The Department is a satirical comedy on BBC Radio 4 about a secret organisation with the power to influence every aspect of your life.

Chris Addison, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman star as Research Team 32, an eccentric three-man think-tank with the brief to brainstorm new ideas on solving society's problems. The Department is written and performed by Chris Addison, John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman (series three written only by Oliver and Zaltzman), with Peter Dickson, Matthew Holness and Lucy Montgomery.

1. 1.01 Education (7 January)
2. 1.02 Public Transportation (14 January)
3. 1.03 The Army (21 January)

4. 2.01 Crime and Punishment (12 July)
5. 2.02 Democracy (19 July)
6. 2.03 The Environment (26 July)
7. 2.04 Europe (2 August)
8. 2.05 Health (9 August)

9. 3.01 Tax and Public Spending (2 August)
10. 3.02 Terrorism (9 August) [postponed from Aug 16 05]
11. 3.03 Trade (16 August)
12. 3.04 Immigration (23 August)
13. 3.05 Science and Technology (30 August)
14. 3.06 Making Britain Great Again (6 September)

Nicolas Cage (born Nicolas Kim Coppola; January 7, 1964) is an Academy Award–winning American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona (1987), The Rock (1996), Face/Off (1997), Gone in 60 Seconds (2000), Adaptation (2002), National Treasure (2004), Lord of War (2005), Ghost Rider (2007), Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009), Kick-Ass (2010), and Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012).

Cage was born Nicolas Kim Coppola on January 7, 1964 in Long Beach, California. His father, August Coppola, a professor of literature, and his mother, Joy Vogelsang, a dancer and choreographer, divorced in 1976. He was raised in a Catholic family. Cage's mother is of German descent and his father was of Italian descent. His paternal grandparents were composer Carmine Coppola and actress Italia Pennino, and his paternal great-grandparents were immigrants from Bernalda, Basilicata. Through his father, Cage is the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola and actress Talia Shire, and the cousin of directors Roman Coppola and Sofia Coppola, film producer Gian-Carlo Coppola, and actors Robert Carmine and Jason Schwartzman. Cage's two brothers are New York radio personality Marc "The Cope" Coppola and director Christopher Coppola. He attended Beverly Hills High School, which is known for its many alumni who became entertainers. He aspired to act from an early age and also attended UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television. His first non-cinematic acting experience was in a school production of Golden Boy.

Fry and Laurie were a successful English comedy double act, mostly active in the 1980s and 1990s. The duo consisted of Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, who met in 1980 through mutual friend Emma Thompson whilst all attended the University of Cambridge. Fry and Laurie have since collaborated on numerous projects together, including Jeeves and Wooster, in which Laurie portrayed Bertie Wooster and Fry portrayed Wooster's valet Jeeves. They also gained prominence through their own sketch show, A Bit of Fry & Laurie.

Since the conclusion of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, both have gone on to have successful solo careers in television, acting and writing, amongst other things though they still remain friends. More recently, Fry and Laurie have expressed interest in a continued partnership and reunited for a retrospective show in 2010 entitled Fry and Laurie Reunited.

On May 14, 2012, Stephen Fry announced on Twitter that he and Hugh Laurie are working on a new project together.

Fry and Laurie have also appeared together in various television advertisements, interviews, audio books and other projects.

John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior United States Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to then President George W. Bush.

The son of an Army Air Corps serviceman, Kerry was born in Aurora, Colorado. He attended boarding school in Massachusetts and New Hampshire and went on to graduate from Yale University class of 1966, where he majored in political science. He enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1966 and, during 1968-1969, served a four-month tour of duty in South Vietnam as officer-in-charge (OIC) of a Swift Boat. For that service he was awarded several combat medals that include the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and three Purple Hearts. After returning to the United States, Kerry joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War in which he served as a nationally recognized spokesperson and as an outspoken opponent of the Vietnam war. During that period, he appeared before the Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs where he deemed United States war policy in Vietnam to be the cause of "war crimes".

Penny Sue Pritzker (born 1959) is an American business executive, and a member of the Pritzker family of Chicago, one of America's wealthiest business families. She is the founder and current Chair of Classic Residence by Hyatt, or Vi, a chain of luxury senior living communities spread throughout the United States, and the national finance chair of Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In 2011 the Forbes 400 list of "America's wealthiest" showed her as the 263rd richest person in the U.S., estimated net worth of US $1.7 billion. Also in 2011 Forbes listed her as the world's 651st richest person.

On November 20, 2008, CNN reported that Pritzker was Barack Obama's top choice for Commerce Secretary, quoting "multiple" unnamed sources. However, it was later reported that because of her involvement in the failure of subprime lender Superior Bank, Pritzker took herself out of the running.

Born in 1959, Pritzker is a member of the Pritzker family, a notable and influential Jewish American business family. Pritzker is a daughter of Sue (Sandel) and Donald N. Pritzker (1932–1972), co-founder of the Hyatt hotel chain, which grew dramatically under his leadership as President from 1959 until his death in 1972. She attended Castilleja School until 1977. She earned a BA in Economics from Harvard College (1981), and a JD/MBA from Stanford University (1984).