Malcolm Tucker

Malcolm Tucker
The Thick of It character
Created by	Armando Ianucci
Portrayed by	Peter Capaldi
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Spin Doctor
Nationality	British

Malcolm Tucker is the protagonist or anti hero of the BBC political satire, The Thick of It, portrayed by Peter Capaldi. His role was as Director of Communications for the Government of the United Kingdom. Tucker was originally a secondary character, with Chris Langham's Hugh Abbott as the protagonist being watched over by Tucker, but after Langham was fired from the series the show focused more on the character of Tucker and his dealings with the inept Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship (DoSaC), originally the Department of Social Affairs (DSA) in series 1 and 2. He is one of only four characters to remain as the same character from the series in the film, In the Loop. He has no direct or obvious counterpart in the spin-off Veep.

Creation and basis

The character was inspired by Tony Blair's spin doctor Alastair Campbell's reputation.

The character is based on several figures, most notably real life Director of Communications for Prime Minister Tony Blair, Alastair Campbell, who admitted to his liberal use of profanities in the workplace. Campbell confessed to enjoying The Thick of It and found it hilarious. However he did not enjoy the feature film spin off, In the Loop and was vocal in expressing his dislike of the film. Capaldi later revealed that his personal preferable inspiration for the character was notorious Hollywood producers, most notably Harvey Weinstein.

Background and personal life

Very little is known about Malcolm Tucker's personal life. It is obvious that he is Scottish due to his accent. Opposition minister Peter Mannion (Roger Allam) once called him "the Gorbals Goebbels", ostensibly a reference to Tucker's place of origin. The nature of Tucker's home life is ambiguous and is somewhat contradictory through the course of the series - in the special episode Spinners and Losers he is revealed to have a niece, in series 4, he explicitly states that he has no children, and in series 3 he is shown spending his 50th birthday alone in his office. However, at other times, there are hints that he has a family - he wears a ring on his wedding finger, there are children's drawings on the walls of his office, and when being pursued by photographers after his forced resignation, a young boy is briefly seen looking out of the window of Tucker's home. His character profile on The British Comedy Guide says that he has split up from his partner. Before the start of the series he forced his predecessor Steve Fleming (David Haig) to resign by telling the press that he was resigning before even asking him, thereby leaving him no choice but to resign. Tucker took his place as Director of Communications for Number 10.

Personality

It is Tucker's personality that causes him to be infamous and feared along the halls of Westminster. The series is rife with scenes denoting a rather complex personality. He has a short temper and is likely to verbally abuse someone who has caused him or the government embarrassment, stress or irritancy with foul language and such description that it causes fear amongst not only the person being abused, but others around as well. His colourful language is a hallmark of the character. He acts as the Prime Minister's enforcer to ensure the cabinet ministers all follow the party line, and managing the government's crisis management PR - usually in the form of spin. He regularly uses rumours, smears, or threats of extreme violence to achieve his ends. His fierce reputation for verbally abusing people became what Deputy minister of DoSaC Fergus Williams (Geoffrey Streatfeild) referred to as, "a rite of passage" for politicians, to be "Tuckered".

He is one of four "Spin doctors" featured on the show, and one of the three that are universally feared by ministers and civil servants, the others being Cal Richards (Tom Hollander), nicknamed "The Fucker" who is like Tucker in that he is verbally abusive and threatening, but is more unpredictable e.g. one moment he will be calm and relaxed and the next, without warning he will scream to get attention; he is one of the few people in Westminster who is more feared than Malcolm. Steve Fleming is the other, though he is not as feared as Tucker and Richards as he does not swear anywhere near of much as they do he is still infamous throughout the party, but is perhaps mentally unbalanced as he has sudden breakdowns. Stewart Pearson (Vincent Franklin) is not feared by his party or other party members as he is a cool, calm man who doesn't usually raise his voice. He is very modern and speaks with political jargon that no one understands and irritates people more than intimidates them.

In spite of his brash, impulsive and volatile persona, he is strongly implied to be more intelligent and adept at long-term thinking than all or most of the other characters; his constant scheming, although borderline Machiavellian in the words of Hugh Abbott, is paradoxically aimed at a common good, namely the prevalence of the party line and the resolution of issues arising from ministerial incompetence, whereas apparently friendly characters such as Ollie come across as covertly self-serving and egotistical by comparison. He is also implied to be a self-made man of humble origins, a firm believer in meritocracy and a staunch opponent of classism and cronyism, e.g. comparing the intentions of an MP's daughter to capitalise on her family connections to the practices of Tsarist Russia and "the fucking Dimblebys". Accordingly, his demeanour towards working-class characters or anyone deemed a social inferior is sincerely empathetic, gentlemanly and devoid of condescension, as opposed to the obnoxious and patronizing behaviour displayed by characters such as Mannion or Pearson towards hotel receptionists or campaigning youths. The only exception to this behaviour shown in the series is nurse Douglas Tickel, who finds himself at the receiving end of Tucker's scheming. He does on only two occasions show remorse and regret for his actions, notably when he hits Glenn, he expresses what appears to be genuine remorse after punching Glenn. He even feels sorry for Glenn when he has a mini mental breakdown and tries to brighten his mood. His film portrayal is arguably less sympathetic, and his actions seem less fueled by ideological persuasion than by an interest to keep his job at all costs.

