The Thick of It

The Thick of It is the rare political comedy that makes procedure, spin, and panic feel like the same thing. By our assessment, its sharpest strength is the language: the barrage of insults, apologies, evasions, and frantic corrections gives the office a very specific kind of pressure. That is also where the cost sits, because the pace is ruthless and the verbal density leaves little room for anyone who wants politics softened into comfort viewing. In practice it feels feverish, crowded, and funny in a way that comes from recognition rather than from setup jokes. Compared with gentler workplace comedies, it is harsher and more exact; compared with broad satire, it is much closer to the day-to-day mess of government communication. The Thick of It is for viewers who can enjoy politics as verbal collision, and it never pretends that cabinet life is clean.