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 of some "The Thick of It" writers and production members. Armando Iannucci originally conceived of a modern political satire after "arguing the case" for "Yes Minister" in a 2004 Best British Sitcom poll for BBC Two. His idea was commissioned by Roly Keating, the controller of BBC Four, who granted Iannucci limited budget, telling him to "turn that into what you can." Iannucci created the first series of three episodes, which aired in May–June 2005, and a second series, also of three episodes, which followed in October. The series is written by a team of writers led by Armando Iannucci,