The Thick of It Explained S1 E01
Season 1

Episode 1: the opening scene

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INT. NEWSROOM — MORNING

Fluorescent lights. Cold coffee. A wall of monitors cycles through headlines no one believes. ELLA threads between desks, clutching a printout that looks like it survived a small fire.

ELLA

We can’t run it like this.

It reads like a confession.

MARTIN
(without looking up)

Everything reads like a confession if you’re guilty.

CUT TO:
EXT. SIDE STREET — MORNING

A narrow lane behind the newsroom. Rain from earlier clings to brickwork. JAY waits under a broken awning, hood up, pretending to scroll.

JAY

You’re late.

ELLA

I was deciding whether to come at all.

CUT TO:
INT. BOARDROOM — NIGHT

A pristine boardroom. Too quiet. A projector shows a headline mock-up: “THE SIGNATURE”.

EXECUTIVE

You can’t run this.

ELLA

Watch me.

MARTIN

Oh no.