Malcolm Tucker Middle East, which the British Prime Minister and American President want. This he does by fabricating intelligence in what could be a fictionalised version of the so-called Dodgy Dossier issued by Alastair Campbell and used by the British government to justify its involvement in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Campbell, who confessed to enjoying "The Thick of It" and even found it "hilarious", was vocal in expressing his dislike of the film version. Two months after the airing of the final episode of series four, Peter Capaldi appeared on GQ magazine's front cover as Malcolm Tucker and recorded a Christmas
The Thick of It equally unflattering terms, being portrayed as aggressively hounding politicians and asking awkward, often outrageous questions, or otherwise being discourteous and harsh. In the first batch of three episodes, Hugh Abbot is installed as a new minister following the forced resignation of his predecessor Cliff Lawton. These episodes follow his attempts to make his mark on the department by introducing new policies while following the party line enforced by Malcolm Tucker. Due to a series of complications and mistakes, this leads to the minister coming close to resignation on a number of occasions. The second batch of episodes takes place before