History Fridge / TheThickOfIt

* The series ends with Malcolm telling Ollie that he is in no way equipped to do Malcolm's job half as well as Malcolm did, and will crash and burn in short order. This took place in 2012, in a series that, with some fictionalisations, more or less tried to reflect reality. Now let's consider what happened in British politics since then -- among other things, the Brexit vote and its toxic, disharmonious and chaotic implementation, the incredibly divisive Labour Party leadership of Jeremy Corbyn, and the bungled response to the COVID pandemic. Assuming anything remotely similar to this happened in the world of ''The Thick of It'', Malcolm didn't realise just how right he was...

* During the Mind Camp episode in Season Four, Peter has enough and tells Stewart, "let's do away with you,", before listing the reasons why Stewart should be fired. Among the people seated in the circle is Mary Drake, who looks up very seriously at Peter. In the finale, who should show up but Mary Drake, to announce that the PM wants Stewart out and she is taking over his job.

* The ingenious, tragic irony in Season 4: Although Malcolm was the only one who ended up facing real punishment for Tickel's death, he was, on reflection, the closest thing to an ally Tickel ever had in politics. It's easy to say that leaking Tickel's medical records was despicable and Malcolm got what he deserved. But the leak wasn't what drove Tickel to kill himself; Tickel only resorted to that when he was about to be evicted. Besides, Malcolm had committed the leak to expose how "Peter Mannion has been picking on a man with a history of depression"--which was true and needed to come to light. Granted, Malcolm's primary aim was probably just to make the Coalition look bad whether or not it helped Tickel, but he was still the only figure in the Opposition who ever advocated taking up Tickel's cause and criticizing the Government for what they were doing to him. Contrast this with Nicola, for example. Malcolm was urging her to "embrace our friend Mr .Tickle" from the beginning, but she believed criticizing the selloff would backfire on her, so instead she just wasted her time (catastrophically, as it turned out) on "quiet Batpeople," breakfast clubs, and cenotaphs. Ultimately, the Goolding Inquiry totally failed to identify those who were really responsible for Tickel's suicide and hold them to account. (True, the inquiry wasn't just about the Tickel affair, but inquiring into the "culture of leaking" was pointless and hypocritical from the start, as Malcolm so eloquently pointed out in his final testimony.) The Coalition (after selling Tickel's home and then evicting him from the tent) all came out of the Inquiry at worst embarrassed but basically unscathed--except perhaps Glenn, the only one ever to feel remorse about it. And despite being the only one who ever tried to draw attention to the real problem that caused Tickel's suicide--despite the fact that others might have prevented it by following his advice--Malcolm ended up taking all the blame for it.

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance Fridge Brilliance]] The ingenious, tragic irony in Season 4: Although Malcolm was the only one who ended up facing real punishment for Tickel's death, he was, on reflection, the closest thing to an ally Tickel ever had in politics. It's easy to say that leaking Tickel's medical records was despicable and Malcolm got what he deserved. But the leak wasn't what drove Tickel to kill himself; Tickel only resorted to that when he was about to be evicted. Besides, Malcolm had committed the leak to expose how "Peter Mannion has been picking on a man with a history of depression"--which was true and needed to come to light. Granted, Malcolm's primary aim was probably just to make the Coalition look bad whether or not it helped Tickel, but he was still the only figure in the Opposition who ever advocated taking up Tickel's cause and criticizing the Government for what they were doing to him. Contrast this with Nicola, for example. Malcolm was urging her to "embrace our friend Mr .Tickle" from the beginning, but she believed criticizing the selloff would backfire on her, so instead she just wasted her time (catastrophically, as it turned out) on "quiet Batpeople," breakfast clubs, and cenotaphs. Ultimately, the Goolding Inquiry totally failed to identify those who were really responsible for Tickel's suicide and hold them to account. (True, the inquiry wasn't just about the Tickel affair, but inquiring into the "culture of leaking" was pointless and hypocritical from the start, as Malcolm so eloquently pointed out in his final testimony.) The Coalition (after selling Tickel's home and then evicting him from the tent) all came out of the Inquiry at worst embarrassed but basically unscathed--except perhaps Glenn, the only one ever to feel remorse about it. And despite being the only one who ever tried to draw attention to the real problem that caused Tickel's suicide--despite the fact that others might have prevented it by following his advice--Malcolm ended up taking all the blame for it.

