DVD: The Thick Of It: Series 3 (18)

Not since the days of Jim Hacker or Alan B'Stard has political comedy been so satisfying.

The most vicious satire on television, Armando Iannucci's The Thick Of It may be on its third series, but it's lost none of its trademark seal for sharp swearing and slap-stick political manoeuvring. Newcomer Rebecca Front plays the only obscure back-bencher (Nicola Murray MP) foolish enough to be bullied and flattered by Peter Capaldi's Malcolm Tucker into taking on the thankless task of bailing out a struggling ministry. But it's Capaldi who steals the show, with his swearing becoming a fine form of political poetry.