History Series / TheThickOfIt

* SirSwearsalot: Malcolm Tucker is robustly famous/infamous for being a man whose favourite word started with a capital "F" and cropped up in nearly every sentence he spoke.note His second-favourite word starts with a "C", so much so that when Peter Capaldi did a PSA for Macmillan in-character, he said he was talking "about the big C, and not my usual big C!"

* BuffySpeak: The infamous "Quiet Bat People".
* BullyingADragon: In Episode 4 of Season 4, Malcolm needs [[FatIdiot Ben Swain]] [[spoiler: to resign in order for him to depose Nicola]], and has (with no intention of screwing him over,) offered him the Foreign Office in return. Ben then starts playing both sides against each other, demanding they raise their offers, and relishing the fact that ([[ButtMonkey for once]],) he holds all the cards. And, indeed, he does hold the cards, right up until he's committed too far to back out, and Malcolm shows him exactly why he ''really'' should have accepted the original offer...

** Malcolm's office is referred to as "The Lair of the White Worm" in Series 1. Creator/BramStoker's lesser known horror novel, ''Literature/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm'', received [[Film/TheLairOfTheWhiteWorm a loose modern-day adaptation in 1988]] and starred--yep, you guessed it--Peter Capaldi.
** In one episode, Glenn can be seen drinking a can of orange Tango. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtMj44K_GrQ James Smith once appeared in an advert for that very drink]].

* AbsenteeActor:
** Malcolm Tucker doesn't appear in the first and third episodes of the fourth season, despite him practically being the main character at that point. These are also the only two episodes not to feature Ollie.
** Glenn appears in every episode execept the second of season four.
** Terri is absent for two of the three episodes of the second season, as she's dealing with her father's illness and eventual death. She only appears in the second via telephone conversation. She's also absent from the second and fourth episodes of season four.

** The second episode has Malcolm and Hugh watch ''Series/TheBill''. Hugh thinks it's shit and Malcolm agrees.
-->'''Malcolm''': This gets six million viewers.
-->'''Hugh''': Shit.

* WithFriendsLikeThese: "Inclusion is not an illusion..." Again, poor Glenn.

* CannotTellAJoke: Nicola: "Thank our fucky stars for that" ''(tumbleweeds blow past)''

-->'''[[http://www.avclub.com/articles/peter-capaldi,30792/ Peter Capaldi]]:''' "I said to [[Creator/ArmandoIannucci Armando]], 'Why do you always get me to run about?' And he says, 'Because you’ve just got [[GirlyRun a funny run]]'"\\

* {{Corpsing}}: Miles Jupp revealed on the commentary for ''Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle'' that he had terrible problems bursting into laughter during his first scene, so the writers included that in John Duggan's later appearance on the train.

** Nicola arrives at [=DoSAC=] as a [[WideEyedIdealist wide-eyed]], naive MP who only reluctantly agreed to become a Cabinet minister. After being introduced to Malcolm, she attempts to emulate him, swearing more in front of him ("You are ''so'' wanking with the wrong crowd!") and trying to imitate his [[CutHisHeartOutWithASpoon signature method of issuing threats]] ("Do we go after him with... a bum-dildo of vengeance?"). By the end of the series she becomes power-hungry to the point of considering a leadership bid, and swears so much that even Steve Fleming is shocked ("You're quite the potty-mouth, aren't you?").

** In the season two finale, an eight-year-old girl is accidentally sent an email reading "Christ alive! What a cunt !!!" and Hilarity Ensues. In season three, spin doctor Malcolm Tucker receives a birthday cake iced with "Happy Birthday C*nt". And in a deleted scene:

* DecoyProtagonist: Non-death example: The series begins with a minister entering his office, greeting his staff, and getting ready for a meeting with Malcolm. Then, in the meeting, Malcolm suddenly forces him to resign. Quick cut, and Hugh Abbott appears. Basically, rather than AnyoneCanDie, this is Anyone Can Be Sacked.

* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Malcolm telling Nicola not to take a job in America sounds suspiciously like he is begging her not to leave him. But it's [[WillTheyOrWontThey all for the good of the party, obviously, nothing personal.]]

** After Hugh asks "What's a circle jerk?" Ollie gets most of the way through explaining before realizing this was [[CringeComedy a bad idea]].

** In the first two seasons Terri is a quietly competent employee who simply can't be arsed to care about party politics (and the whole department fell apart when Robyn had to cover for her). From season 3 onward she's just a complete idiot.