* During the Mind Camp episode in Season Four, [[spoiler: Peter has enough and tells Stewart, "let's do away with you,", before listing the reasons why Stewart should be fired. Among the people seated in the circle is Mary Drake, who looks up very seriously at Peter.]] In the finale, [[spoiler: who should show up but Mary Drake, to announce that the PM wants Stewart out and she is taking over his job.]]

* [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance Fridge Brilliance]] The ingenious, tragic irony in Season 4: Although Malcolm was the only one who ended up facing real punishment for Tickel's [[spoiler: death,]] he was, on reflection, the closest thing to an ally Tickel ever had in politics. It's easy to say that [[spoiler: leaking Tickel's medical records]] was despicable and Malcolm got what he deserved. But [[spoiler: the leak wasn't what drove Tickel to kill himself]]; Tickel only resorted to that when he was about to be evicted. Besides, Malcolm had committed the leak to expose how "Peter Mannion has been picking on a man with a history of depression"--which was true and needed to come to light. Granted, Malcolm's primary aim was probably just to make the Coalition look bad whether or not it helped Tickel, but he was still the only figure in the Opposition who ever advocated taking up Tickel's cause and criticizing the Government for what they were doing to him. Contrast this with Nicola, for example. Malcolm was urging her to "embrace our friend Mr .Tickle" from the beginning, but she believed criticizing the selloff would backfire on her, so instead she just wasted her time (catastrophically, as it turned out) on "quiet Batpeople," breakfast clubs, and cenotaphs. Ultimately, the Goolding Inquiry totally failed to identify those who were really responsible for Tickel's [[spoiler: suicide]] and hold them to account. (True, the inquiry wasn't just about the Tickel affair, but inquiring into the "culture of leaking" was pointless and hypocritical from the start, as Malcolm so eloquently pointed out in his final testimony.) The Coalition (after selling Tickel's home and then evicting him from the tent) all came out of the Inquiry at worst embarrassed [[spoiler: but basically unscathed--except perhaps Glenn, the only one ever to feel remorse about it.]] And despite being the only one who ever tried to draw attention to the real problem [[spoiler: that caused Tickel's suicide]]--despite the fact that others might have prevented it by following his advice--Malcolm ended up taking all the blame for it.

* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance Fridge Brilliance]] The ingenious, tragic irony in Season 4: Although Malcolm was the only one who ended up facing real punishment for Tickel's [[spoiler: death,]] he was, on reflection, the closest thing to an ally Tickel ever had in politics. It's easy to say that [[spoiler: leaking Tickel's medical records]] was despicable and Malcolm got what he deserved. But [[spoiler: the leak wasn't what drove Tickel to kill himself]]; Tickel only resorted to that when he was about to be evicted. Besides, Malcolm had committed the leak to expose how "Peter Mannion has been picking on a man with a history of depression"--which was true and needed to come to light. Granted, Malcolm's primary aim was probably just to make the Coalition look bad whether or not it helped Tickel, but he was still the only figure in the Opposition who ever advocated taking up Tickel's cause and criticizing the Government for what they were doing to him. Contrast this with Nicola, for example. Malcolm was urging her to "embrace our friend Mr .Tickle" from the beginning, but she believed criticizing the selloff would backfire on her, so instead she just wasted her time (catastrophically, as it turned out) on "quiet Batpeople," breakfast clubs, and cenotaphs. Ultimately, the Goolding Inquiry totally failed to identify those who were really responsible for Tickel's [[spoiler: suicide]] and hold them to account. (True, the inquiry wasn't just about the Tickel affair, but inquiring into the "culture of leaking" was pointless and hypocritical from the start, as Malcolm so eloquently pointed out in his final testimony.) The Coalition (after selling Tickel's home and then evicting him from the tent) all came out of the Inquiry at worst embarrassed [[spoiler: but basically unscathed--except perhaps Glenn, the only one ever to feel remorse about it.]] And despite being the only one who ever tried to draw attention to the real problem [[spoiler: that caused Tickel's suicide]]--despite the fact that others might have prevented it if by following his advice--Malcolm ended up taking all the blame for it.

