What's Funny About...

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What's Funny About ...

Discussion & Talk

Comedy: Chat

Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman hear the inside story of the biggest TV comedies..

Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman hear the inside story of the biggest TV comedies in Britain.

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What's Funny About ...: Series 1: The Thick of It - with Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front

The Thick of It - with Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front

Series 1

BBC Radio 4 Extra - What's Funny About ..., Series 1, The Thick of It - with Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front

Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman hear the inside story of Britain’s biggest TV comedies.

Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman get the inside story of making The Thick Of It from Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front. From 2020.

TV veterans Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman talk to the writers, producers, and performers behind Britain’s biggest TV comedy hits, and hear the inside story of how they brought their programmes to the screen.

In this episode, Peter and Jon talk to Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front about their biting pollical satire The Thick Of It. Was Nicola Murray just a nice (if hapless) person, thrust into a nest of political vipers, or was she just as bad as the rest of them? Who came up with the line “about as much use as a marzipan dildo”? And who was Malcolm Tucker really based on? (It’s probably not who you think.) 

With Peter and Jon as our guides, we’ll take the opportunity to ask quite how they went about making a great bit of TV comedy. Who came up with it? How did it get written? We’ll talk about the commissioning, the casting, and the reception the show received when it first aired.

We’ll do our very best to winkle out some backstage secrets straight from the horse’s mouth, as we hear the unvarnished truth from the people who were there, and who put these iconic shows on the telly.

Contains very strong language.

Original The Thick Of It clips written by: 

Jesse Armstrong
Sam Bain
Simon Blackwell
Rob Colley
Roger Drew
Dan Gaster
Sean Gray
Armando Iannucci
Georgia Pritchett
David Quantick
Tony Roche
Will Smith

Additional material: The Cast

Producer: Owen Braben

Made for BBC Radio 4 Extra by Expectation Productions, and first broadcast in May 2020.

What's Funny About ...: Series 1

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama

Your digital radio entertainment station showcasing the best in comedy and drama. With recent favourites from BBC Radio 4.

Peter Fincham and Jon Plowman hear the inside story of Britain's biggest TV comedies.

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What's Funny About ...

Series 1

The Thick of It - with Armando Iannucci and Rebecca Front

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