The Thick of It: Series 3, Episode 1 (2009)

It’s reshuffle time again, and DoSAC has a new minister:  Nicola Murray.  Malcolm has to pull a few teeth to get the position filled at all, and Nicola is far enough down the list that he doesn’t know much about her.  By the end of her first day, however, Malcolm has coined the term “omnishambles” just for her.

 

While Hugh Abbot and Simon Foster were ministers cut from the same lugubrious cloth, Nicola is an entirely different sort.  She’s all floral-printed dresses and energetic smiles, eager to get social programs off the ground.  She quickly proves, though, to be chronically bad with people, despite her very obvious efforts to the contrary.  She immediately gets off on the wrong foot with Terri, and Ollie and Glenn’s attempts to ingratiate themselves with her are riddled with awkward moments.

 

And of course, there’s Malcolm.  The two butt heads right from the gate.  Hugh was a minister who generally wanted to be told what to do, but Nicola has her own ideas and doesn’t appreciate Malcolm trying to dictate the less spinnable aspects of her personal life.  Malcolm, naturally, responds to any perceived threat with both barrels blazing, so he sets out to prove who’s really in charge.

 

The show has a different energy with Nicola at the helm of DoSAC, and thus, the humor is somewhat different, but it’s still very funny.  Likewise, the different relationship Malcolm begins developing here with Nicola is a lot of fun.  

 

Jumping back into The Thick of It after watching In the Loop also reemphasizes the fact that Malcolm is not the same in both projects.  They both have the comic rage and insidious talent for turning a phrase, and neither is afraid to get their hands dirty, but The Thick of It Malcolm has a different way about him.  This Malcolm knows that the Mad Sweary Man isn’t the only weapon in his arsenal; he’s got that disarming shark grin that can chat breezily right up until he bites your head off.  There’s that wicked gleam in his eye, because he thrives on the pressure, the confrontations, and – yes – the omnishambles.