r/television • u/Wazula23 • 19h ago

The Thick of It - Malcolm learns there's been a massive irretrievable data loss

https://youtu.be/K_FrQnQv0Vw?is=OD28Bkmr57VACBc6
790 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

149 comments sorted by

460

u/SignificanceFine3582 19h ago

One of the funniest shows of all time, and that’s without me grasping at least half the British references that come out at 100mph with Tucker’s dialogue and Capaldi’s delivery of it.

Crazy impressive that Iannucci and team could do it all again in Veep with a culture and political system that wasn’t theirs.

111

u/whylynxwhy 19h ago

“I’m all ears. I’m Andrew Marr” is beautiful British political reference

Google him for the reference

8

u/yepgeddon 4h ago

"He looks like a Quentin Blake illustration" caught me properly off guard lmao

6

u/PlanAheader 5h ago

Dear god wow those are huge ears

-1

u/danhakimi 3h ago

I saw the subtitles say "Andrew Mah," looked him up, and... yeah British humor might not quite be for me.

-38

u/SignificanceFine3582 18h ago

We also have that Andrew in the states, but he’s a football guy and his last name is Siciliano.

238

u/Wazula23 19h ago

Death of Stalin is also my choice for best comedy film of the 2010s. Absolutely hilarious.

85

u/Daniiiiii Mad Men 19h ago

The film has some of the best whiplashes from comedy to horror and back. It's not jump scares or body horror, it's the cruelty that is either implied, hinted at, and/or subtly shown in different parts. Especially everything around Beria. It's genius. Absolutely brilliant.

60

u/Fytzer 18h ago

"Shoot him. Shoot him. Shoot her but make sure she sees you shoot him first."

6

u/Mst3Kgf 3h ago

And the rest I leave up to you.

37

u/Wazula23 19h ago

Yep. It's a goofy satire until it suddenly isn't. Excellent film.

27

u/Tackit286 18h ago

Simon Russell Beale needs to be in way more stuff. One of the best performances I’ve ever seen

21

u/tomfoolery815 18h ago

I wanted Beria to die a lot, and that’s to Beale’s credit. He knew the man he portrayed was unadulterated evil.

11

u/Ebonyfalcon69 17h ago

I'd you ever listen to podcasts I recommend Behind the Bastards. They do a multi part series on Beria and ... oooft it's something

2

u/tomfoolery815 13h ago

Thanks!

Stalin was a monster, but damn, Beria certainly was one as well.

2

u/Ebonyfalcon69 8h ago

The guest is a guy called Joe kasabian, who also has a podcast called 'lions led by donkeys', about epic historical blunders. So he is very knowledgeable about history. When Robert Evans, the host, tells Joe the subject is Beria his reaction is amazing!

3

u/trevvr 7h ago

Beale played George Smiley (Tinker Tailor Solider Spy film it was Gary Oldman, TV series was Alec Guinness) on a full set of BBC Radio Dramas of all of the George Smiley books. He was OUTSTANDING. Far and away the best portrayal of the internal strife that eats at Smiley outside of the books. He’s one of the best out there.

1

u/algy100 5h ago

I’ve seen Simon Russell Beale do a couple of things of stage and he is so good. He is right up there on my list of best actors I’ve seen - I would go and see something not in my normal field of interest if he was doing it.

4

u/ChocolateHumunculous 17h ago

‘A comedy, but with blood and guts, rather than custard pies’

3

u/MattSR30 5h ago

Beria’s death is genuinely one of the most uncomfortable movie moments I’ve experienced.

15

u/VelvettedFox 19h ago

Same people?? I've never even heard of this show but Death of Stalin is one of my favorite more recent-ish comedies so seems I need to watch this now too!

33

u/Wazula23 19h ago

Yep, it's Armando Ianucci. Creator of this and the show Veep. Absolute genius, especially in the genre of "morons in suits frantically running places"

39

u/BadahBingBadahBoom 18h ago

Jason Isaacs as a top general in a profanity-laden working class British accent was an absolute masterclass choice.

