The Thick of It Chris Addison, Peter Capaldi, Gina McKee and Steve Coogan. The film followed the plight of the International Development minister as an inadvertent comment in an interview leads to him being used as a puppet by the president of the United States and the prime minister who are looking to launch a war in the Middle East. The film follows the officials and advisers in their behind-the-scenes efforts either to promote the war or prevent it. Although many of the TV series cast returned, the only actual returning characters are Malcolm Tucker, Jamie McDonald and Sam Cassidy, with series regulars Chris
Malcolm Tucker the trouble posed by the Opposition having a Malcolm-esque spin doctor during such time. Steve Fleming, while not as feared as Malcolm (mostly due to the fact that, unlike Tucker, he seldom swears), is nonetheless infamous throughout the party for his obsequious, unctuous personality (which is once described by Ollie Reeder as "Obsessive Repulsive Disorder"). He is shown to frequently lose his temper and lash out when faced with any opposition from his co-workers, implying he is mentally unbalanced. Tucker and Fleming harbour a mutual hatred, going back to when the former forced the latter to resign in 2003 (Tucker's