Absolute Power

Absolute Power

200330m7.6/10
Comedy

Ratings

🎬TMDb
7.6/10(21)

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.

Language

EN

Status

Ended

First Aired

November 10, 2003

Last Aired

August 25, 2005

Networks

BBC Two

Where to Watch
Region US · Lang EN
US
No providers available for this region.
Seasons & Episodes
Select a season to view episodes. Reddit links may contain spoilers.
Season
History Man
E1
History Man
Air date: 2003-11-10
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.
Pope Idol
E2
Pope Idol
Air date: 2003-11-17
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 a good impression as well as making money, Prentiss McCabe takes p
Tory Woman
E3
Tory Woman
Air date: 2003-11-24
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 mainstream of politics is to sponsor a 'Right To Retire' campaig
Mr. Fox
E4
Mr. Fox
Air date: 2003-12-01
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 the survival strategy is threate
Country Life
E5
Country Life
Air date: 2003-12-08
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 of Lord Harcourt who in Charles' ju
Crash and Burn
E6
Crash and Burn
Air date: 2003-12-15
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 strategy Charles proposes to save his career is, even by Prentiss McCabes' shoddy moral standards, as unethical as it is shocking. An apocalyptic end seems inevitable for the sultans of spin. Meanwhile in an attempt to sex up their image, the Tory party have approached Prentiss McCabe to launch a youth-led campaign - should they choose as their anthem I Have A Dream by Westlife, It's OK by Atomic Kitten or Blue's All Rise?

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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