I think the language is a carry-over from The Thick of It - as it was a huge part of what made it such a hit here. In that case, all the characters are (very loosely) based on real people, and the colourful swearing comes from the group of aides to Tony Blair and Gordon Brown when they were in government who were…

I think in the early days they could write brilliantly funny set-pieces and gags, what they struggled with a little bit was putting it together into a plot which expanded on a theme which could sustain an entire episode. It's a different skill which requires you to be able to lead your audience to certain places to…

It's more a gag about the tradition of odd-balls standing in UK by-elections for five minutes of fame, either for a laugh or to highlight a pet cause. Most famously this has been done by The Monster Raving Loony Party (who stood a candidate called 'Nick The Flying Brick' in the most recent one), but also The Bus Pass…

The way Cartman reacted to the other students criticism was (as well as setting up the plot) a good parody of the way certain talking heads have screamed 'victimisation' when people have criticised Wall Street for screwing up the economy. I believe the daily show pointed out that the self-same people were all too…