A review of the Optimum Home Entertainment DVD, which will set you back about £13 at the moment. The only new comedy series that I've really enjoyed over the last few years has been The Thick Of It, a BBC sitcom made by a Scotsman with an Italian name (Armando Ianucci) and starring a Scotsman with an Italian name (Peter Capaldi). It was about a bumbling cabinet minister, and its notional star was Chris Langham. The real star of the show, though, was Capaldi as the nightmarish spin doctor Malcolm Tucker. Langham downloaded some things he really shouldn't have, so the series went on hiatus (there is a new series due, without Langham). But this film ...  Read the complete review

I recently reviewed the first series of The Thick of It, so thought I should now write about the excellent film that came from it, In the Loop. In my opinion, The Thick of It is one of the greatest comedies to grace the television screen, and likewise, In the Loop is one of the best British films to make it to the silver screen in some time. It features most of the same actors as in the series, giving it a nice familiarity, even though most of the actors have taken on new roles. All, of course, with the exception of the brilliant Malcolm Tucker who could never be substituted. As ever, he is portrayed by the exceptional Peter Capaldi who somehow ...  Read the complete review

As most likely mentioned by previous reviewers, In The Loop is a feature length episode of the wonderful The Thick of It. Written and Directed by Armando Iannucci, it is a satirical account of Anglo-American relationships. It satirises the run up to the 2003 invasion of Iraq. It begins with a BBC Radio 4 programme talking to the Minister for International Development who says a war in the Middle East is 'unforeseeable'. He then gets a menagerie of verbal abuse from the PM's enforcer Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) telling him that he didn't follow 'the line'. Obviously a confusing thing to be told as the minister did not say anything untoward: a highlight of ...  Read the complete review

In the Loop This is to all intents and purposes a big screen outing for 'The Thick of It' the exceptional BBC series following events of a political outlook in Westminster. Directed by Armando Ianucci and written by him too with help from Simon Blackwell and Jesse Armstrong one of the writers of Peep Show. This is a high brow comedy which has elements of farce but requires a high level of concentration and the ability to withstand an incredible level of thought provoking and inventive swearing. The film is loosely based on reality, as we follow the American President and British Prime Minister who plan to start a war which isn't viewed ...  Read the complete review

In The Loop is a 2009 film directed by Armando Iannucci and a spin-off from the BBC Television series The Thick of It. With a US led war/intervention looking increasingly likely in the Middle East, the British Minister for International Development, Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), makes some rather confused and ill-judged comments about the chances of conflict in an impromptu interview that are picked up on by a visiting delegation of officials from Washington. The hapless but ambitious Foster and his geeky young assistant Toby Wright (Chris Addison) are soon whisked away to the United States where they become pawns in the increasingly farcical battle between the political  Read the complete review