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)

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.

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).