* DownerEnding:
** Malcolm revealing that the [[IronicBirthday birthday]] he'd just spent alone in his office eating a cake iced with the words "Happy Birthday C*nt" was in fact [[spoiler:his fiftieth]].
** The entire series--[[spoiler: Malcolm is about to be sent to prison for perjury, Nicola is stuck in a humiliating backbench position, Ollie's become the new Malcolm and sold his soul to Dan Miller, Glenn quits in a blaze of glory, Stewart's been sacked, and the rest of both parties just have to keep slogging through the political shit.]]

* CantBelieveImSayingThis: In season four, Emma convinces Peter not to resign, but rather widen the inquiry to look into PFI. Phil actually agrees with her.
-->That is a good idea, really. Fuck, that hurt to say, but she's right.

** Malcolm makes several pop-culture references, yet somehow ''Franchise/StarWars'' eluded him.

* ImStandingRightHere: "Watch my lips: ''Cal Richards is not here''- Cal!"

* CellPhonesAreUseless: There's almost no mobile coverage at the country hotel where Stewart's ghastly "Thought Camp" is being held. In a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}}, Stewart and Peter are forced to stand at the top of the [[spoiler: children's slide]] in order to get reception. Needless to say, there's someone with a Website/{{Twitter}} account, a camera phone, and (one assumes) a grudge to bear, in the vicinity.

'''Stewart Pearson:''' [[DudeNotFunny Oh, don't do a joke, Peter]], don't do a joke...

** Malcolm Tucker doesn't appear in the first and third episodes of the fourth season, despite him practically being the main character at that point. These are also the only two episodes not to feature Ollie or Glenn.
** Terri is absent for two of the three episodes of the second season, as she's dealing with her father's illness and eventual death. She only appears in the second via telephone conversation.

* CelebrityParadox

** Malcolm Tucker doesn't appear in the first and third episodes of the fourth season, despite him practically being the main character at that point.

** In one episode, Glenn can be seen drinking a can of orange Tango. James Smith once appeared in an advert for that very drink.

** "He looks like a Lego policeman"- Ollie on spin doctor Steve Fleming, played by David Haig of ''Series/TheThinBlueLine''.

* PsychoForHire: Jamie [=McDonald=], Malcolm Tucker's lackey and attack dog whom Malcolm uses as much by reputation as by actual force. More than once he has convinced someone to get motivated by threatening to call Jamie over.

--->[[AtomicFBomb FUCK'S SAKE!]] JESUS... ''Christ!'' Well now we've got another... fucking... adjective to add to fuckin' smug and glum, haven't we? Fuckin' ''RETARDED!'' Jesus! Do you ever think it would be germane to check who you're talking to? It's a fuckin ''newspaper office!'' Not a fuckin' sanatorium for the fuckin' DEAF! Are you so dense? Am I gonna have to run around, slappin' badges on people with a big tick on some and a big cross on others so you know when to shut your gob and when to open it? Jesus Christ... oh but that'd probably confuse you as well, wouldn't it, that'd be to confusin'- you see the cross and go "Oh fuck, X marks the spot! Better tell this person all about the Prime Minister's fuckin' catastrophic erectile dysfunction!" Oh but not to worry, not to worry, you've sent fuckin' Olly over there to deal with it! [[{{Angrish}} FUCKIN' OLLY! HE'S A FUCKIN'- HE'S A FUCKIN' KNITTED SCARF, THAT TWAT, HE'S A FUCKIN' BALACLAVA!]]

--->'''Malcolm:''' ([[TranquilFury deathly calm]]) That's your fucking career over, right? Okay, you're fucking ''dead.'' And those three little words, "Tim in Ruislip", are the fucking nails in your coffin, dear. (Mimes hammering) Tim. In. Ruislip. Tim in fuckin' Ruislip. And as for Tim in [[ClusterFBomb fucking... FUCKING fucking fucking Ruislip]]- he's fucking dead as well, that fucking texting coward! Give me his number. What's his fucking number? Give me the fucking number of Tim in Ruislip! If you don't give me his fucking number, do you know what I'm gonna have to do? I'm gonna have to fucking ''go to'' fucking Ruislip and fucking snap the thumb and forefinger off of ''every single person I see'' who I think resembles the kind of wanker that would be walking around in this day and fucking age with a name like fucking Tim! How do you think that sounds, huh?\\

** ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou'' exists in the [=ThickVerse=]. Creator/PeterCapaldi, Creator/RebeccaFront, Chris Addison, and Miles Jupp have all appeared on ''HIGNFY''. (None of them cracked unkind jokes about Peter Mannion's wife, however.)

