy in place of Glenn, which would be a shame.

The essentials of Malcolm, Olly and Mannion are there though, and that's the main thing. Jamie wasn't in series 3 at all, and whilst I love him, it was still a success without him.

 

[CassiusClaymore]

On before MOTD on Saturday nights apparently.

Good slot.

 

[That'sHernandez]

That's me not going out on Saturdays for a while then, brilliant.

 

[R.N7]

Glenn is in it, working for the government

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-ra...olm?newsfeed=true#/?picture=395572305&index=0

 

[That'sHernandez]

Glenn switching sides seems out of character so hopefully they have a good reason for it in the hiatus backstory.

 

[Badunk]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-19518692

New clip

 

[Vooon]

I think I read somewhere that Jamie wasn't going to be in it.

Jamie needs to be in it, I love the episode where he's making everyone shit bricks in that call centre-ish environment.

Can't wait to see the new season, starting today I see.

Coupled with a new season of Peep Show this autumn's looking pretty good.

 

[eric le roi]

Malcolm is getting closer to Olly, a man he has abused for years and once called ‘feckbob Shitpants’.

 

[Tibs]

Cannot wait for this.

 

[Agent Red]

Bit disappointed to be honest. Was less subtle than usual, the new Lib Dem Minister particularly overdoing it I think.

Looking forward to next week with more of the old faces back.

 

[That'sHernandez]

Yeah, hopefully it'll pick up when Mal's back.

 

[Agent Red]

Yeah, hopefully it'll pick up when Mal's back.

Yep, Malcolm, Nicola and Ollie coming back will be good hopefully

 

[alastair]

If I just watched that having not seen any of TTOI before, I'd have found it one of the best comedies on TV right now.

That said, it obviously wasn't at its best, and the decision to leave most of the old guard out of the first episode was a little strange - previewing next week's show almost seemed to be telling the audience that, yes, Malcolm is coming back!

Stewart Pearson is still absolutely hilarious, and I love Phil and Peter Mannion. The Liberal isn't particularly funny, and clearly isn't the right actor for the part, and it all just seemed a little too forced at times, which is strange because the main strength of the show is how it seems relatively believable.

Still, some great one-liners again - the champagne bit with Mannion set me off - and I look forward to next week.

 

[Leg-End]

Yeah the Lib Dem dude wasn't good, I mean nobody can really judge on one episode but he was overacting and wasn't particularly believable in the role.

 

[eric le roi]

I think they're just setting the scene for Tucker to make a big come-back and bang a few heads together. Mannion is brilliant, as is Stewart Tucker, and Terri and Glenn on good form, but the rest I can take or leave. Malc et al. next week will be good.

 

[Badunk]

Loved it. Agree about the LibDem. However, they are a bunch of twats nobody likes in real life, so that part of his character was bang on.

 

[letranger0]

I discover this show a week ago, watch all the episodes, and get all excited about being able to follow the new season live, and the first episode I get to watch is probably the weakest of the show so far. Oh well, Malcolm is back next week so I'm sure the episode will be better.

 

[Agent Red]

Loved it. Agree about the LibDem. However, they are a bunch of twats nobody likes in real life, so that part of his character was bang on.

Just thought he was hamming it up a bit. Also, people might not like them in real life, but TTOI has always tried to make them a bit human so that it's more believable. This bloke just seemed a bit simplistic in that all he did was these ranty performances with no respite, a bit like he was trying to fill the Tucker role but it didn't quite work.

Hoping the opposition episodes will be a bit closer to their usual form.

 

[nemanja nemagic]

Just thought he was hamming it up a bit. Also, people might not like them in real life, but TTOI has always tried to make them a bit human so that it's more believable. This bloke just seemed a bit simplistic in that all he did was these ranty performances with no respite, a bit like he was trying to fill the Tucker role but it didn't quite work.

Hoping the opposition episodes will be a bit closer to their usual form.

The "butler on every street corner" rant from the LD minister was acted like and sounded as if it was lifted straight from Glenn's breakdown in the spinners and losers special. Poor choice for the role IMO

 

[Adzzz]

"feck you! You're not getting in my car tonight."

 

[Leg-End]

"He can’t even right click a fecking mouse!"

 

[alastair]

Peter Mannion is such a brilliantly conceived character. He's exactly how I imagine some of the older MPs dealing with the 'interactive' policies in meetings.

 

[That'sHernandez]

Mal

 

[R.N7]

"Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Cnut"

 

[kietotheworld]

Great episode, disappointing that they're going back to the government next week, the difference in quality between those episodes that feature Malcolm and those that don't (including Veep) is massive.

