Twenty Twelve

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.

The finest comedy show since the 1997 first series of i'm Alan Partridge. Similar to Partridge you can watch this show again and again and see things you missed first time around. Magnificent casting with my vote as the best of the lot going to the NO Nonsense head of contracts Yorkshire bloke Nick Jowett played by the wonderful Vincent Franklin. All the cast play the parts very well very well indeed and there are a few cameos thrown in for good measure.For anyone who hasn't seen it please watch it you will NOT be disappointed. I believer Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes are reprising their roles in the follow up about the BBC. I wonder whether that will work without the rest of the cat of twenty twelve.. We shall see.........

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!

Written and directed by John Morton we have BBC series Twenty Twelve, spoofing the preparation for the London Olympic games in that year. All shot mockumentary style we follow Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville), Head of Deliverance of the Olympic Deliverance Commission, his team as they count down 1000 days to opening ceremony, and of course all the fiascos and hilarities that entails. The format is a fairly standard The Office type, with talking heads, cringe, and general incompetency, but its done quite well, and the writing and performances are genuinely great. Also starring Olivia Colman as Ian's assistant, as well as a list of familiar BBC comedic faces, the show is short and sweet at only two 6-episode seasons, with its airing of course having an actual deadline as the real-life games came to fruition. While the show is quite literally dated in its references, much of the humour doesn't derive from pop culture at the time, so the jokes all hold up, even now. The series would also eventually lead to a personal favourite and pseudo-sequel W1A, with many recurring cast and characters. If you've seen W1A and liked it certainly check this one out, and if you like this type of series generally, I'd recommend.

I received the boxed set edition of this "spoof" series as a birthday gift and am pleased to say that this is one collection that won't sit on the shelf unwatched. It's a droll, if not laugh- out-loud comedy satirising the doings and undoings of the team set up to ensure the smooth operation of the then impending London Olympic Games of 2012.

Peopled by just-exaggerated-enough characters all too believable in their ineptitude, it gently mocks their blundering officiousness with fly-on-the-wall scrutiny, pieces to camera and occasional interaction with them by an unseen interviewer. Heading the team is the bumptious Ian Fletcher, played by Hugh Bonneville, the archetypal 24-7 workaholic, whose private life is foundering under the strain, while carrying an Olympic-size torch for him is his super-efficient P.A. Sally, forever plying him with massive portions of fast food, played in best scene-stealing fashion by Olivia Colman.

Of the remainder, Jessica Hynes as Siobhan Sharpe, the domineering on-the-go "Head Of Brand", with her catchphrases "Cool" and "This is the thing" and Karl Theobald as the crisp-munching but out-to-lunch Head of Logistics are particularly funny while for added realism, real life bigwigs Lord "Seb" Coe and London Mayor Boris Johnston are happy to put in cameo appearances too.

The format of Ian arriving for the daily hot-air group-meeting does grate a little after a few episodes while some of the supporting characters lack definition but I think the humour improves when the scenarios are opened out, for example the crazy coach-trip with the Brazilian Olympic delegation or the unveiling of the bizarre backward-counting Olympic Clock complete with its artistically-temperamental creator. The actors cope very well with the demands of their supposedly off-the-cuff, overlapping dialogue although as the DVD-extra cast interviews make clear, not a single line is improvised.

All in all, I think this fresh take on the "mockumentary" concept is a winner, not quite gold-medal standard, but certainly on the podium somewhere.