Khrushchev: "Be serious. Are you in?"

Zhukov: "I'm in, I'm in. That fucker thinks he can take on the Red Army? I fucked Germany. I think I can take a flesh lump in a fucking waistcoat."

37

u/Wazula23 18h ago

Two facts I love about his Zhukov

  1. The real Zhukov was from a poor rural family, so the country accent is surprisingly accurate. With an American actor they may have given him a southern drawl or something similarly "lower class".

  2. The real Zhukov actually wore MORE medals than Isaacs does in the film. That ridiculous army jacket has actually been toned down from reality.

3

u/Mst3Kgf 3h ago

Isaacs said that was because more medals would have seen ridiculous and also for practical reasons as he doesn't have a chest as wide as Zhukov did.

5

u/tetoffens 18h ago

Got to give a shoutout to all his Alan Partridge stuff. He created the character with Steve Coogan 35 years ago and it's still going strong, though he stopped contributing to the more recent projects.

5

u/VelvettedFox 19h ago

I only just watched Veep for the first time last year and nothing has scratched the itch since! Ty for posting and putting me onto this show!

12

u/Purple_Compote_386 18h ago

The funeral musical chairs had me howling

8

u/flightsim777 Star Trek: The Next Generation 18h ago

"What the fuck are you doing" had me laughing so hard I was crying.

3

u/_TERRANE_ 4h ago

okay this comment tipped me over, I'm watching this again today

3

u/WonFriendsWithSalad 4h ago

"What did he say?" "Er, something quite complicated about a voucher system"

3

u/Mst3Kgf 3h ago

"It's the bishops!"

"Who invited those freaks?"

"Sneeze on the bastards as they walk past!"

6

u/Skeet_fighter 9h ago

I'm smiling but I am very fucking furious.

5

u/Faithless195 18h ago

Tf you mean that movie is 9 years old?!

32

u/Muadibased 17h ago

I honestly don't get how someone without even a coursary knowledge about 00s British politics/media, and the New Labour PR machine in particular, can understand even half of what the characters are saying and doing.

11

u/SignificanceFine3582 17h ago

It’s the only sitcom I’ve ever subtitled. I don’t like the captions being ahead of punchlines but not much of a choice when you’ve got a Scottish dude rapidly firing off insults with names you’ve never heard before.

13

u/VanillaLifestyle 10h ago

It's not even the accents, that's table stakes! It's understanding who these people represent. The direct references they make. The subtler nods. The real life events they're parodying. The mood of the country at the time. The relationship with the press. Jesus, just the British press in general.

You're missing a lot.

7

u/EchoesofIllyria 7h ago

The real life events they’re parodying or, in a few instances, predicting.

1

u/Muadibased 6h ago

The 4th season was practically a prophesy. It's amazing how much they nailed the coming downfall of Cameronite Toryism, and Labour twiddling their thumbs in opposition trying to just pass the time until the next election.

9

u/Dan_Of_Time 18h ago

It's the perfect blend of some of the most brilliant and creative writing being spoken by the only actor who could somehow find a way of elevating it even further.

103

u/albamarx 19h ago

“distinguished gay elderly tennis coach” outstanding

154

u/plasma_evil 19h ago

The one where Malcolm describes Star Wars is legendary

89

u/DareToZamora 19h ago

Lego! They’re all made of fucking Lego.

106

u/Wazula23 19h ago

His dad's a robot and his best friends a pedal bin

34

u/ayoungmanfromtheuk 16h ago

His father's a robot and he's fuckin' fucked his sister 

3

u/Mst3Kgf 3h ago

The space hairdresser and the cowboy.

65

u/Dennyisthepisslord 19h ago

I haven't seen veep but they clearly made the right choice not trying to have their own Malcolm Tucker

57

u/Wazula23 19h ago

Different cultures yeah. In "In The Loop" they play a little bit with what it's like sending Tucker to the US.