His reputation precedes him in his own party, the media and even among the opposition. "Malcolm Tucker has the physical demeanour and the political instincts of a velociraptor" (The Guardian); "Tucker's writ runs through the lifeblood of Westminster like raw alcohol, at once cleansing and corroding" (The Daily Telegraph); "If you make eye contact with Malcolm Tucker, you have spilled his pint (The Times); "Iago with a Blackberry" (The Spectator).

Character relationships

Main article: List of The Thick of It characters

Tucker has very little patience or time for the incompetence of ministers and other civil servants in Whitehall to the point where he describes himself in series four as having "no real friends". He considered Hugh Abbott to be bumbling and incompetent and out of touch with the common man/woman and was constantly fed up with the way he had to deal with his mistakes. He got on better with his successor Nicola Murray (Rebecca Front) though. Although he admitted she was a "psycho" he found her to be a "nice lady". He believed she did a much better job as Minister for DoSaC than as Leader of the Opposition to the point where he had grown tired of her incompetence and staged a coup d'état against her and found her to be "a waste of skin". Despite not caring about Ollie Reader (Chris Addison), Malcolm often uses him in his schemes as he does not doubt his basic skills. He views Ollie as a "wannabe" Malcolm as does everyone else. He often threatens Ollie more than other members of DoSaC like Glenn or Terri, implying he finds Ollie more irritating. Glenn is possibly the only major character to whom Malcolm shows any (if occasional) warmth due to his misfortunes.

He has a long-standing rivalry with party Life Peer Julius Nicholson (Alex MacQueen), who delights in his sacking at the end of series 3, but does help him return to power in the next episode. He also has a rivalry with "Fat Pat". He hates Cliff Lawton (Timothy Bentinck), Hugh's predecessor, whom Malcolm forces to resign in the first episode. Cliff held a grudge against Malcolm for this and is the reason why Jamie McDonald didn't inform Malcolm that he was his man to run for PM in the special "Spinners and Losers". He despises Steve Fleming, his predecessor, whom he forced to resign sometime prior to the series. Fleming exacts revenge on Tucker for forcing him to resign by doing the same to him. However, despite everyone fearing him and enjoying not being abused or threatened by Malcolm, rivals such as Nicholson unite to bring down Fleming and reinstate Tucker, as they all agree that he is the party's only protecting screen against the media, and their only chance at saving the party in the impending general election.

The only other person he allows to criticise him without retaliation is fellow Scotsman, Press Officer, Jamie McDonald (Paul Higgins), whom Malcolm "lets off his leash" to do his work for him when he needs to be in two places at once. Perhaps his most important relationship is with his secretary, Sam (Samantha Harrington), whom he is very protective towards, and even in the immediate aftermath of his own forced resignation at the end of series 3, he is shown trying to comfort her and protect her from the men removing him from his office. She is one of the few people who genuinely like Tucker and is upset when he is fired. Even though she is not a party hack, she moved with Malcolm after his party lost the General election to stay as his assistant. she was present every day at the Goolding Inquiry, her face evolves into visible concern towards the end of the inquiry as she witnesses an end to Malcolm's career.

Fictional History

Malcolm Tucker
Director of Communications, Number 10
In office 1997–2009
Prime Minister	The PM Tom Davies
Preceded by	Steve Fleming
Succeeded by	Steve Fleming
In office 2009–2010
Prime Minister	Tom Davies
Preceded by	Steve Fleming
Succeeded by	Stewart Pearson
General Election Advisor
In office 2009–2010
Prime Minister	Tom Davies
Media Adviser to the Leader of the Opposition
In office 2010–2012
Prime Minister	JB
Preceded by	Stewart Pearson
Succeeded by	Oliver "Ollie" Reader
Personal details
Born	Malcolm Tucker 1959 Gorbals, City of Glasgow, Scotland
Nationality	Scottish, British
Occupation	Spin Doctor

In Series 1, Department of Social Affairs (DSA) minister Cliff Lawton is given the sack by Malcolm Tucker by making it seem as though he went before he was pushed, even though "you were pushed". He selects a new minister for DSA, Hugh Abbott. The new minister's policy of 'Snooper Squad' is called off 45 minutes before the press conference he has called for by Malcolm. Malcolm informs him that he must come up with a new policy in 45 minutes as he cannot call it off. Malcolm is concerned that Hugh is not keeping in touch with the man or woman on the street and orders him to sort out his policy on Eastenders. Malcolm thinks Hugh's empty flat in London could pose a problem for the successful Second Home Housing Bill and asks him to sell it. Malcolm hints the idea of a "good resignation" to Hugh.

