Twenty Twelve

Anyone tuning into this show hoping it to be a match for W1A, forget it. This has none of the wonderful casting of W1A, missing essential components Hugh Skinner's Will and David Westhead's profane under-the-breath pronouncements that spoke for us, the audience. The rapid fire idiocy around the table is stilted, having none of the hilarity of its successor. But all is not lost. Hugh Bonneville is as expected, wonderful, although his character is much more refined in W1A, here more abrupt and a bit mean. And Olivia Coleman is wonderful as always.

I cannot give the single reason that makes this series is so perfect . Sharply observed narration by David Tennant is superb and each of the actors were superbly cast . Understated stereotypes all contributed in perfect measure to execute this really witty script . The ending with Hugh Bonneville and Olivia Colman is the best ending I have ever seen, bar one (Blackadder). Please give this a watch ! So that's all good.....

The first episode was criticised by the TV critics of two British newspapers for lacking jokes. That rather seems to miss the point. I found it far funnier than they seem to have done, and often it is the small, almost insignificant points which are so telling: the casting of peripheral characters is masterly and hints at the essence of Twenty Twelve. This is not in the first instance a comedy but satire which sends up mercilessly the attitudes, dishonesty and outright nonsensical babble of recent times. But it is done in such a straight-faced manner than perhaps some miss its nuances. My favourite character is the utterly vacuous air-headed Siobhan Sharpe, on secondment from the PR company Perfect Curve as the Olympic deliverance committee's Head of Brand, but that is just a personal choice and it would be unfair to single her out. I have met all the characters portrayed in real life and, oddly, they are not at all exaggerated. With luck - and the Games being just over a year away - this one will run and run.

By the same writer as the wonderful "People Like Us," the shows are riproaringly funny and daringly satirical without being the least bit nasty. Recommended for everyone, whether interested in the Olympics or not. The humor is deadpan; you have to listen and look closely. You have simultaneously the experience of being trapped in a very familiar world and the sense that the camera and narrator give you some breathing room from it. The characters are recognizable types and yet individuals; their actions deplorable and yet forgivable. Characters with extremely limited screen time make indelible impressions, and even characters with no screen time at all. Real people are invoked and sometimes appear (e.g., Sebastian Coe); the sets and location shots also give a documentary feel. Two generations of Americans have gotten a enormous kick out of watching a few episodes and look forward to seeing the rest. Everything is done impeccably---in contrast to the fiction!

They've tried to take the functionality of office(UK) into this. But the storyline is boring. Characters are mediocre, plotl ine is meh. Overall nothing great to watch tbh.

I only watched this for Jessica Hynes, came here from watching Spaced. But this is really disappointing.