The Thick of It is over for good, co-writer Simon Blackwell has confirmed.
The fourth series of the hit political sitcom screened on BBC Two in October 2012 with central character, foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker, played by Peter Capaldi being arrested for illegal activity.
Simon, who co-wrote the award-winning show with Tony Roche and Armando Iannucci, told RadioTimes.com the show would not be returning and the decision to write out Peter had come before he was cast as Doctor Who.
He said: "We have sort of done it. I think we have really put it to bed with the last series. Malcolm went off to prison and now he's Doctor Who.
"We took the decision even before he was cast. We didn't want to to repeat ourselves and wanted to finish while everybody was loving it.
"It was so hard to do it and get those people together. But we have put it to rest and sent Malcolm to jail."
Simon confirmed that series three of the American spin-off of the show, Veep, starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus as the US Vice-President - is likely to air in the UK at the end of the summer.
Fans of The Thick Of It had been hoping the show may return, after Peter commented last year that Malcolm Tucker's character could be revived in the future.
He said: "I think we should just leave Malcolm languishing in some terrible media job somewhere. We'll discover him maybe in some years to come, but I think we should leave him for the moment."
But Peter added: "Politics changes all the time. It is a generational thing... younger people come in.
"So I think it was appropriate that we moved on, because I really think our time drifted away - the party, the show, and particularly my character."
The Thick Of It first screened on BBC Four in 2005 and was centred around the spin doctors working for a left-wing party in power, based on Tony Blair's New Labour government.
