Chris Addison makes nervous ambition funny without making it lovable. His acting in The Thick of It is the strongest reason to follow a director whose natural setting is a crowded, argumentative comedy.
Fi1m perspective
Chris Addison’s Olly Reeder is nervous, but that is no guarantee of sympathy. In Armando Iannucci’s The Thick of It (2005), he plays a junior political adviser whose ambition makes his discomfort difficult to pity. We laughed at Olly and felt little urge to defend him, because Addison makes his anxiety seem so closely tied to getting on. It is a sharply judged performance: being under pressure does not automatically make this man deserving of our affection.
The ensemble matters to that judgement. Rebecca Front gives Nicola Murray enough feeling for the pressure to hurt, while Joanna Scanlan makes Terri Coverley’s restraint funny and James Smith gives Glenn Cullen’s indignation weight. Addison supplies someone we are less inclined to forgive, which stops the programme becoming a procession of interchangeable victims. We value that distinction, although the relentless abuse can still grow wearing. Peter Capaldi may draw the attention, but the different responses around him keep the comedy going.
The move into directing kept Addison close to this kind of work. He directed one episode of the final series of The Thick of It and went on to Veep (2012), directing episodes from 2013. Fast-paced ensemble comedy, with room for improvisation, suits his strengths in timing and handling a large cast. His feature directing debut was The Hustle (2019), followed by Breeders (2020), the parenting comedy he co-created with Martin Freeman and also directed. Parenting at least gives him something other than another political office to worry about.
We would be cautious about asking for more sympathetic versions of these men. Olly’s lack of appeal is part of the performance’s value, and Addison does not need to supply the feeling that Front brings elsewhere. What he does need is that contrast: a whole cast playing Olly would soon make the abuse hard to bear. Start with The Thick of It for the actor, then try Veep for his work behind the camera.
Biography
Chris Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor and director. Born on 5 November 1971 in Cardiff, Wales, he grew up in Manchester and studied at the University of Birmingham. He began his career in stand-up comedy, performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and adapting two of his shows for BBC Radio 4.
Addison is best known for playing Oliver 'Ollie' Reeder in the BBC political satire series The Thick of It (2005–2012), a role he reprised in the spin-off film In the Loop (2009) as Toby Wright. He also directed an episode of the final series of The Thick of It. Other acting credits include appearances in Skins (2010–2012) and Doctor Who (2014). As a director, he worked on multiple episodes of the HBO series Veep (2013–2016), for which he received a Directors Guild of America Award and Emmy nominations.