 

[Leg-End]

Goes up a level when Malc is heavily involved, I'm hoping it doesn't bounce back and forth all season and the two sides eventually blend.

The mental bird from Extras is a pretty good new character, better than the new Juniour Minister anyway.

 

[eric le roi]

Tucker's Star Wars synopsis

 

[eric le roi]

Great episode, disappointing that they're going back to the government next week, the difference in quality between those episodes that feature Malcolm and those that don't (including Veep) is massive.

I think the two strands will merge soon - Malcolm is just building up a head of steam, it won't be long before he has his finger in every pie.

 

[Scrumpet]

Was very funny. Though I did notice that Malcolm was always there, half the humour in previous seasons was waiting for him to turn up. I guess they've had to change that as he's only in half of the episodes (or so it seems at least).

 

[That'sHernandez]

Was very funny. Though I did notice that Malcolm was always there, half the humour in previous seasons was waiting for him to turn up. I guess they've had to change that as he's only in half of the episodes (or so it seems at least).

The difference is Malcolm isn't the boss now, Nicola is his employer so you can't wait around for him to come and bollock her because it's not really his station any more.

 

[That'sHernandez]

I still laugh thinking about the scene where they're talking about "Quiet Batpeople" and Malcolm with a look of disdain on his face excuses himself to make a phonecall.

 

[Mockney]

The step up from the opposition (now actually not the opposition) episode and the regular cast episode was huge. It looks like it's going to be essential viewing every other week at this rate.

Quiet Bat People, the All British Supremes, Tinker Tailor Soldier cnut, Malcolm's description of Star Wars, all brilliant.

 

[Brophs]

I didn't think it was quite as good as normal, though it's still miles ahead of most things on tv at the moment. But I'd agree that it was far better than the first episode, which seemed a bit slapsitck-y for my liking.

 

[Mockney]

I agree they'll merge. The (not the) opposition don't work as well on their own, but work really well when they interact, like in the 5 Live ep in series 3. Their problem is that bar Mannion, none of them are particularly interesting characters. Phil's a one note posh idiot, Emma's a lightweight Ollie and Stuart, whilst a relatively good character, just isn't Malcolm.

Presumably they dropped the whole "The fecker" idea because he was too much like a mini-Malcolm? (or because Tom Hollander was doing Rev)...But then Jamie's a mini-Malcolm and he basically works. They should get Jamie working for the Lib Dems or something...Somehow.

Not that it can't work without Mal though. One of my favorite parts of the whole series is still the bit in the very first episode where Chris Langham is trying to explain that the story about a story leaked by a disgruntled civil servant was actually a story leaked by a disgruntled civil servant.

 

[Drainy]

Presumably they dropped the whole "The fecker" idea because he was too much like a mini-Malcolm?

yeah, I'm glad though. In the 5 mins we saw of 'the fecker' I could tell that he wasn't a very good character. When Malcolm is bollocking someone at least he's clever about it, 'the fecker' seemed to be all about interrupting people in a stupid voice..

 

[alastair]

Stuart is a very underrated character. He gets me crying with laughter at some of his lines. 'Are you an Ameri-can or an Ameri-can't? 'Let's try to neutralise some negatives.' I'm laughing just thinking about them. His argument with Malcolm at BBC Five Live last series was one of TTOI's most legendary scenes.

 

[Mockney]

AmeriCan/AmeriCan't is a very old joke. The 5 Live ep was great.

 

[Vooon]

Stuart is a very underrated character. He gets me crying with laughter at some of his lines. 'Are you an Ameri-can or an Ameri-can't? 'Let's try to neutralise some negatives.' I'm laughing just thinking about them. His argument with Malcolm at BBC Five Live last series was one of TTOI's most legendary scenes.

Yeah, he's good, definitely, that scene when everything goes nuclear at the radio station is the best single scene in all of the series in my opinion.

I like the show so far, it is different for sure, and they'll hopefully merge the action in a few episodes to get Malcolm into the middle of the action - he really is the glue of the series. The plotting against Nicola looks promising.

 

[alastair]

Yup, I'm interested in seeing Malcolm and Ollie conspiring together to oust her. Dan Miller has the potential to be a funny character too.

That Five Live episode is the best one ever, for me. So many quotable lines in there. I first watched it on Iplayer and I had to keep pausing it to give me breaks to laugh.

 

[That'sHernandez]

Mannion's meltdown.