Hulu’s been stepping up its programming game with original series from Kevin Smith, Richard Linklater and Morgan Spurlock as well as exclusive airings of international shows like “Prisoners of War,” “Rev.” and “The Booth at the End.” And today the site announced it was partnering with the BBC for its first international co-production — season four of Armando Iannucci’s British political comedy “The Thick of It.”
Iannucci’s best known here for his HBO series “Veep,” in which Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays a vice president struggling for visibility and dignity in a position that doesn’t always offer opportunities for either, and for his 2009 film “In the Loop,” a spin-off of sorts of “The Thick of It” featuring the series’ breakout character Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi), an apoplectic governmental communications director capable of spewing amazing arias of profanity.
“The Thick of It” is set in the fictional Department of Social Affairs and Citizenship, and has garned praise and awards for its biting satire since it began airing on BBC Four in 2005. The series was broadcast in the US on BBC America, though now Hulu will be the initial exclusive home to the fourth season, airing the episodes day-and-date with their UK broadcast premieres before they air on BBC America next year. While a premiere date has yet to be announced (its slated for the fall of this year), seasons one through three of the show and its two hour-long specials will become available on Hulu starting July 29th.
According to Iannucci, “This series takes ‘The Thick of It’ into exciting and uncharted territory: a new Coalition Government, and Malcolm and Nicola fretting in the wings. For the first time too a storyline takes us all the way through the series right to the bitter, bitter end, with Government and Opposition convulsed in an incident that questions every political convention imaginable, but in a funny way.”
This deal was brokered by BBC Worldwide Americas — Jemma Adkins, SVP TV Sales & Co-Productions.
Check out our interview with Iannucci about “Veep” and skewering the political system here.
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