10 TV Shows With No Redeemable Characters
4. The Thick Of It
US spinoff Veep escapes inclusion on this list by virtue of Gary Walsh (Tony Hale), Selina Meyers’ laptop assistant whose genuine sweetness and loyalty keep him from engaging in any of the group’s more evil acts.
The Thick Of It, meanwhile, has no such innocent characters. The Westminster satire is packed with the types of backbiting, cautiously noncommittal, frightfully ambitious types that fill parliaments and government buildings across the globe.
From the smallest character, everyone has an agenda. The two quasi-protagonists, Hugh Abbot and Nicola Murray, are by no means evil, but see politics not as a noble calling but a means to gain status, power, and a lucrative career. “Principles” are a laughing matter in this world.
The operators on the sidelines are scarier still, particularly the show’s finest creation, Malcolm Tucker. Played with snarling Glaswegian fury by Peter Capaldi, Tucker is a spin doctor first, a human being second. Every moment he’s scheming his way out of another pickle, his thought process punctuated by an incessant stream of swear words. He’s a delightfully demonic figure, but (by virtue of his job) ultimately bereft of humanity.