In Series 2, Hugh Abbott is accosted by a member of the factory he is visiting and he begs Malcolm to bury the story for him. Malcolm goes to ITN headquarters to make them realise that the story isn't worth running as the top story. When they refuse he resorts to digging information up about the woman who accosted Hugh. When this proves unsuccessful, he lies to ITN about the woman claiming she is deranged and mentally unstable, causing them to drop the story as the headline. Even better is when he shifts the blame to Glenn who tells the woman to "shut up for one fucking moment". He agrees to them placing that story as the top story, thereby making the civil servant look bad, and not the minister. When Hugh sends an expletive ridden email to an 8 year old girl called Glenn Cullen instead of their Glenn, Malcolm asks Terri to take the blame.

In the special, The Rise of the Nutters, Malcolm has to deal with a disastrous News night interview caused by Ben Swain. He is left in the dark about the date of the Prime Minister's resignation, the date of which Julius Nicholson knows, much to the annoyance of Malcolm. He tries to get the date from Nicholson with the help of his lap dog Jamie. A leaked "legacy" leaves the PM to resign six months early causing chaos in the halls of Whitehall.

In the second special, Spinners and Losers, Malcolm needs to find a successor who is not Tom Davies and so runs through several candidates in one night, while trying to find Dan Miller who has "gone dark". Jamie tries to keep several of his candidates secret from Malcolm, including Cliff Lawton, whom he drops after Malcolm finds out about him. Malcolm spins out of control, desperately trying to find a successor to the PM and to keep his job by backing the winning candidate. In the end he decides to back Tom and Dan Miller reveals that while Malcolm and everyone else had been up all night, he had been asleep as he was never going to run for the leadership, he was always going to back Tom. Malcolm calls Tom to remind him of all he has done for him tonight and for him not to forget it.

In Series 3, Malcolm has to deal with a reshuffle. The only department left without a minister is DoSaC. He is left with the task of finding a replacement for Hugh. He eventually finds a minister, Nicola Murray an unknown to him. On her first day he has to deal with several blunders of hers, such as a press meeting with her and the newspapers which goes wrong thanks to a billboard with the name Liam Bentley written on it and a poorly positioned Nicola in front of it (I Am Bent). He believes her to be an "omnishambles". The loss of immigration figures of 170,000 people is left up to Malcolm to find the responsible party. At a party conference in Eastbourne Malcolm in a rare moment, physically strikes Glenn over a possible publicity moment. He however does feel bad about it and heartily apologises. During a visit from the shadow Social Affairs department, Malcolm must deal with Murray's daughter's reputation for being a school bully from leaking to the press and so threatens an eavesdropping Phil Smith. When Nicola Murray and Peter Mannion go head to head on BBC Radio 5 Live, breaking news means Malcolm must descend to the studio where he must battle Stewart Pearson and the Radio 5 workers to stop the broadcast. When rumours of a leadership challenge from Nicola Murray surface, Malcolm has to drop everything and ensure that the rumours stop spreading. When DoSaC try to get Andy Murray to sponsor their new Healthy Eating campaign Malcolm is no where to be found. He is on holiday, however everyone knows that Malcolm doesn't take holidays. He quickly returns however when Steve Fleming comes back. Tucker's predecessor, Steve Fleming returns and does to Malcolm what Malcolm did to him, forces him to resign by leaking it to the press before telling him, leaving Malcolm no choice but to go. As he leaves Downing Street he warns, "You will fucking see me again!" In the final episode, ministers and civil servants alike have grown tired of Fleming after only a week and realise that Malcolm must return. He receives help from long standing rival Julius Nicholson and leaks career harming material to the press about Fleming. Malcolm swiftly descends back onto the scene to hand Fleming's resignation letter to Fleming. He regains his position and gives a foul mouthed battle speech to ministers and civil servants about the impending election.

