Absolute Power (series)

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Image:Absolute Power.jpg Absolute Power is a British comedy series, set in the offices of Prentiss McCabe, a fictional public relations company (or 'government-media relations consultancy') in London, run by Charles Prentiss (Stephen Fry), and Martin McCabe (John Bird).

It started in 2000 as a Radio series on BBC Radio 4, with the 4 series and last (to date) series broadcast in 2004. A six part television series, was also shown on BBC Two, towards the end of 2003, the second television series, of six episodes, began on BBC2 on 21st July - 25th August 2005, on Thursdays at 10pm.

Its name is taken from a quote by the historian Lord Acton that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

Contents

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Radio version

The series was devised and written by Mark Tavener, and logically follows the series In the Red, In the Balance, In the Chair, and In the End which he wrote with Peter Baynham. In some of these, Prentiss and McCabe (again played by Bird and Fry) are elevated members of the BBC, before getting kicked out. The idea is that after this they created Prentiss McCabe, which is the subject of Absolute Power. The tone and style of Absolute Power is so different from the In the... series that it can be regarded as a totally different programme. It was produced by Dawn Ellis.

Prentiss is a man without morals, whose only objectives are money and power. He is portrayed as being the brains, while McCabe, though an excellent speech-writer, lacks his motivation and insight. McCabe's ambitions include retiring and drinking claret, and he spends his life in a state of cynicism, lack of energy and boredom. Stephen Fry said of Charles Prentiss, "He's a brute of a man, out to win, with no morals, he's completely shameless. There's not much to say that's nice about him, except that there is some pleasure in watching a natural born killer at work and knowing whatever happens he will win."

They often find themselves working on behalf of two rival clients, one of whom is often the shadier side of the Labour Government. This is usually something of an inconvenience as Prentiss is met by Archie Hilditch (Tony Gardner, Alex Lowe), a faceless member of the Government, in a deserted location (such as Frank Dobson's campaign headquarters), and told he needs to ruin the popularity of the organisation that he has spent half the programme building. For example, in one episode they're employed by the government to increase the popularity of the European Union, while also being employed by the Eurosceptic newspaper The Sun to increase sales. It is probably a good thing in the end, as the firm relies on these payments since neither Prentiss nor McCabe seem to want to do any real work.

The third member of the company is Sandy (Siobhan Hayes), who is there as the office trainee, getting work experience for her NVQ level 2. She usually does all the work that the partners in the firm cannot be bothered to do, such as filling out thousands of public opinion polls in different handwritings, though she will only agree to do something if it can be twisted into one of the 'nine levels of competence' of her NVQ. Another member of the office is the useless Clive (Tom George) or as Martin calls him, 'thing', who often turns publicity stunts into bloodbaths.

Another regular character is the waiter, Maurice, who brings McCabe his claret. Each time he corrects the English pronunciation of Maurice to the French, and each time Prentiss puts him down with a verse like "One man by circumstance is in splendor set; whilst another irons pants in a laundrette. Go iron my pants, Maurice."

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Hutton Report

The first episode of series 4 was controversially edited because of references to the Hutton Report. The word "lying" was cut from Prentiss's line: "There's nothing Prentiss McCabe can teach this Prime Minister about deception, manipulation and lying, Except how to do it properly." [1][2]

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TV series

The television series was written by Guy Andrews, Mark Lawson and Andrew Rattenbury, and had the tag "spin is dead, long live PR". Unlike most radio to TV sitcom transfers, none of the TV episodes were based on radio episodes. There are many differences to the radio version. Prentiss McCabe is a much more powerful and respected organisation than in the radio series. Martin McCabe is no longer at all naive and is much more worldly wise. The secret meetings with government representatives are gone and replaced with more cups of coffee with newspaper editors and private secretaries.

While the radio series has one trainee, the tv version has several young professionals working at the agency. Most notable are Jamie Front (James Lance) and Alison Jackman (Zoe Telford). While Jamie is a brilliant liar and naturally devious, Alison is very intelligent but too honest and somewhat literal-minded. Charles Prentiss said of her, "Most of the young people here at Prentiss McCabe don't know their arse from their elbow, but with Alison you know she'll join the Royal Arse Society and get a book about elbows from the library." Also in the firm are Cat Durnford (Sally Bretton), the young party girl, and Nick Mayer (Nick Burns), Charles' PA.

