From the 307 dvd commentary on the scene where Malcolm gets sacked and then what happens after:
Armando: And I think this scene we recorded, we just did two takes of it, but we let it go. We primed the rest of the building as it were. We had all ready with people doing their stuff. And I just said to Peter, do the scene and then just wander around and we’ll follow you and we’ll see what happens. And after the first take of it, I knew he goes into his office at Number 10, so the second take, I asked people to be, you know, gathering around Sam, and her in tears. Knowing that Peter would go into the room, but not telling Peter that that’s what he’d see. Tony Roche: That moment’s really nice when he goes into the room and she’s in there. Because it’s again, it’s what you said earlier, just little things that are just imprinted over the series. You get that he, that he actually– Simon Blackwell: Sam’s the only person he has kind of a normal relationship with. Tony Roche: Exactly, yeah. Jesse Armstrong: Quite a few people said they suddenly found themselves feeling sorry for Malcolm at that point, I think, didn’t they.
What I love about this is that Armando didn’t have to script Malcolm having a heart, he just had to set up the scene because he knew Peter would do the rest.
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