Did this serious of The Thick of It end satisfactorily? Yes, I think it did. But it did stretch the boundaries of credibility somewhat.

Firstly, Malcolm's return from the political wilderness did happen very quickly. In a matter of days, if not hours. Now, obviously resigning in disgrace is not a big problem for the Labour party; it is a minor hiccough in your career that ejects you from the corridors of power for a few months. However, no-one in the Labour party has quite managed the dramatic recovery in political fortunes enjoyed by Malcolm Tucker. It felt just a little bit too quick.

Also - and this is a criticism of the last two episodes - the character of Steve Fleming felt a little jarring. The idea of having an antithesis to Malcolm Tucker is a good one, but Fleming failed to be that. Instead, his grinning, upbeat persona with occasional lurches into profanity never quite worked. He looked and acted like he had wandered in from I'm Alan Partridge. Which was a shame, because the other characters in the show have always been very human (in terms of having deep personality flaws) and therefore very realistic.

Finally, it was a little bit too much to introduce the Fucker into the programme. Whilst Tom Hollander did a great job in making this character instantly memorable with very little screen time, it stretches the bounds of credibility that the Opposition would have a mini-me version of Malcolm waiting in the wings ready for any election. It creates the sort of symmetry that seldom occurs in real-life. As (relative to Malcolm) restrained as Stewart appears, he was completely believable for the new look, touchy-feely Tories. The Fucker may be a bit OTT.

Yet the moment I found most unbelievable at first - the idea that a Prime Minister would call a General Election they are likely to lose in order to avoid a leadership contest - actually is, in retrospect, very believable. It is entirely the sort of thing I could see Gordon Brown doing. In fact, when Nu Labour finally falls and the memoirs are committed to paper and then remainder bins across the country, I fully expect to read (secondhand, via Private Eye) that one of the reasons why Brown was never challenged by senior people in his party was because he always threatened to call a General Election if they did so. It is precisely the sort of vindictive cowardice that has become the hallmark of our incumbent Prime Minister...