In the first dedicated title on this landmark political comedy, James Walters provides an in-depth study of the programme's achievements, by examining its power and influence within society and evaluating its legacy as a work of television art.

James Walters is Professor of Screen Aesthetics and Criticism at the University of Birmingham, UK. He is the author of Visions in the Frame: Mise en scène between Film and TV (2025), Television and Repetition (2023), the BFI TV Classic The Thick of It (Bloomsbury, 2016), Fantasy Film (Bloomsbury, 2011), and Alternative Worlds in Hollywood Cinema (2008). He is the co-editor of Television Performance (2019) and Film Moments: Criticism, History, Theory (2010). His work has appeared in numerous edited collections and international journals including Journal of Film and Video, Critical Studies in Television, Journal of Popular Television, Film Studies and Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism.

Acknowledgments .- Preface .- 1. Achievement.- 2. Style.- 3. Words.- 4. Spaces.- 5..- Adaptation .- Notes .- Bibliography .- Credits .- Index.