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: "If you're gonna make an omelette, you're going to have to have some frank and honest discussion with the eggs".
* MistakenNationality: One of the insulting posts to Peter's blog is "I don't trust you, you Cypriot crook." Prompting the rather obviously [[UsefulNotes/ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion upper middle class]] Peter to say [[ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne "Cypriot??"]]

* NewscasterCameo: ''Rise of the Nutters'' uses spliced StockFootage of Jeremy Paxman and ''Series/{{Newsnight}}'' for Ben Swain's interview, and in series three Richard Bacon guest-stars as himself hosting a debate between department ministers on [[Creator/TheBBC Radio 5 Live]].

* NoSocialSkills: Olly, himself book-smart but not streetwise, asks hapless press officer John Duggan "I'm not being horrible, but are you actually autistic?". Further along the autism spectrum is unseen Prime Minister Tom Davis, whose social skills are so lacking that the press officers doubt that they should let him out in public.

** ...in the season finale, Julius Nicholson reinstates Malcolm as Director of Communications in order to prevent Dan Miller's attempted takeover, promising to pardon him and Fleming of all wrongdoing in his official report... only for Malcolm to spread a rumour that the report is going to pin the blame entirely on Fleming, eventually prompting the ex-whip to confront Nicholson - not realizing that a journalist has been tipped off about their meeting and is photographing everything - making it look as if Fleming was trying to influence the report. Consequently, Fleming is scapegoated for the entire incident and forced to resign.

* RightHandVsLeftHand: The series features endless disasters that could have been avoided if the various participants were willing to coordinate properly, (though admittedly things progress/degenerate so fast in their world that they often simply don't have time for anything but off-the-cuff responses,) but Season 4 has more than the previous ones because half of its time is spent with the coalition government. This latter case is made even worse than usual cases of this trope by the fact that the two ministers hate each other, follow violently opposing party principles, are constantly trying to score political points for their own party (usually at the expense of the other,) and the person who is meant to be liaising between them is a particularly unhelpful ObstructiveBureaucrat.

** A deleted scene from the Specials reveals Peter Mannion's wife's dowdy appearance has been mocked on ''Series/HaveIGotNewsForYou''. Presumably not in any of the episodes that featured [[CelebrityParadox Rebecca Front, Chris Addison, or Miles Jupp.]]

** Peter and Stewart

* SleazyPolitician: A pretty huge aversion [[FridgeBrilliance when you think about it]]. Hugh Abbot is an aversion in the manner of ''Series/YesMinister'' as a Hacker-like self-serving coward. Nicola is also not at all sleazy. Incompetent and self-serving, but not sleazy. Peter Mannion isn't even particularly incompetent, although he makes up for that by being a bit backwards; nevertheless, the ''exact opposite'' of sleazy. Stewart and Malcolm are the sleaziest of the lot, with Stewart refusing to honour the idea that families are off-limits and Malcolm's constant near-villainous antics, but they are appointed Communications Directors and Press Secretaries, not, technically, politicians.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: Over the three series Malcolm's enemies have become progressively more powerful, and his conflicts with them have become more interesting as a result. In the first series Malcolm only had to contend with incompetent politicians and civil servants. By the third he had gained a genuinely powerful ArchEnemy.

* VitriolicBestBuds: Ollie and Glenn developed shades of this as of Series 3. Seems to have been genuine in at least one direction; Glenn's excoriation of Ollie's character to the Inquiry after he's stabbed Glenn in the back reveals a sense of utter betrayal.

* XtremeKoolLetterz: Emma wonders why people leaving hate mail on Peter's blog spell "hate" as "h8". [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "If you're going to leave a message, at least spell it correctly."]]
* YankTheDogsChain: ButtMonkey Peter Mannion does an emphatically decent thing by refusing to use Nicola's daughter's school troubles to his side's advantage. As he maintains to Stewart that they'll conduct themselves honourably, Malcolm is over at Number 10 convincing Nicola that there's no such thing as honour, which culminates in Nicola calling Mannion to tell him that nothing in his personal life is off-limits. Cue gloating from Stewart. Poor Peter.