W1A

This is a very well observed comedy. The setting for the programme is the BBC but it could be any big company. Ian Fletcher of 2012 fame joins the BBC as its head of values. Being the new boy in town he struggles with the entrenched working practices. Senior management float from meeting to meeting without making any decisions which they leave to their subordinates who were are too busy to attend.

The PR company who got it completely wrong in 2012 are invited back to keep us amused in W1A. It struck me after watching it that people under 30 have spent most of their lives with the internet and cable TV. Hence Perfect Curve's take on the BBC logo is probably closer to truth than fiction.

A few stories run through the programme and mostly serve to make Ian's life a nightmare. It would be interesting to watch this without the commentary and to see how events pan out without an introduction to every scene.

As to whether the publicly owned BBC should be making a programme satirising themselves: that is open to question. You have to imagine that Broadcasting House is not as badly appointed as portrayed. But, as noted above, anyone who has worked for a big company will raise a wry smile at some of the goings on.

Not sure an American audience would get this show as it very definitely reflects British cultural and social situations.

I watched the first few episodes of the first season and giggled appropriately. Goodness knows the BBC makes a good target for this kind of satire and is a good proxy for many similar corporate settings. But after a while fatigue set in. Compared with Twenty Twelve which was consistently laugh-out-loud funny, too many characters in W1A share similar lines and "yes/no/cool" affectations. But what really fails is the mockumentary angle. It was tenuous in Twenty Twelve but just about kept within the lines as an unlikely but feasible documentary. W1A would have been better pitched as a straightforward satirical comedy rather than having a narration constantly remind the viewer that we are supposed to regard this as a reality programme.

A hilarious skewering of both the BBC and the mindset of corporate lackeys everywhere. Absolutely crammed with great characters, many of whom, in the British manner, have their distinctive and increasingly wonderful catch-phrases. It seems impossible that this got made by the same organization that is portrayed in the show, but it is very pleasing that it was. It's just a shame that the number of episodes per season is small even by UK standards.

Only 3 seasons? Really?? Ah, I guess it's hard to keep a cast like this together for long. What seemed like pure silliness at first really grew on me. I really ended up caring about these characters. When I went to start the next season and discovered there was none, I was heartbroken.