The Thick of It coincidentally ended up occurring only two days after Peter Capaldi was announced as the new star of "Doctor Who". (Even more coincidental, a cast commentary included as part of a photo gallery featurette for the episode "Rise of the Nutters" included in the DVD set, recorded several years earlier, has several cast members jokingly deciding to start a rumour that Capaldi is to be the next Doctor.) "The Thick of It: The Scripts", a book containing the scripts from the first two series and the 2007 specials, was published on 1 September 2007. A tie-in book, "The Thick Of It:
The Thick of It swearing. It didn't get picked up, thank God." Other networks including HBO, Showtime, and NBC expressed interest in the show, and in April 2009, Iannucci re-entered talks with HBO over the possibility of an American adaptation. Although it is not a direct spin-off, "Veep" shares a similar tone and style with "The Thick of It". In November 2010 it was announced that HBO had ordered a pilot for a new series called "Veep", to be written, directed and produced by Iannucci. The pilot stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus in the leading role as vice president of the U.S. and also includes several