The New Statesman

The New Statesman (1987-1992 plus two specials, one in 1988 and the other in 1994)

Rik Mayall stars as Alan B’stard, Tory MP, in this black comedy series about British politics. Alan is cartoonishly evil, greedy and immoral and is surrounded by people as ruthless as him. It’s mainly a satire of the Thatcherites of the time.

You expect him to be punished for his many wrongdoings, but the thing is, he always comes out on top. In this series the worst of man wins.

At the end of the fourth series, he manages to be appointed as Lord Protector (like Cromwell) with seemingly dictatorial powers.

The stage show’s continuity is at odds with the series finale and shows that Alan defected to the Labour Party and is now a Blairite.

(Wikipedia article)