Malcolm Tucker the character shared certain personality traits with Tucker, specifically “a certain acid wit... the attitude, the wisecracks and the energy... he can be edgy, volatile and dangerous". Malcolm Tucker Malcolm Tucker is the antihero of the BBC political satire, "The Thick of It", and is portrayed by Peter Capaldi. He is the Director of Communications for the Labour Party, in both Government and Opposition, acting as the Prime Minister's chief enforcer overseeing cabinet ministers. Tucker was originally a secondary character, with Chris Langham's Hugh Abbot as the protagonist being watched over by Tucker, but after Langham was fired from the
The Thick of It accompanying 10-minute documentary titled "Out of The Thick of It" broadcast immediately afterwards and on the BBC Comedy website, which featured cut scenes, specially written scenes and, later, discussion of the programme by the series' writers, makers and with figures involved in British politics. Internationally, series 1 and 2 aired back-to-back in Australia on ABC1 each Friday at 9:40 pm from 21 November 2008 and has since been repeated on ABC2 and UKTV. Later, the two-hour-long specials along with series 3 premiered consecutively on the lower-rated ABC2 channel from 7 July 2011 each Thursday at 10:15 pm and again repeated,