Instead of political schemes, the agency concentrates on working with celebrities; something that is rare in the radio version. In the radio episode where McCabe works with a Big Brother contestant, this is shown as an exceptional event, but would be normal behavior in TV series. Contrariwise, in the TV episode "The House of Lords", Charles is mildly surprised to be contacted by a Government spin doctor.

Notable cameo roles in the television series have included:

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The London bombings

Owing to the terrorist attacks on London on the 7th and 21st of July 2005, the first episode of the second series (in which a member of the Bin Laden family attempted to buy British Airways) was cancelled, and replaced with an episode from later in the series. The Bin Laden episode was aired several weeks later.

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BBC 2 trailer

The characters of Prentiss-McCabe have also appeared in a trailer for BBC 2.

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Episode list

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The Radio Series

Series 1

  • S01 E01 - Conservative Party (5th January 2000)
  • S01 E02 - Relaunch of the Sun (12th January 2000)
  • S01 E03 - Mayor of London (19th January 2000)
  • S01 E04 - The Church of England (26th January 2000)
  • S01 E05 - Radio 3 (2nd February 2000)
  • S01 E06 - English Sporting Success (9th February 2000)

Series 2

  • S02 E01 - Martin is Bored (30th January 2001)
  • S02 E02 - Promoting Philosophy (6th February 2001)
  • S02 E03 - Relaunching a Literary Career (13th February 2001)
  • S02 E04 - The Elderly Initiative (20th February 2001)
  • S02 E05 - Prison Reform (27th February 2001)
  • S02 E06 - Gayle Shand (6th March 2001)

Series 3

  • S03 E01 - Poking the PM (1st January 2002)
  • S03 E02 - Health Service (8th January 2002)
  • S03 E03 - Big Brother (15th January 2002)
  • S03 E04 - A Tennis Star (22nd January 2002)
  • S03 E05 - Men (29th January 2002)

Series 4

  • S04 E01 - The BBC (5th February 2004)
  • S04 E02 - The Notion of Nation (12th February 2004)
  • S04 E03 - Healthy Eating (19th February 2004)
  • S04 E04 - US Presidential Campaign (26th February 2004)
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The Television Series

Series One

  • S01 E01 - History Man (10th November 2003)
  • S01 E02 - Pope Idol (17th November 2003)
  • S01 E03 - Tory Woman (24th November 2003)
  • S01 E04 - Mr Fox (1st December 2003)
  • S01 E05 - Country Life (8th December 2003)
  • S01 E06 - Burn and Crash (15th December 2003)

Series Two

  • S02 E04 - Identity Crisis (21st July 2005) (brought forward from 11th August)
  • S02 E02 - The Trial (28th July 2005)
  • S02 E03 - Blood Bank (4th August 2005)
  • S02 E01 - The Nation's Favourite (11th August 2005) (held back from 21st July)
  • S02 E05 - Spinning America (18th August 2005)
  • S02 E06 - The House of Lords (25th August 2005)
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Critical reception - Television series

  • "Transferring a radio series to television can be risky [...] Absolute Power, however, succeeds where previous comedies have failed, and looks set to do for PR what Drop The Dead Donkey did for the newsroom. A good cast helps..."
    - The Independent, November 8, 2003[3].
  • "fitfully amusing comedy"
    - Stuart Price in theIndependent on Sunday, November 9, 2003[4].
  • The script presses the right buttons relentlessly. The names that are invoked contribute artfully to the atmosphere of heightened unreality. The idea of Mark Thatcher is tossed about in this corner, while the notion of Dennis Waterman is examined in another [...] I suppose it is a credit to all involved in the programme that I didn't like it at all. Although the characters are clearly exaggerations and grotesques, I felt they were probably close enough to the truth to be convincing. Form and content were perfectly matched. Like Trevor's World of Sport, of which this is clearly a superior relation, it is impossible to like any of the characters. [...] It delivers a stringently corrective dose of satire. It is quite appallingly knowing, and deliberately so.
    - Pete Clark in the London Evening Standard, November 11, 2003[5].
  • "effortlessly witty comedy"
    - Terry Ramsay in the London Evening Standard, August 11, 2005[6].
  • "deliciously witty and sharp series, up there with Extras as one of the best comedies of the moment (or, indeed, any moment)."
    - Terry Ramsay in the London Evening Standard, July 21, 2005
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See also

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