The Thick of It has just ended with a vast, comprehensive, utterly conclusive full stop. This entire series – the back and forth between parties, the death of Mr Tickell, the inquiry, the unstoppable rise of Dan Miller – had all been leading up to these 30 minutes. According to Armando Iannucci, it's unlikely that The Thick of It will ever return. If that's the case, then one of the funniest and most startling sitcoms of the past decade has ended with perhaps its funniest and most startling episode ever. It's quite an achievement.
Barely a single character escaped intact. Not only was Malcolm arrested, but the stages of his decline – fury, then cowardice, then finally mute resignation – were agonising to watch. Glenn went postal, even topping his "I am a man!" blowout from the Christmas special. Stewart was shunted off almost as an afterthought. Nicola found herself plumbing new depths of humiliation. Peter once again snatched defeat from the jaws of victory in the dying moments. And then there's Ollie. Promoted to Malcolm's old job, he alone managed to make it to the end with a smile. It won't last. The job will eat him from the inside, just like Malcolm warned it would.
It was bleak, but it was undeniably brilliant. I miss The Thick of It already. However, to plaster over my obvious abandonment issues, here are the best lines of tonight's episode. Be sure to add your own in the comments. What are we going to do now?
Emma: "What the fuck are you trying to do? Prove the Mayans right?"
Dan: "I like getting on my high horse. I look good on it. Like a knight."
Peter: "Stewart, any thoughts from within your fucking dream-yurt?"
Andrew, to Terri: "One of the many, many things that baffles me about you is that you remain unmurdered."
Malcolm: "You're not even Manchester's top Malcolm Tucker tribute band."
Peter: "I haven't felt this alive in months. I feel like I've had a health scare."
Malcolm: "Drive off like that again and I'll stick the meter so far down your throat that you'll be able to tell the price of your next shit."
Glenn, to Fergus: "I will lamp you ... with a lamp."
Glenn, to Fergus: "In the last two years you've bent like a human fucking palm tree, swaying to the gup of these six-toed, born-to-rule ponyfuckers."
Glenn: "Peter, it's been dreadful. I hope your cock falls off."
Andrew: "He's gone Glental."
Malcolm: "Out of my way, you fucking human mooncup."
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Long live Tucker
When a chief whip on a bike is caught behaving out of order, when a prime minister is accidentally heard calling someone a bigot, or when a chancellor of the exchequer is spotted fare-dodging on a train, there is only one thing to say: "It is just like The Thick of It!" we cry.
But with the end last night of the final series of the acclaimed BBC sitcom, an intriguing question remains; how long will the phrase survive in common British parlance? Will it go on to join long-defunct sitcoms such as Grange Hill and Steptoe and Son to become a part of the national psyche?
Signs look good, since the show quickly took over from Yes, Minister, the political sitcom that inspired it, once frequently used to describe the chicanery of civil service mandarins.
Former Observer columnist Armando Iannucci's show represented its era with uncanny accuracy, aping the spineless manoeuvring and ruthless spinning of its targets with little need for caricature.
It is fair then to assume that Malcolm Tucker will live on at least as long as naughty Tucker from Grange Hill.
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Some Pictures From Behind The Scenes of 'The Thick of It'.
Peter Capaldi gets some stuff out of his system so he can become calm and balanced enough to be Malcolm.
The invention of "Yes, and ho!" Featuring the brilliant Sean Gray in the background.
Last ever meeting of the DoSAC Four. #ttoi
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