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The Best Episodes of The Thick of It

Every episode of The Thick of It ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Thick of It!

Binge this in 10h 38m•Peaking at 9.1/10

Set in the corridors of power and spin, the Minister for Social Affairs is continually harassed by Number 10's policy enforcer and dependent on his not-so-reliable team of civil servants.

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 3 - Episode 3
    9.1/10(526 votes)

    #1 - Episode 3

    S3:E3

    Nicola Murray is stuck in an Eastbourne hotel bedroom with nothing but a laptop, a printer and a tiny kettle while she and Olly try to finish her speech for the annual party conference. It's not going well. But Glenn has brought in his secret weapon - Julie Price, tragic widow, people's champion and regional photo opportunity. Is this the breakthrough they need, or the start of a tug-of-Julie with Malcolm Tucker?

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writer:Tony Roche

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  2. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 6 - The Inquiry
    9.1/10(558 votes)

    #2 - The Inquiry

    S4:E6

    The government, opposition and civil service are called before Lord Goolding's inquiry.

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 5 - Episode 5
    9.0/10(591 votes)

    #3 - Episode 5

    S3:E5

    After weeks of trading bitter blows in the press, DoSAC minister Nicola Murray MP and her shadow Peter Mannion MP are invited onto BBC Radio 5Live for a debate on Richard Bacon's late-night phone-in programme. Director of communications Malcolm Tucker and opposition PR guru Stewart Pearson decide to listen in the comfort of their respective offices, but when some breaking news threatens to make things difficult for the politicians, the programme quickly turns into a phone-in like no other. Malcolm and Stewart are left no choice but to start getting their people over to the studios.

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Roger Drew, Tony Roche

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  4. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 7 - The Final Reckoning
    9.0/10(434 votes)

    #4 - The Final Reckoning

    S4:E7

    Dan Miller gets sent on a fact-finding mission to the local cop-shop to press the flesh.

    Director:Tony Roche
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 2 - Episode 2
    8.9/10(534 votes)

    #5 - Episode 2

    S3:E2

    Nicola Murray MP has only been secretary of state for just over a week, but already there is press speculation on how long she will last. And now someone at the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship has completely wiped the immigration records of 170,672 people. Who's going to get the blame, who will have to break the news to Malcolm and how will Nicola get through lunch with the staff of the Guardian without revealing the scale of the latest disaster?

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Jesse Armstrong, Roger Drew

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  6. The Thick of It Season 2 Episode 1 - Episode 1
    8.8/10(653 votes)

    #6 - Episode 1

    S2:E1

    Something goes terribly wrong at a ministerial visit to a factory – only Malcolm can help, but will he?

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Jesse Armstrong, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

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    7. Trending NowTRENDING NOW

    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Thick of It

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  7. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 7 - Episode 7
    8.8/10(507 votes)

    #7 - Episode 7

    S3:E7

    Nicola Murray and her team are desperate to find a major sports personality to be the face of DoSAC's new Healthy Choices campaign. Malcolm's away on holiday and doesn't want to be disturbed, so they take advice from Steve Fleming, who's back on the scene as the PM's new fixer. Is Steve really as nice as he seems? Everyone knows Malcolm never takes holidays, so what's he up to now?

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche

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  8. The Thick of It Season 2 Episode 3 - Episode 3
    8.7/10(618 votes)

    #8 - Episode 3

    S2:E3

    Someone sends an email they shouldn't have, while Hugh lies to a Select Committee...

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Jesse Armstrong, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

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  9. The Thick of It Season 1 Episode 1 - Episode 1
    8.6/10(877 votes)

    #9 - Episode 1

    S1:E1

    Hugh Abbot is the Minister for Social Affairs and he's facing a policy crisis; his 'Snooper Squad' idea has been vetoed which leaves him with just forty minutes to come up with a new policy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Sam Bain

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  10. The Thick of It Season 1 Episode 2 - Episode 2
    8.6/10(744 votes)

    #10 - Episode 2

    S1:E2

    Hugh enlists the help of a focus group to help him make a decision between two policies.

