I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
My ears are bleeding. I just spent the weekend devouring — and barking with the kind of laughter that has certainly assured my housemates of my insanity — the entirety of The Thick of It, Armando Iannucci’s outrageous funny satire of the inner workings of the British government that, one suspects, is more barely disguised reality show than fiction. That’s 13 or 14 hours of Malcolm Tucker’s ragey swearing, a volcano of profanity that is to vulgarity what Shakespeare is to poetry. I’ve seen — and I love — In the Loop, the 2009 film that was spun off from the series, so I was not a complete newbie when it comes to Downing Street’s most feared spin doctor. But even this did not quite prepare me for the torrent of hilariously creative abuse that is the manifestation of his wrath at and his disdain for pretty much the entire world, as far as I can determine, though with a laser focus on anyone who stands in the way of good governance– er, that is, the furtherance of party politics. Best thing: Tucker is played with evil panache by the brilliant Peter Capaldi, and it is going to be such fun to see how fans mash up his screams here with footage from his upcoming episodes as Doctor Who’s Twelfth Doctor. And with choice snippets including “we’ve fucking time-traveled!” and “hoards of fucking robots” — yes, that’s actual Tucker dialogue — it is going to be glorious.
