Absolute Power

Next Episode

S01E01: History Man

Prentiss McCabe client, Nigel Harting, is a celebrated presenter of television history programmes, who specialises in revealing sensational facts. But he has a secret. Newspaper editor, Marcus Payne, has discovered that Nigel plays fast and loose with his sources. A letter in Latin proving that Anne of Cleves was actually a man is an outright fake. Marcus agrees to shelve this career-destroying revelation if Charles can dig up some shocking and rather more tabloid-compatible filth about Nigel's private life. Meanwhile, Prentiss McCabe is saddled with Big Brother contestant Teresa, recruited as a client because she stripped in the shower. She is now revealed as a bully and a bore and demands that Martin supervises the promotion of her huge and appalling novel.

Overview

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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Episodes

History Man

S01E01 History Man

November 10, 2003 30 min
Prentiss McCabe client, Nigel Harting, is a celebrated presenter of television history programmes, who specialises in revealing sensational facts. But he has a secret. Newspaper editor, Marcus Payne, has discovered that Nigel plays fast and...
Pope Idol

S01E02 Pope Idol

November 17, 2003 30 min
Martin and Jamie sense that the world of PR is changing. The profession has developed such a bad reputation that it could do with a bit of spin-doctoring itself. To show that they can make...
Tory Woman

S01E03 Tory Woman

November 24, 2003 30 min
How does one go about re-launching a junior shadow spokeswoman who has been marginalised in the Tory party? She referred to her leader as ""pork bum"" and her last ditch attempt to stay in the...
Mr. Fox

S01E04 Mr. Fox

December 1, 2003 30 min
When Health Secretary Simon Wellington wins an injunction preventing newspapers from reporting an incident on Hampstead Heath in which he was allegedly mugged by two men, Charles agrees to help Wellington keep his job. But...
Country Life

S01E05 Country Life

December 8, 2003 30 min
Successful novelist Roddy Growse orchestrates the appointment of Prentiss McCabe to represent The Real Country Union, a pressure group that has decided to launch itself as a political party. The group is the brain child...
Crash and Burn

S01E06 Crash and Burn

December 15, 2003 30 min
A hugely lucrative golden handcuff deal is jeopardised when one of Charles' most successful clients, the stand-up comedian Alan Boardman, is caught on CCTV camera beating up his girlfriend in the Ikea car park. The...

Cast

John Bird
John Bird
Martin McCabe
Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Charles Prentiss
Geoffrey Palmer
Geoffrey Palmer
Sally Bretton
Sally Bretton
Cat Durnford
Nicholas Burns
Nicholas Burns
James Lance
James Lance
Zoe Telford
Zoe Telford

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