The Thick of It (2005)

Name: The Thick of It
Genre: Comedy
Rating: 8.7
Cast: Peter Capaldi, Rebecca Front, Chris Addison, Joanna Scanlan, James Smith

Comedy

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.

IMDb rating: 8.7 (29,807 votes)
Episode average: 8.1 -0.6 vs IMDb
Seasons: 4
Streaming (US): Peacock
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rating trend: this show's seasons do not settle into one shape. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well.

Browse shows by rating shape → Open in Rising Shows app → View on IMDb

Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 4 seasons indexed

Cast

Seasons

Season 1 (2005)

7.83 avg 3 episodes 7.7 → 7.8 29 min avg

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Episode #1.1	7.7	886
2	Episode #1.2	8.0	749
3	Episode #1.3	7.8	691

Season 2 (2005)

8.13 avg 6 episodes 8.2 → 7.5 38 min avg

Bad finale

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Episode #2.1	8.2	655
2	Episode #2.2	7.8	601
3	Episode #2.3	8.4	621
4	The Rise of the Nutters	8.4	609
5	Spinners and Losers	8.5	596
6	Spinners and Losers: Opposition Extra	7.5	246

Season 3 (2009)

8.26 avg 8 episodes 8.0 → 8.1 31 min avg

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Episode #3.1	8.0	530
2	Episode #3.2	8.4	533
3	Episode #3.3	8.3	522
4	Episode #3.4	7.9	490
5	Episode #3.5	8.7	591
6	Episode #3.6	8.2	513
7	Episode #3.7	8.5	506
8	Episode #3.8	8.1	476

Season 4 (2012)

8.10 avg 7 episodes 7.4 → 8.3 34 min avg

Slow burn

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Episode #4.1	7.4	477
2	Episode #4.2	7.8	447
3	Episode #4.3	8.1	457
4	Episode #4.4	8.2	436
5	Episode #4.5	8.1	442
6	Episode #4.6	8.8	564
7	Episode #4.7	8.3	437