A novel beginning
Charles Prentiss and Martin McCabe, Absolute Power's devious double act, have been around for quite a while. Yet they first reared their morally bankrupt heads in a novel, not a TV show. And, rather than PR men, they worked at the BBC.

The novel In the Red was a biting satire written by Mark Tavener and published way back in 1989. In it, Prentiss and McCabe are the controllers of Radio 2 and Radio 4 respectively, and they hatch a plot to oust the BBC Director-General. For some reason this tickled the BBC, and they decided to adapt it - for BBC Radio 4 no less!

Radio stars
The novel was scripted for radio in 1995 by Tavener and Peter Baynham (one of the writers behind The Day Today, Big Train and I'm Alan Partridge), with Stephen Fry and John Bird in the roles.

Then came a sequel radio series, In the Balance, which neither Prentiss or McCabe actually appeared in. And then came yet another sequel, called In the Chair, which did have Fry and Bird as Prentiss and McCabe, except that McCabe was now inexplicably called Griffiths. (Don't ask us!)

TV, radio, TV
Even as the third radio series was aired, the original In the Red was adapted for TV by the celebrated novelist Malcolm Bradbury. This was the first time Fry and Bird played the two characters on screen.

Then, in yet another twist, Prentiss and McCabe returned to radio in the first series of Absolute Power, which saw them setting up their PR agency. Aired in the year 2000, the series was eventually adapted and altered for TV. The difference is that the radio show is mainly a political satire, with Prentiss McCabe dealing with sleazy politicians, while the TV version takes on the world of celebrity scumbags.

One thing the two incarnations certainly do have in common is the gleeful cynicism of the two anti-heroes. As Prentiss once says, "Never ask a PR man for the truth and never shake hands with a gynaecologist. These are basic professional rules."

Reality television
Reflecting the real world has had some unexpected consequences for Absolute Power. In the wake of the Hutton Report (that media soap opera which pitched the BBC against the government), the first episode of the fourth series had to be diplomatically edited. In it, Prentiss was supposed to say, "There's nothing Prentiss McCabe can teach this Prime Minister about deception, manipulation and lying. Except how to do it properly." The "lying" was cut at the last moment.

Then, in 2005, an episode about the Bin Laden family was cut from the schedules as it coincided with the week of the London tube bombings. It was ultimately aired several weeks later.

Absolute celebs
Showing what good sports they are, quite a few celebs have made cameo appearances in Absolute Power, despite the show's grinning contempt for the mad, artificial world of the media. The willing victims have included Fern Briton, Angus Deayton, Anthea Turner, and news supremos Dermot Murnaghan, Huw Edwards and Kirsty Wark.

But the real star is always Mr Prentiss, who never bows to anyone. As he says, "PR means never having to say you're wrong."