* [[http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FridgeBrilliance Fridge Brilliance]] The ingenious, tragic irony in Season 4: Although Malcolm was the only one who ended up facing real punishment for Tickel's [[spoiler: death,]] he was, on reflection, the closest thing to an ally Tickel ever had in politics. It's easy to say that [[spoiler: leaking Tickel's medical records]] was despicable and Malcolm got what he deserved. But [[spoiler: the leak wasn't what drove Tickel to kill himself]]; Tickel only resorted to that when he was about to be evicted. Besides, Malcolm had committed the leak to expose how "Peter Mannion has been picking on a man with a history of depression"--which was true and needed to come to light. Granted, Malcolm's primary aim was probably just to make the Coalition look bad whether or not it helped Tickel, but he was still the only figure in either the Opposition who ever advocated taking up Tickel's cause and criticizing the Government for what they were doing to him. Contrast this with Nicola, for example. Malcolm was urging her to "embrace our friend Mr .Tickle" from the beginning, but she believed criticizing the selloff would backfire on her, so instead she just wasted her time (catastrophically, as it turned out) on "quiet Batpeople," breakfast clubs, and cenotaphs. Ultimately, the Goolding Inquiry totally failed to identify those who were really responsible for Tickel's [[spoiler: suicide]] and hold them to account. (True, the inquiry wasn't just about the Tickel affair, but inquiring into the "culture of leaking" was pointless and hypocritical from the start, as Malcolm so eloquently pointed out in his final testimony.) The Coalition (after selling Tickel's home and then evicting him from the tent) all came out of the Inquiry at worst embarrassed [[spoiler: but basically unscathed--except perhaps Glenn, the only one ever to feel remorse about it.]] And despite being the only one who ever tried to draw attention to the real problem [[spoiler: that caused Tickel's suicide]]--despite the fact that others might have prevented it if by following his advice--Malcolm ended up taking all the blame for it.

* The ingenious, tragic irony in Season 4: Malcolm was the only one who faced punishment for Tickel's [[spoiler: death,]] but he was arguably the closest thing to an ally Tickel ever had in politics. It's easy to say that [[spoiler: leaking Tickel's medical records]] was despicable and Malcolm got what he deserved. But [[spoiler: the leak wasn't what drove Tickel to kill himself]]; he only did that when he was about to be evicted. Besides, Malcolm had done it to expose how "Peter Mannion has been picking on a man with a history of depression"--which was true. Granted, Malcolm's primary aim was probably to make the Coalition look bad whether or not it helped Tickel but he was still the only figure in the Opposition doing anything for Tickel's cause. Contrast that with Nicola, for example. Malcolm was urging her to "embrace our friend Mr .Tickle" from the beginning, but she knew criticizing the selloff (or the Government's treatment of Tickel) would backfire on her, so she just wasted her time (catastrophically, as it turned out) on "quiet Batpeople," breakfast clubs, and cenotaphs instead. So the Goolding Inquiry totally failed to identify who was really responsible for Tickel and hold them to account. (True, the inquiry wasn't just about the Tickel affair, but an inquiry into the "culture of leaking" was pointless and hypocritical from the start, as Malcolm pointed out.) The Coalition (after selling his house and then evicting him from the tent) all came out of the Inquiry at worst embarrassed [[spoiler: but basically unscathed--except perhaps Glen, the only one ever to feel remorse about it.]] And despite being the only one who ever tried to draw attention to the real problem [[spoiler: that caused Tickel's suicide]]--despite the fact that he might have prevented it if others had followed his advice--Malcolm ended up taking all the blame for it.

** I always took it that he was made a Life Peer, which is alluded to when Malcolm and the DOSA gang are trying to spread rumors about him becoming Foreign Secretary in Series 2, because he wasn't a member of the House of Commons. Either way it counts because Malcolm would have called it well before it actually happened.

* During 3.07, Julius Nicholson introduces himself as "the Right Honourable Lord Nicholson of Arnage" to Steve and Malcolm during an exchange. We know he's an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hereditary_peer hereditary peer]]. With the way the British peerage system works, this means that [[TearJerker his father must have died]], but he's [[AngstWhatAngst making light of it]] [[MenDontCry in front of Steve and Malcolm]].

* During the Mind Camp episode in Season Four, [[spoiler: Peter has enough and tells Stewart, "let's do away with you,", before listing the reasons why Stewart should be fired. Among the people seated in the circle is Mary Drake, who looks up very seriously at Peter.]] In the finale, [[spoiler: who should show up but Mary Drake, to announce that the PM wants Stewart out and she is taking over his job.]]