    Director:Unknown
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Tony Roche

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  11. The Thick of It Season 1 Episode 3 - Episode 3
    8.6/10(688 votes)

    #11 - Episode 3

    S1:E3

    An empty London flat threatens the future of a potential Housing Bill. Dan Miller is getting plenty of media-attention for his work on the bill, which is creating a degree of envy.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Simon Blackwell

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  12. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 8 - Episode 8
    8.6/10(474 votes)

    #12 - Episode 8

    S3:E8

    As the election looms and the Opposition eye the prize, the word around the Westminster Village is that Malcolm Tucker is running out of both options and friends. He may have bitten off more than he can chew with Steve Fleming, but when an offer of help appears from an unlikely direction, Malcolm starts to set his finest trap yet.

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Jesse Armstrong

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  13. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 5 - The Leak
    8.6/10(441 votes)

    #13 - The Leak

    S4:E5

    With Nicola Murray and Peter Mannion both on the back foot after the unravelling of the key-worker housing sell-off policy there's inevitably going to be a scramble for the moral high-ground.

    Director:Chris Addison
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Thick of It Season 2 Episode 2 - Episode 2
    8.5/10(597 votes)

    #14 - Episode 2

    S2:E2

    There's a reshuffle in the offing and the PM's new 'blue skies' advisor is making trouble...

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Jesse Armstrong, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

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  15. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 4 - Episode 4
    8.5/10(491 votes)

    #15 - Episode 4

    S3:E4

    The civil servants at DoSAC are preparing for a visit from the DoSAC shadow minister Peter Mannion. For Mannion and his team, this informal pre-election briefing is a good opportunity to measure up for new curtains. For Terri Coverley, this principally means putting on a bit more make-up. For Nicola Murray, it is simply another distraction on a day when nothing seems to be going right. All she really wants to do is get Glenn and Olly to kick-start the Fourth Sector Pathfinder Initiative. And then she gets a call.

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 2 - New Advisor
    8.5/10(448 votes)

    #16 - New Advisor

    S4:E2

    With Glenn gone, Nicola Murray is busy breaking in her new policy advisor, Helen Hatley. When Helen is accidentally photographed holding notes from an ideas meeting, Nicola is understandably angry.

    Director:Billy Sneddon
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 4 - Hear 2 Hear
    8.5/10(437 votes)

    #17 - Hear 2 Hear

    S4:E4

    With Nicola safely on a train to attend the party's Here 2 Hear in far-flung Bradford, Malcolm is free to launch his latest plot.

    Director:Becky Martin
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 6 - Episode 6
    8.4/10(512 votes)

    #18 - Episode 6

    S3:E6

    With the Prime Minister away at a summit in Spain, Malcolm Tucker is left at home to mind the shop. Just as Nicola Murray is about to launch her Fourth Sector Initiative to the media, the media decide that what they really want is someone to launch another leadership contest. Does Nicola have what it takes and, if she does, can Malcolm take it away from her before she does any damage?

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writer:Simon Blackwell

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  19. The Thick of It Season 3 Episode 1 - Episode 1
    8.3/10(532 votes)

    #19 - Episode 1

    S3:E1

    Reshuffle day at Number 10. When the job at the Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship is turned down by everybody else, there is no option but to promote unknown quantity Nicola Murry to the Cabinet. The downside is she is very keen, has a husband who works for a company that has government contracts, has an 11-year-old about to go to a private school and is about to face the media at a crucial by-election poster launch. Something will have to be done.

    Director:Armando Iannucci
    Writers:Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

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  20. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 1 - Networked Nation
    8.0/10(479 votes)

    #20 - Networked Nation

    S4:E1

    Peter Mannion, the Secretary of State for Social Affairs, gets told to launch his Coalition partner Fergus's new 'Networked Nation' policy at a school.

    Director:Natalie Bailey
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The Thick of It Season 4 Episode 3 - Thought Camp
    7.9/10(460 votes)

    #21 - Thought Camp

    S4:E3

    Stewart Pearson is running 'Thought Camp' at a remote country house hotel, as the perfect way to re-engage the party with the creative cloudscape.

    Director:Natalie Bailey
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Episode 3" is the best rated episode of "The Thick of It". It scored 9.1/10 based on 526 votes. Directed by Armando Iannucci and written by Tony Roche, it aired on 11/7/2009. This episode scored 0.0 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Inquiry".