In Series 4 he returns, bored of two years in opposition, working for the new Leader of the Opposition Nicola Murray MP. In episode 4 of Series 4, he launches a concerted attack on Nicola's leadership, forcing her to resign as Leader and allowing Dan Miller to take her place. When the Prime Minister announces an enquiry into the culture of leaking after the death of Public Sector worker, Nurse Douglas Tickel, it is revealed that Malcolm had Tickel's medical records and mobile number during the inquiry after an accidental admission by drawing attention to a photograph that he helped organise to bring down Nicola Murray. It is strongly hinted that Malcolm was responsible for the leaking of private details about inquiry member, Baroness Sureka when she began to question his bullying tactics. She was missing from the panel for several days because of this. At the end of series 4, an accidental admission at the Goolding Inquiry into governmental leaks makes him susceptible to possible perjury charges. He gives a final foul mouthed rant to Ollie, that Ollie calls, "the kind of video that you leave on Youtube after you've blown your brains out," that reveals some personal thoughts and feelings from Malcolm. He insists that Ollie will never be him and that he will not survive the job of replacing him. He tells him that he will witness a master of spin go out "with my head held fucking high." He goes to get arrested at a police station while he sent Dan Miller to get some publicity at another station, to make the Government look unresponsive at the police backlog crisis and to divert attention from himself. Ollie however leaks that Malcolm is going to give himself up and soon the media are waiting for Malcolm outside the station. He and his lawyer try to escape without being seen, but are spotted fleeing the station. He asks Ollie to find another station for him, begging that "I need my dignity". When he arrives at the new station the press have been informed that Malcolm will be there. Malcolm looks on as he realises that this is the end. Ollie leaked to the press the new location of Malcolm's arrest. As he prepares to leave he station, his lawyer reads a statement that says he resigns as Director of Communications. Malcolm looks on with sadness and bitterness in his eyes. Reporters shout whether he has anything to say, he says he wants to say something, but says, "it doesn't matter". The Master of Spin has nothing left to say. As he leaves he looks out of the taxi window solemnly.

• In the spin off feature film, In the Loop Tucker, Jamie, Sam and Angela Heaney are the only four characters to stay the same from the TV series. In it Tucker has to deal with an incompetent minister who has told the press that war is unforeseeable, causing more strain to the hot and delicate topic. Tucker is sent to be a willing and very active pawn in the efforts of a warmongering U.S. Assistant Secretary of State towards an intervention in the 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.

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 message to fans. This has so far been the last appearance of the character.

Armando Iannucci stated in 2012 that series 4 would most likely be The Thick of It's last, but could return for a few specials or something in the future. Following Capaldi's casting as the Doctor in Doctor Who, Iannucci revealed that the show is definitely over for good. He joked that he has no plans for Tucker to appear in Veep as Tucker is either dead or in prison.

Reception

For his portrayal of Malcolm Tucker, Peter Capaldi has been critically lauded by critics and was nominated for the BAFTA award for Best Comedy Performance-Male at the 2006, 2008 and 2013 awards. He won the award for Best Comedy Performance-Male at the 2010 awards. He also won the British Comedy Award for Best Actor in 2010 for his portrayal. He was nominated for the Royal Television Society Award for Best Comedy Performance in 2006. For his portrayal of Tucker in In the Loop Capaldi was nominated for the British Independent Film Award for Best Actor, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Evening Standard British Film Awards: Peter Sellers Award for Comedy. He came second place in the International Cinephile Society Award for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for the London Film Critics Circle Award for British Actor of the Year, he came second place in the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, he also came in third place in the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Hana Glasser of American magazine Slate said that, "The character of Tucker is reason enough to elevate The Thick of It over Veep...The brilliant Peter Capaldi, who delivers profanity of the highest imaginable caliber". Empire magazine placed one of Tucker's rants in, In the Loop as the 6th greatest movie insults of all time. Alex Fletcher of Digital Spy said, "Malcolm Tucker remains one of the most incredible TV creations of all time". Hollywood actors husband and wife Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are self-confessed fans of Malcolm Tucker and his foul mouthed rants according to Peter Capaldi who co-starred with Pitt in World War Z.

Influence on culture

In episode 1 of series 3, the word "Omnishambles" was coined by Tucker to describe Nicola Murray. The word was created by Thick of It writer Tony Roche. Following this many notable politicians used the phrase, e.g. Ed Miliband used it during Prime Minister's Questions on 18 April 2012 to criticise the Government's 2012 budget. The British media used the phrase to describe US Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney upon his UK tour, when he said that he didn't believe Britain would be ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics. Due to its adoption by real life politicians, the word was entered into the Oxford English Dictionary on 13 November 2012.

In the run-up to the 2010 UK general election, the column 'Malcolm Tucker's election briefing' appeared weekly in The Guardian, written by Jesse Armstrong.

When Capaldi was cast as the Doctor in Doctor Who, his incarnation of 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".

Glaswegian band The LaFontaines have a song titled "Malcolm Tucker" which is a reference to the character released in April 2014 on their "Under the Storm" EP.

See also

• Omnishambles
• Selina Meyer