Those on the inside of politics have often said that BBC’s The Thick of It holds a mirror to the real political class, and the show seems to have had almost prophetic powers
‘What the f***?’ Sweary TV show The Thick of It is celebrating its 20th birthday on Monday.
The hit BBC sitcom satirised the internal workings of British government and memorably starred Peter Capaldi as foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker.
But did you know that plots from the series, which ran from 2005-2012, seem to have weirdly ended up predicting future events. Creator Armando Iannucci says: “You know, we made policies up in The Thick Of It, and then it became law.”
Here James Moore and Meg Jorsh reveal some of its crystal ball prophecies…
Bedder believe it
In the very first episode of the show in 2005, advisors to the new Social Affairs Minister Hugh Abbot have 45 minutes to come up with new policy ideas.
Ollie Reader, played by Chris Addison, suggests the ‘National Spare Room Database’. It was echoed in the so-called 2012 bedroom tax, which saw people with spare rooms living in public housing potentially receive a reduction in benefits.
Mutt have
Another suggestion was that there should be ASBOs (Anti-Social Behaviour Orders) for pets. It showed amazing foresight as, in 2014, the government brought in new rules to tackle anti-social behaviour by animals in public spaces.
They were even dubbed ‘Dogbos’ by some.
Bag idea
A third policy proposed in the series was that everyone should have to carry a plastic bag of their own. While it’s not yet the law to carry one, the notion did seem to forsee the 5p charge for carrier bags introduced to English supermarkets in 2015.
Quiet bat people
In the show Helen Hawkins, advisor to fictional DoSAC cabinet minister Nicola Murray, is caught on camera holding revealing notes. They refer to people her party needs to court as ‘quiet bat people’. The story causes a sensation.
Similar incidents have happened in real life. In 2016 a political aide was photographed in Downing Street holding a page of Brexit notes that read “Have cake and eat it.” It followed the story of another civil servant caught carrying notes about plans to sell off Channel 4 in 2015.
Egged on
In the second episode of series 4 Murray, played by Rebecca Front, is now opposition leader and decides to support a government policy to scrap primary school breakfast clubs. Within hours of broadcast of the show in 2012, reports emerged of cuts facing real-life breakfast clubs.
Appy coincidence?
In the same series, new DoSAC boss Peter Mannion launches his ‘Silicon Playground’ initiative, calling for school kids to create apps. One show writer, Sean Gray, revealed that a week after they brainstormed the idea, real Education Secretary Michael Gove actually announced plans to scrap school ICT lessons and get pupils to design apps instead.
Omnishambles
First coined on the series in 2009 by Malcolm Tucker about Murray, the term refers to a total screw up. He says: “You are a f****** omnishambles, that’s what you are. You’re like that coffee machine, you know: from bean to cup, you f*** up.” It later started being used by real politicians, including Labour leader Ed Miliband in 2012, and was even named word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary.
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