Episode Two
Hugh Abbot, Minister for Social Affairs (Chris Langham),
complains about how tired and overworked he is as Terri Coverley the
Press Officer (Joanna Scanlan) dumps another hefty
pile of Departmental press releases on his desk.
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His inability to keep the pace has been reflected in a profile piece
that antagonistic journalist Simon Hewitt (Matthew Marsh)
has penned about him.
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Hewitt calls Abbot 'out of his depth… disconnected to the point of
autism.' Abbot and his Department decide that the best tactic of defence
is a new policy announcement - something a bit 'funky'.
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Meanwhile, Malcolm Tucker's (Peter Capaldi) tactic
is to set Abbot up with a counter-profile story with friendly journalist
Angela Heaney, but Tucker is appalled when he discovers how 'out of
touch' Abbot actually is.
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He has no idea who the only gay in the village is and he's never heard
of a chav.
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Tucker suggests that Abbot watches a copy of the zeitgeist tape they
make for the PM - a boiled-down weekly digest of TV and cinema.
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On their mission to find a new 'funky' policy, Advisors Glenn Cullen
(James Smith) and Oliver Reeder (Chris Addison)
come up with two opposing arts policies; unable to make a choice, they
decide to pitch them to a focus group.
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Mary, a typical middle-England single mother (Morwenna Banks),
reacts particularly positively to one of their arts policies. Abbot
requests they get Mary in for a one-on-one chat - he wants a précised
focus group.
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In fact, he wants everything précised, from press reports to compilation
tapes, getting rid of the fat.
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But Abbot's desire to create an easily digestible 'Atkins' government
soon heads for disaster. Can they trust the opinion of their focussed
focus group?
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Is Miss Middle England really representative of Middle England? Does
a policy that plays well on the doorstep also play well for the press?
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And can Tucker successfully predict and counter-attack Hewitt's journalistic
scourge?
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