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“A deliciously witty and sharp series, up there with Extras as one of the best comedies of the moment – or, indeed, any moment,” declared Terry Ramsay in the London Evening Standard.

The TV version of a popular radio series, Absolute Power debuted on BBC2 in late 2003, and its brilliantly satirical scripting quickly attracted a devoted following.

Stephen Fry (pictured above) stars as Charles Prentiss, the power-crazed boss of a top London PR company, with John Bird as his unscrupulous and idle partner, Martin McCabe.

“Stephen Fry’s performance oozes the dangerous authority that comes from power, intelligence and money; John Bird is always likeable, doubly so when he is playing questionable characters,” reckoned David Chater of The Times.

The series makes brilliant use of its numerous special guests, including Angus Deayton, Fern Britton, Anthea Turner and Tim Brooke-Taylor.

One particularly biting touch of genius finds Hollywood giant Ben Stiller playing himself, as an egomaniacal comedian who, despite his box-office millions, is desperate to be taken seriously.

“It delivers a stringently corrective dose of satire,” noted Stuart Price in the Independent On Sunday, adding, “It is quite appallingly knowing, and deliberately so.”

When Prentiss and McCabe find themselves competing with the real Freud Communications to win the government’s identity cards campaign, Charles seethes, “His great-grandfather may have invented psychoanalysis but his uncle sold dog food on television. That’s all we need to know about Matthew Freud.”

“Stuffed to the gizzards with all manner of loving media in-jokes,” said Kathryn Flett in the Observer.

2000| Comedy | BBC | 30 minutes

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Tags: Absolute Power, BBC, comedy, John Bird, On Demand, political, reviews, Siobhan Hayes, Stephen Fry

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