EXCLUSIVE: Chris Addison is a political TV veteran having starred in The Thick of It and won two Emmys for directing Veep, but he thinks it’s curtains for this brand of political satire.
“Our relationship to politics has fundamentally changed,” Addison told Deadline as he promoted his comedy thriller Tall Tales & Murder and reflected on his work on Armando Iannucci’s political shows. “It’s a different political environment now and [these shows] don’t fit this environment. Things have changed since 2016 beyond recognition. [Rebooting them] sounds like a viable thought experiment but it isn’t because you just couldn’t do them.”
Addison’s reference to changes since 2016 was of course an allusion to the beginning of the first Donald Trump presidency and Britain’s decision to leave the European Union. He said “the type of comedy that people respond to tends to change depending on the prevailing economic conditions.” “When things are hard people like things that are broader and less challenging, and when people are comfortable they are happy to watch stuff that is a bit harsher,” he added.
He said shows like The Thick of It, which launched more than 20 years ago, and Veep are about “politicians projecting facades of competence, but there is no facade anymore.” Malcolm Tucker, the Alastair Campbell-inspired Thick of It spin doctor played by Peter Capaldi, would probably have a podcast in 2026, Addison joked, a reference to Campbell’s Rest is… Politics.
Addison starred as Oliver Reeder in the BBC‘s The Thick of It and went on to direct multiple episodes of HBO’s American equivalent Veep, while he also led In The Loop, the Iannucci movie that brought a UK and American cast together.
‘Tall Tales & Murder’
Chris Addison
Since Veep concluded in 2019, Addison has worked on a number of projects like Sky-FX’s Breeders and is now forging Tall Tales & Murder for the BBC and Irish broadcaster RTÉ, which has been given a rare double-season order before launch. Avalon is selling at this week’s London TV Screenings.
Based on Caimh McDonnell’s Dublin Trilogy – confusingly a set of eight books – Addison described the show starring Aidan Gillen and Ella Lily Hyland (Black Doves) as “the books’ badly behaved goth cousin.” The Dublin Trilogy follows the interconnected lives and adventures of Paul Mulchrone, Brigit Conroy and Bunny McGarry in Dublin. When it was first announced, the plot of the TV series was kept under wraps. Now, all Addison can tell us is that the show begins with two young Dubliners who are looking for treasure and are on the run from gangsters.
“This is a lot darker than the books and the plot takes it to different places,” he added. “This is an absolutely bonkers caper with elements of gangster movie, treasure hunt and magical realism. It’s quite bananas.”
Addison said Peaky Blinders star Gillen brings “bonkers energy” to Tall Tales & Murder while he was effusive with his praise of Hyland, who he said is “one of the best actors I’ve ever worked with.”
Comedy thrillers are in vogue and Addison said Slow Horses, which was created by his Thick of It co-star Will Smith, represented a watershed moment for this genre.
“For the longest time it was difficult to sell a show that had actual jokes and actual stakes,” he added. “Slow Horses is a legit thriller but it is not po-faced, it has actual humor in it.”
As with Slow Horses, which tends to be commissioned in two-season blocks, the BBC and RTÉ have committed to two seasons of Tall Tales & Murder from the start.
Addison said the “economics” of the TV industry tends to hold back networks and streamers from making these big bets. “Their deadlines are often financial not creative,” he added. “That is no one’s fault but is simply the way the tax system is set up. When they designed how long it takes for the Earth to revolve around the sun, they didn’t calculate how long it takes to fulfil a six-episode order of TV.”
“I can’t think of a country that is more warmly thought of”
Addison is co-writing Tall Tales & Murder with Stuart Carolan, the creator of hit RTÉ crime drama Love/Hate, and he said it was crucial to have an authentic Irish voice. “This show needed to feel totally grounded in Ireland,” added Addison. “If someone came in who wasn’t Irish then they wouldn’t make it sound right and wouldn’t understand the possibilities that are there.”
With shows like Bad Sisters, The Walsh Sisters and Lisa McGee’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast, Irish TV feels as though it is having a moment.
Addison compared the Irish TV and film industry in 2026 to England during the pre-Covid boom era, “busy, full and with good people working all the time.”
He said huge American shows filming there like Game of Thrones (Northern Ireland) and Wednesday (Ireland) have “beget success” and led to a boon in local stories. “Ireland has such a cultural identity,” added Addison. “I can’t think of a country that is more warmly thought of throughout the world. The thing that wasn’t there for the longest time was investment, but that has changed.”