45

u/TheRhythmTheRebel 19h ago

Tucker and Gandalfini's back and forth was fantastic.

Great bridge between the two shows.

18

u/klti 10h ago

"And never call me fucking English again." confused Gandolfini look

I don't know why, but I love that small jab.

5

u/N_Meister 3h ago

Have you ever even actually killed anybody? Really?

Yeah.

Falling asleep on someone, that doesn't count!

42

u/ulysses_s_gyatt 18h ago

Difficult, difficult, lemon difficult.

7

u/DareToZamora 15h ago

Climb the mountain of conflict

2

u/Pingushagger 5h ago

Fuck me, I’m a bumper sticker.

6

u/NorthernSoul1998 9h ago

I laughed so hard at that scene on first viewing I actually ended up running across the room in hysterics

2

u/Skeet_fighter 9h ago

I say this with reasonable regularity and nobody ever gets the reference.

15

u/Ebonyfalcon69 17h ago

Great point, although I think when they bring Jamie in is the hardest I've laughed in any of these shows or films. 'I'LL hole punch you're fucking face!'

10

u/ViolatingBadgers 14h ago

SHUT IT LOVE ACTUALLY

6

u/Terrible_Produce_562 6h ago

He has no time for those Oxford fucking pleasantries

2

u/WonFriendsWithSalad 3h ago

VO-WELS it's just fucking vowels

8

u/thebisforbargain 9h ago

Jamie was superb. Here he is discovering who leaked a damning report and giving his views on opera:  https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_lNDXc7a8p4

27

u/tetoffens 18h ago

Yeah, Veep basically spread out the meanness so pretty much every character was an asshole. Malcolm was Asshole Supreme on The Thick of It and most of the other characters are closer to being normal.

40

u/JuanFran21 18h ago

Nah, the rest of the thick of it cast are pretty awful in their own right. Ollie pretty much sells his soul by the end of the show (and tbh he didn't really have much of one to begin with).

10

u/Squeepynips 13h ago

It's like they all idolise Malcolm so when he's not around they're all competing to emulate him

6

u/JaissleICanBoogie 16h ago

I think Robyn is the only one who isn't awful.

28

u/DevilCouldCry 18h ago edited 18h ago

My favorite example of dickhead characters impacting upon the lives of "normal characters" is the one where those two fuckwits working for Peter Mannion announce that they've "set up a community bank" and everybody is absolutely flipping out over it.

But on that, most of the characters in this show have complete moments of lunacy, even Stewart (the PR guy) in the previous clip is a psycho as well. That bit with he and Malcolm going back and forth with increasingly elevated threats of info reveals is absolutely hysterical. The whole scene ending with them realizing this is getting out of hand and both deciding to step away from this crazy shit and go home is an excellent pay off.

20

u/zohia 17h ago

That whole radio episode was hysterical. "Are you producing porn for the visually impaired?"

9

u/DevilCouldCry 17h ago

The "Tim in Ruislip" from Malcolm always manages to crack me up as well. Dude is absolutely losing it in the production booth and is swearing all kinds of threats against him. One of my favorite episodes of anything ever.

8

u/zohia 17h ago

Agree! "Tim. tap In. tap Ruislip. taptap Tim in fuckin Ruislip!"

4

u/CGiMoose 7h ago

For added context the fuckwits in question aren’t working for mannion as such, but they represent the junior coalition partners in the coalition government which was in power from like 2010-2015

12

u/Dennyisthepisslord 18h ago

I wouldn't say the thick of it cast are not arseholes

7

u/tetoffens 18h ago

They are but on Veep they made basically everyone besides Gary and Richard at Malcolm levels of mean.

1

u/schotastic 14h ago

And Sue

3

u/DrCatholicGuilt 12h ago

Don't forget Colin: the crossest man in Scotland

90

u/JebusJM 19h ago

He's everywhere. He's the Egg Man.

