Absolute Power is a British comedy series, set in the offices of Prentiss McCabe, a fictional public relations company in London, run by Charles Prentiss (Stephen Fry) and Martin McCabe (John Bird). Its name is taken from a quote by the historian Lord Acton that "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely".

The series began on radio, then transferred to television. All of the following are from the television series:

Episode Two: Pope Idol

Charles Prentiss: Well, if you want loyalty, buy a dog.

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Alison Jackman: Do you have any ethics at all?.

Charles Prentiss: Now there's a theological question.

Alison: Surely one agency can’t possibly represent two people going for the same job. There must be rules about this sort of thing. Like, I don’t know, estate agents not acting for buyer and seller.

Charles: Not only can you represent the buyer and the seller, but you can steal all the light bulbs, pee in the sink and then go and live in the house after they’ve bought it. PR means never having to say you’re wrong. But…at the risk of sounding like your Uncle Albert, this is our little secret, alright?

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Julia Stour (editor of the Daily News): It's a tabloid; three words is virtually War and Peace.

Episode Three: Pope Idol

Charles Prentiss: [Referring to a name on adultery suspect list]She's been dead for five years.

Alison Jackman: I thought she went to live in Portugal.

Charles Prentiss: A not dissimilar experience.

Episode Four: Mr Fox

Charles Prentiss: I think this calls for the Ethiopian strategy.

Martin McCabe: Which is?

Charles: If you're hungry, go on television and appeal.

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Martin: A sound gun on a windy night fails to distinguish between two words that fall similarly on the ear. Could it be that the minister is in fact saying, "What's a boy to do to get a fox round here?"

Episode Five: Country Life

Lord Harcourt: Now, one of you I've met before, and the other one has the brains. Which is which? [to Charles] I think you must be Jimmy.

Charles Prentiss: Er, Charles, sir. A bit like Jimmy, but all the letters are different.

Lord Harcourt: What? You'll have to speak up; I've got aids in both ears.

Charles: I said...you've got what?!

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Charles: Martin, you made this bed. Prepare to eat it!

Episode One: The Nation's Favourite

Charles Prentiss: Lionel Blackmore could start a punch-up in a room full of nuns.

Episode Two: The Trial

Martin McCabe: Charles, Helena is costing us precisely ₤535.68 an hour before VAT. I think the least we can do is to pay attention!

Charles Prentiss: Oh, I'm sorry, Helena. I didn't realise QCs needed people to listen in order for them to talk.

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Charles Prentiss: [To Alison] Look, if you’re going to speak too, you’re going to make this take a lot longer.

Episode Three: Blood Bank

Charles Prentiss: Humour, where would we be without it? In Germany, probably.

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Charles: At Prentiss-McCabe we care deeply about the little people. Unless they get in our way; then we hurt them.

Episode Five: Spinning America

Charles Prentiss: I love the smell of a career burning in the morning.

Episode Six: The House of Lords

Charles Prentiss: Besides, Priestley’s new office is so far away from the centre of power that if Number Ten got nuked, he’d merely looked tanned.

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Charles Prentiss: [To job applicant] Well, thank you for coming in and being so time-consuming.

Cast

• Stephen Fry - Charles Prentiss
• John Bird - Martin McCabe