DIRECTOR Armando Iannucci reunites with the writing team from his award-winning BBC Four series The Thick Of It, cramming more belly laughs into the first 20 minutes of this satire than most comedies manage in two hours. The only danger is you’ll be guffawing so hard at some of the gags, the next punchline will be lost.
Government communication chief Malcolm Tucker (Peter Capaldi) is rushed into action after British minister Simon Foster (Tom Hollander), claims a US and British-backed war in the Middle East is “unforeseeable”. At the insistence of the Prime Minister, Foster heads for Washington with new aide Toby (Chris Addison), while director of communications Judy (Gina McKee) papers the cracks back home. Foster becomes embroiled in a tug of war between pro and anti-war factions, the latter spearheaded by US Assistant Secretary for Diplomacy Karen Clarke and US General Miller (James Gandolfini).
While Tucker tries to prevent his man embarrassing the British any further, Toby woos Clarke’s ambitious intern, Liza.
In The Loop is hysterical, with a virtuoso turn from Capaldi as the master of spin who will stop at nothing to achieve his party’s goals. “I will marshal all the media forces of darkness to hound you to an assisted suicide,” he snarls to one potential casualty.
The Street – The Complete Series Three (15)
AS IT finishes its TV run, the latest and final six episodes from Jimmy McGovern’s emotion-soaked northern drama hit the DVD stands. The writing is as brilliant as you’d expect, the acting right up there with the best of our “character” pieces and the rollercoaster of feelings through the series totally draining.
Bob Hoskins is the biggest name to drop in for this series as a pub landlord but Anna Friel’s single mother turned weekend hooker reminds us all what a stunningly great actress she can be.
Race To Witch Mountain (PG)
JACK (former wrestler Dwayne Johnson), a one-time wheelman for the Mob, now drives a cab around Las Vegas. During a daytime patrol, he is shocked to discover two children, siblings Sara and Seth, in the back seat of his car. They offer him a bundle of cash to drive to a remote cabin in the desert.
Jack reluctantly obliges and, en route, the taxi is almost forced off the road by federal agents. Demanding answers, Jack learns Sara and Seth are extra-terrestrials who have come to Earth to save their dying planet.
Jack joins forces with scientist Dr Alex Friedman to help Sara and Seth return home. Race To Witch Mountain is a special effects-laden reworking of the 1975 Disney adventure Escape To Witch Mountain. This slick and sprightly revamp ticks all of the boxes with ruthless efficiency, introducing a dog at halfway to increase the ‘ahhh’ factor.
