The Thick of It (Season 3): Fly-on-the-wall mockumentary that takes a satirical look behind the scenes of a governmental department, and British politics in general. It’s essentially The Office, set in Westminster. Synonymous with the show (and ‘In The Loop’ spin-off movie) is Malcolm Tucker. He starts off the season as fantastic insult-generating machine but by half-way mark he’s degenerated into such an unlikable character, that is until we see his human side for an episode, which is a nice touch, but it doesn’t last long. Still “I wouldn’t piss on you if you were allergic to piss” is one of the greatest insults ever. Stuart, the Spin doctor with the bullshit bingo buzzwords was my favourite character, yet biggest stereotype. The rest of the cast hit all the right notes too, and although the characters are all part of the satire, they are rooted firmly in reality, which makes them more believable – much like the situations, storyline and the show overall. Like everything Lannucci does The Thick of It is razor-sharp, and up to the minute. The main problem is that there’s far, far too much fucking swearing in your average fucking episode – so much, that it warrants an 18 cert in the UK, sitcom fail! At the best of times it detracts from the comedy, at the worst of times it sounds like you’re eavesdropping in a prison. Although Malcolm is usually the main source of comedy and is essentially the show’s saviour, it’s too big a task to place on such a hateful character. Funniest in small doses.

Score: 6/10