The Thick of It

[argumentativefeminist]

Please tell me theres other people out there also still overly invested in TTOI who want to swap theories/swear a lot/discuss trivia? 🤞🤞

Oh yes, I've come across that pairing suggested a few times... each to their own! But I genuinely do like the way they are together; going from utterly at each other's throats (well, as much as Julius ever does that kind of thing, in his steadfast way) to those moments like the famous 'onion bhaji' scene, where they understand each other and the world they work in, and Julius is true to his word with the report.

I've been trying to avoid asking this but I need to canvas opinion...

Malcolm: "Sam, do you think you could manage to get me a decent cup of coffee? Thank you. Try not to drip in it"
Jamie: 😳looks around a little confused

Does Malcolm mean... in that way?

Oh gosh, I thought that the other day! On the one hand, I thought I must be misinterpreting it, as it's not the kind of thing he'd usually say to Sam... anyone else, but not her! But then again, it is a very 'Malcolm' line. I came down on the side of he did mean it in that way, maybe forgetting who he was talking to!

It's Jamie's reaction that swings me towards "Malc knew exactly what he was doing and meant it 😏". He looks exactly like me when I accidentally hear too much about my friend's sex lives.

I've found my people! I've rewatched it this week for the billionth time.
Malcolm Tucker is a literary genius, I still laugh out loud at 'a face like Dot Cotton licking piss off a nettle'. But I thick Mannion may actually be my favourite ever, 'I have a note from my mom, I have a verruca' 😂
Oh how I wish they'd come back and do a few brexit specials because some of the actual events of this omnishambles sound as though they are made up anyway!

I would adore to see Phil as Boris Johnson. Ollie would make an exceptional George Osborne actually.

I know Armando has said no more, as he could never make up something as crazy as what is actually happening, but I always will live in hope. Always!

Just had a thought after what was said about Julius calling Malcolm 'Malc', which is fairly friendly and familiar... with Jamie he goes to the other extreme, calling him James, which always seemed more 'Julius' to me. I think he's a brilliant character.

2ducks Welcome! Roger's delivery as Peter is exceptional, isn't it? He makes me laugh with the simplest of words.

I could use so many of the phrases from this show at work on a daily basis, mainly nmfop, or tickety, fuckity boo, or come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off. Problem is, I work in a primary school office so absolutely none of those phrases are appropriate! I have to say them in my head frequently. We also had staff training last year and I laughed the whole way through it because it was just like the away day and, I kid you not, we had to say 'yes' after everyone's suggestions for improvement. I had to add the 'and ho' under my breath.
The time Terri wore trainers for the first time cracks me up as does the time she sees Malcolm and says 'ooh Malcolm, you look tired' and he replied 'you look incompetent'. Thee are so many absolute gems, I could go on all day.

"You're supposed to be a civil servant, not a fucking playgroup assistant" will probably feature heavily in my future "getting ready for work" inner monologues.

@bychoiceornot I got two ticks! That was fun!

Excellent!

The playgroup assistant line gets me every time. Also just the image of Terri in those trainers... something about her just makes it even funnier than it should be.

2ducks Those training days... I am never surprised when they come up in sitcoms and satire, the things they have you do and say... it must have been so hard not to either add 'and ho!' to the end, or to do a Peter and just rant at them!

Terri and her toothpaste trainers is going to be me running for the last train to Whitehall I can get before I'll be late due to some acceptably mockumentary-esque morning disaster that Malcolm would refer to as a "monumental fuckup" and also something about poo or cocks. 😂

Been musing on the dynamic between Malcolm and Jamie in Rise of The Nutters, from that first moment where they appear to hound Ollie and Emma.

And when they both enter the room to meet with Julius; no words spoken as Julius does his introduction, but the Scots have this great way of showing how they are in control, with Jamie disrupting Julius by throwing Malcolm the folder, then sitting himself intimidatingly close to Julius, then the note passing, Malcolm’s little smirk at Jamie turning into a teenager as he sits behind Julius and makes crude gestures etc… brilliant!

One my favourite moments of the entire series is their attempt to pin Julius down on the PM’s departure date, and the relentless back and forth, especially Jamie with his calendar.

As characters, I just adore them both. Obviously in the real world they’d be pretty hateful people, all childish and intimidating and unprofessional, but damn, they are great entertainment! And Alex is wonderful of course, the way he just keep talking, reacting then coming back to his point about the legacy, trying to stay calm and professional.

I'm always surprised when I remember that Alex was only in his early 30s when he started the show.

One of my favourite scenes of the whole thing too bychoice! Jamie and Malcolm are just so funny together although I agree I'd probably find them annoying in real life 😂😂

This is so interesting and explains the slight changes in Malcolm halfway through that I'd never really been able to pin down before:

Peter met Alistair Campbell only after the first six episodes had been shown, and he studied his behaviour carefully.

"I noticed that he talked almost entirely in gags. Every line he delivered was intended to be a funny one. He had joke-itis.

