Absolute Power

Absolute Power

2003
Absolute Power
Absolute Power

Absolute Power

8.1 | en | Comedy

Stephen Fry and John Bird star as spin doctors Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe as they bring the popular and satirical Radio 4 comedy Absolute Power to BBC Two. Stephen as Prentiss and John as McCabe are an unscrupulous pair who run the blue chip PR agency Prentiss McCabe. Dealing with commercial as well as personal PR, their remit covers everything from political communications to celebrity media relations. Their manipulation skills are tested to the full as they frequently find that their work brings them into conflict with political parties, newspaper editors and celebrities.

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Seasons & Episodes

2
1
EP6  The House of Lords
Aug. 25,2005
The House of Lords

Bugger the House of Lords""; ""Yes, that's exactly the PM's thinking."" The pace of reform in The House of Lords has slowed down, it's still full of the over-privileged, and they keep sending back Government proposals for legislation. So when Charle

EP5  Spinning America
Aug. 18,2005
Spinning America

American fast food sales are down and images of Ronald McDonald are being burned in the streets - could this be linked to Prentiss McCabe's healthy eating campaign? Or is this a backlash of anti-American feeling post-Iraq?Whatever the cause, the Prent

EP4  The Nation's Favourite
Aug. 11,2005
The Nation's Favourite

The firm of Prentiss McCabe are over the moon to hear that Jamie has got them a new Oil sheik client, who wants to buy British Airways. That is until Jamie tells them the client's family name is Rezza Bin-Laden (yes the family of THAT bin Laden ). Charles and Martin are adamant that they don't want him for a client, no matter how rich he is. But finally they are persuaded to have a look at him.

EP3  Blood Bank
Aug. 04,2005
Blood Bank

The team at Prentis McCabe assume thet Charles is in jail for another month, so they prepare to tackle their new client , Artist, Dean Wheelwright (Richard Katz). It is their job to get him to eneter and win the lucrative turner prize for the years beast contribution to art. However he says he does not want to eneter, so they have a problem.

EP2  The Trial
Jul. 28,2005
The Trial

Poor Charles finds himself in the dock, after one of Prentis MaCabe's old clients has a fit of conscience and decides to do the worst thing a client can do. He tells the truth about one of Charles' lies, after becoming a christian and repenting.

EP1  Identity Crisis
Jul. 21,2005
Identity Crisis

The staff of Prentiss MacCabe are worried their phones are being bugged. Charles and Martin have a meeting with their client, the home secretary. The government want to introduce the unpopular identity card and are in desperate need of a PR agency.

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8.1 | en | Comedy | More Info
Released: 2003-11-10 | Released Producted By: , Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/comedy/absolute.shtml
Synopsis

Stephen Fry and John Bird star as spin doctors Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe as they bring the popular and satirical Radio 4 comedy Absolute Power to BBC Two. Stephen as Prentiss and John as McCabe are an unscrupulous pair who run the blue chip PR agency Prentiss McCabe. Dealing with commercial as well as personal PR, their remit covers everything from political communications to celebrity media relations. Their manipulation skills are tested to the full as they frequently find that their work brings them into conflict with political parties, newspaper editors and celebrities.

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Cast

John Bird , Stephen Fry , Geoffrey Palmer

Director

Jon Plowman

Producted By

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Reviews

buddleja Here is British humour at its very wittiest and cutting.The machinations of the team at Prentiss McCabe are a joy to behold as they spin the latest challenge.The dialogue is edged with a delicious sprinkle of smugness. Not that you'd like to meet any of these people - they're utterly self-serving, and are a sharp reflection of the slick wheelings and dealings, counter-dealings, backstabbing, Machiavellian world that I could only imagine might take place in such a real world business.I came late to this series, only discovering it last year and, I can thoroughly recommend it. Like Fawlty Towers, the limited production of episodes will ensure this remains a classic.
jamesmoule "Absolute Power" reminded me of a cross between "Yes Minister" and the Australian series "Frontline". All three series are essentially concerned with spin. Only the people responsible for the spin are different (politians, media presenters, PR consultants). All three series are very funny but I rate this series as the third of the three. The casting is brilliant. I can't imagine anyone performing the roles of Prentiss and McCabe better than Stephen Fry and John Bird. The plot lines are also very well thought out but the script writing is not of the same standard as the other two series I have mentioned. In the first series, "Country Life" is not as well done as the others. There is a recurring problem of episodes ending "up in the air" with the resolution of the dilemma unclear but imagined. The percussion accompaniment to some dialogue makes the words difficult to understand. That said, I found myself chuckling quite often. I'll certainly remember some of the lines.
playdumb Hi, This is a fantastic satire on spin and th 'real' power behind popular news stories of the day. British irony at its best. Wickedly funny. Stephen Fry is at his best portraying Charles Prentiss and the script is far above the cheap humour seen on other comedy series, though some might find it a bit too high-brow.There were 2 runs of this show one in autumn/winter 2003 and then in summer 2005. PS - For those who like these kind of media based cynicism would also like "Trevor's World of Sport" another BBC comedy to feature around the same time starring Neil Pearson and Paul Reynolds. Both shows at their heart are about (comic) observations of a crazy world that feature an ironic pair as bosses, one controlling manipulative and the other bumbling, meek work to look forward to retire.
UncleRiotous Set in a PR company who will attempt to spin anything in any direction I really believe this is one of the best television comedy series I've ever seen. Sharp, witty, fast paced and really very, very funny. The scripts are as densely packed as Fawlty Towers and repeated watchings are rewarded with new insights and ideas that were missed first time round. If you blink you're guaranteed to miss something. Charles Prentis is superbly portrayed as a man with no scruples or morals whatsoever by Stephen Fry and John Bird, Zoe Telford and James Lance make a supporting cast to die for.The other thing that makes Absolute Power so unusual is that the second series is as good as the first series. It covers topics as wide ranging and ridiculous in their scope and does so with such a slick style that you're often really not sure what's going to happen until the very last moment.