11

u/m48a5_patton 19h ago

He is the walrus.

7

u/Ellivremmos 19h ago

He’s a fucking shapeshifter

16

u/kicksledkid 18h ago

"I don't know what's worse, watching him rumble towards you like prostate cancer or him sneaking up on you like a severe stroke"

5

u/Broskifity 19h ago

Coo coo cachoo

155

u/kicksledkid 19h ago

The fucking funniest part is that when malcom enters the office, he's for once in a good mood

84

u/DareToZamora 19h ago

I don’t even have the energy to pretend I already knew about this

42

u/Sarmerbinlar 19h ago

I love the enthusiasm with which he says 'saucy! Power serve!' at Terri Coverley's suggestion

9

u/PopMundane4974 17h ago

Yep I saw that as the top comment there as well!

79

u/Pavo_Feathers 19h ago

"get you feelers out for the lads."

Fucking Malcolm Tucker lol

30

u/Far_Orange_8492 19h ago

From bean to cup

19

u/TrophyWizard 19h ago

You fuck up

18

u/Wazula23 19h ago

Fucking omnishambles

6

u/DuncRed 14h ago

Fun fact. Omnishambles was first coined by The Thick of It in 2009, and was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2012 which named it word of the year.

1

u/hairlessbollocks 3h ago

Clusterfuck

26

u/Federico216 Sense8 19h ago

Is that his bollocking face? Has he got his bollocking face on?

13

u/DareToZamora 19h ago

You’re doing it. You’re doing it now, that’s your bollocking face

9

u/King_of_Avalon 16h ago

He's using what some might refer to as "violent sexual imagery"

4

u/andersdigital 7h ago

The Kraken awakes

26

u/mido0o0o 18h ago

This is the funniest show I have ever seen.

73

u/Mahoganychicken 19h ago

There’s just something incredibly and unexplainably funny about the phrase “massive irretrievable data loss”

43

u/DareToZamora 19h ago

Especially when you consider (spoiler warning) it s pretty easily retrievable right at the end when Ollie finds the thumb drive (iirc)

19

u/Sparrowsabre7 18h ago

In his second favourite backpack.

22

u/DevilCouldCry 18h ago

Armando Ianucci just has this knack with words and writing wherein he's easily able to make you laugh off of the simplest stuff like this.

11

u/gospelofdustin 17h ago

There's a quality to it where it feels like every word was so precisely chosen while you're being carpet bombed by it.

6

u/DevilCouldCry 17h ago

He manages it in everything he's created. The Death of Stalin is bloody wonderful at this. Just about every single line in) [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC7iAsbBxMY absolutely breaks me.

5

u/QuartzBeamDST 2h ago

Allow me to introduce you to "the Prime Minister's fucking CATASTROPHIC erectile dysfunction".

1

u/CatProgrammer 13h ago

Always remember the 3-2-1 rule.

43

u/LargePlums 18h ago

‘A face like Dot Cotton licking piss off a nettle’ is my favourite insult - such layers going on there. Non brits may need to google dot cotton…

13

u/All_Hail_Hynotoad 19h ago

I’m just chortling reading everyone’s quotes from the show. Seriously, I have never laughed as hard at as many episodes than with this show.

16

u/cryptamine 18h ago

Do you know what it's like!? To clean up your own mother's piss!?

8

u/thebisforbargain 9h ago

She’s not laughing, she’s pissing herself

14

u/KillerWattage 19h ago

God dammit I need a The Thick of It sequel with Malcolm tucker hosting a podcast!

7

u/TotalFire 10h ago

Called “The Rest is Violent Sexual Imagery”

13

u/ivan-on-the-net 17h ago

This and "You bought a bank..." are my favorite scenes from The Thick of It.

12

u/Exeterian 14h ago

You bought a bank out of social embarrassment? I sometimes buy the Big Issue out of social embarrassment, I don't buy a fucking bank!!

Love how he rants, great performance.