"And like most sufferers of joke-itis, he had long since given up any trace of being funny, and instead deployed an endless barrage of grimace-inducing puns and lame insults".

So when Capaldi returned for The Thick of It the following year, he slightly tweaked his performance with Campbell's personality in mind.

"I thought I should try and make Malcolm talk that way. As if what he was saying was just a pile of hopeless, half-chewed gag ideas that weren't worth delivering with anything of a performance.

"Instead of the blood, sweat and tears of our writers that I knew went into each of Malcolm's lines, they should be thrown away like Campbell's river of light-hearted guff."

Currently watching the Blinky Ben Swain ones - LOVE Jamie and Malcolm together so much.

Also enjoying the Olly and Phil exchange after Olly finds out it was Emma not Phil that stole the coalface idea.

Phil: Well A) I thought that idea had been around so long it was out of copyright like a folk song and B) I didn't steal your idea, SHE did

Olly: A) FUCK OFF and B) Yes..I know that now

also YY to Malcolm Hearts Sam. Love those soft little exchanges where he actually CARES, gives me the warm fuzzies.

Glad to find a fellow Sam/Malcolm believer 😂💕 I love that part too! Shortly followed by "It is over, you self-serving, crypto-fascist, horse-loving, posh, weekend at daddy's, vacuous nothing!" which always makes me absolutely cackle even though I love Emma.

@argumentativefeminist haha classic.

Jamie to Peter Mannion - "It's Peter isn't it? Remind me, were you the forced abortion or the love child?"

Hadn't noticed that one before! So much more to take in on the four hundredth rewatch!

There's always something new that clicks on the 2nd/3rd/20th watch, isn't there? The love child thing with Peter... they mention it a few times, but it was only recently watching it that I tied that together with his being on the phone with his wife, going home for his anniversary etc. I thought 'aw, he's still pretty devoted to her after 30 years, how nice'... and then this time around, I realised there would have been that extra layer when the story about his love child broke. In fact I think Stewart mentions it at the end of the episode where Peter at first refuses to use the Nicola/Ella story, and Stewart tells him it's a shame that they never got pictures of the family putting on a united display outside the house etc., and asks if Peter remembers himself and Mrs Mannion having to do that in the past.

Ooh, and that Phil/Olly exchange is brill! I find a lot of their stuff together very funny, and I like that Will (who plays Phil) is one of the writers of the show too. I do wonder how much of his own stuff he gets to write, or if I'm totally misunderstanding how comedy writing works, and it's an 'all-in-' kind of job.

Love that Emma line too, argumentative. Especially when the next episode (or later that same one?), he has to backpedal and get back together with her!

I know Olly has behaved awfully to Emma (and she hasn't been great either!) but I am genuinely a bit sad when Olly finds out he's been dumped from Will at the 5 Live phone in. You know it's a terrible relationship but still feel for him finding out like that.

Also with Peter and Stewart I love that line "I know you're devoted to your wife, again". Just one word completely changes it all! The writing is so good.

As far as I know TTOI is written like this:

Writers gather together and decide what is going to happen across this series/episode. For each episode, the individual writers will write a number of scenes each. These are then passed around the other writers (like peer marking in school!) to try to make it better/funnier/highlight any snags. Armando then reads them, decided if they need to be "less fucky" or there's "way too much shits", and then they go to the swearing consultant. About 20 revisions later from the original one, the cast get them, and then improv over most of it 😂

For fellow Emma lovers she is amazing in "Back" and plays basically a nicer version of Emma but with David Mitchell and Robert Webb which is a satisfying blend of all my interests 😂

argumentative That's really interesting about the writing process, thank you! I do recall on the commentaries hearing Armando a couple of times asking a specific writer 'was that one you'? Usually in relation to a particularly iconic phrase, like 'omnishambles' or 'come the fuck in or fuck the fuck off'. IIRC, quite often the answer was that they think they came up with it, but with the various layers of writing and script development, no-one can often be sure who takes original credit. Also really interesting to read about Peter and his change in approach after talking to Campbell... I noticed something shift as well, but could never place it. That may be one of the reasons why that line I loved so much from the deleted scenes (about Malcolm's sadness that his best crafted insults were being ignored) actually ended up being cut!

Awh yes, and the legendary improvisation, I really like that they seem to have a good balance in order to get the best out of the whole cast and crew.

Peter I know, Phil seems to have a moment of 'revenge' there, after having watched their relationship play out in his own flat, now he gets to deliver the news... but poor Olly.

That's really interesting about the writing process.

I'm in awe of the talent of the cast in this show - they're all so brilliant.
There are so many subtle things you miss even after loads of rewatches - the expression on someone's face in the background etc

Just seen Glen's epic I AM A MAN breakdown and the classic 'You're just Ben's Glen' to Olly. Every time I watch this series I love Malcolm a little bit more.

And I've just discovered Malcolm and Sam fanfiction is a THING. To be fair, I wasn't overly familiar with fan fiction full stop - that might need a separate thread!