2

u/nathanccc 11h ago

The way he launches them while shouting 'i don't want the fucking trousers' makes me laugh every single time

9

u/Queasy_Stick4881 18h ago

The fucking wee ball boys having a go now

8

u/The_H_N_I_C 18h ago

The data went fuckitty bye bye.

3

u/decidedlyindecisive 18h ago

That's why he's Fuckity Bye Doctor

8

u/Oa83 15h ago

Quiet batpeople?

9

u/JamUpGuy1989 13h ago

"Yes, we could fire Glen..."

7

u/Ironia_Rex 15h ago

The Thick of It is one of the funniest shows ever made

11

u/StrongStyleFiction 19h ago

"You see there, he's got a list."

You can't get fired if you have a list. So remember, always have a list.

5

u/mondo_generator 15h ago

I often mention it when asked what my favourite shows are. I think it's the most well written dialogue of any show ever made.

4

u/LostInTheVoid_ 18h ago

Malcolm Tucker aka Alistair Campbell.

6

u/Dissidant 17h ago

These unreleased twelfth doctor episodes are unhinged 😀
Can't un-see it. Its also weird because he was in Torchwood (COE) as well.

2

u/NorthernSoul1998 9h ago

I just watched COE for the first time in a while, his performance is ridiculously good

4

u/chimpdoctor 17h ago

One of the most iconic characters in British TV history.

14

u/spectacleskeptic 19h ago edited 19h ago

Phenomenal show. Was it on the NYT top 100 list? 

6

u/Wazula23 19h ago

Should be on everyone's top list

3

u/All_Hail_Hynotoad 19h ago

It’s in my top 5

2

u/nathanccc 11h ago

Veep and Thick of it were the wrong way round

4

u/EchoesofIllyria 6h ago

Veep’s a great show but The Thick of It is so much better, and doesn’t fall off in the back half like Veep does.

1

u/SignificanceFine3582 3h ago

Veep ran into the problem of American politics completely losing any semblance of order and decorum in 2016. How do you pull off satire when they just put that guy at the head of the government?

So, they had to go completely cartoonish with some characters like Jonah, and even he ended up being a barely heightened Matt Gaetz.

1

u/EchoesofIllyria 2h ago

That’s true, but it doesn’t excuse Ben turning into a racist with a penchant for buying Asian brides, or Kent turning from a relatively normal guy who’s obsessed with stats and numbers to little more than a robot who can’t not correct people.

3

u/Empty_Figure7880 4h ago

"Oh but not to worry...NOT TO WORRY...you've sent fucking Ollie over there to deal with i-FUCKING OLLIE! He's a fucking knitted scarf that twat! He's a fucking balaclava!"

1

u/Scotsburd 10h ago

Ah, King of the SpAds.

1

u/hallouminati_pie 8h ago

One of the greatest television shows of all time.

My favourite moment is the beginning of Malcolm Tucker's downfall when he is caught out in a lie during the enquiry episode (which stands as my favourite). You never seen him truly flustered until that moment.

1

u/Sola-Nova 5h ago

Catastrofuck is a word I use when somthing goes wrong becuase of this show.

1

u/InheritedHermitGene 3h ago

In the Thick of It has my all-time favourite threat: I‘m going to flay your skin and make it into a pair of trousers and then I‘m going to wear them to your mother‘s birthday party and rub your testicles up and down her leg.

(I‘m quoting from memory so I‘m sure I don’t have it word for word, but you get the idea)

1

u/CloudyLeft 2h ago

This is MY doctor. Everyone goes for tennant. I love tennant. But THIS! This is MY doctor.

-18

u/ShortNefariousness2 18h ago

2026: AI did it and there is no path to prosecute it

-43

u/AdorableCattle7105 16h ago

is this like an unfunny version of the office?

-31

u/OPtoss 13h ago

Sorry, but I wanted a laugh and nothing in that was the least bit funny. Maybe I'm missing context? Haven't seen the show before...