Twenty Twelve
Genre	Mockumentary
Created by	John Morton
Written by	John Morton
Directed by	John Morton
Starring	Hugh Bonneville Jessica Hynes Amelia Bullmore Olivia Colman Vincent Franklin Karl Theobald Morven Christie
Narrated by	David Tennant
Theme music composer	Irving Berlin
Opening theme	"Let's Face the Music and Dance" sung byNat King Cole
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	13
Production
Executive producer	Jon Plowman
Producer	Paul Schlesinger
Running time	30 minutes
Production company	BBC
Original release
Network	BBC Four (2011–2012) BBC Two (2012) BBC HD
Release	14 March 2011 (2011-03-14) – 24 July 2012 (2012-07-24)
Related
W1A

Twenty Twelve is aBBC television comedy series written and directed byJohn Morton. StarringHugh Bonneville,Jessica Hynes andAmelia Bullmore, the programme is a spoof on-locationmockumentary following the organisation of the2012 Summer Olympics inLondon. It was first broadcast on UK television stationBBC Four in March 2011 to coincide with the 500-day countdown to the opening ceremony.

Twenty Twelve gained mainly positive reviews from critics, and a four-part second series was announced on 15 April 2011,^[1] which began airing on 30 March 2012 on BBC Two.^[2] A further three episodes of series 2 began airing from 10 July 2012.^[3] The series' last episode was broadcast on 24 July 2012, three days before the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games.

Several core characters went on to appear in a sequel,W1A, in 2014.^[4]

The series follows the trials of the management of the fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission (ODC), the body tasked to organise the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Over the series, the ODC have to overcome logistical difficulties, production errors, infrastructure problems and troublesome contributors. The main character is Ian Fletcher, the Head of Deliverance, who is in overall charge of the ODC, and is generally efficient but often has to clean up a PR disaster after the other managers make a mistake. A running thread in series one are the hints that his marriage to a high-flying lawyer is breaking down, which comes to a head in episode six. It is evident that his PA Sally is in love with him, although this remains unspoken.

Meanwhile, Siobhan Sharpe is the excitable, but ultimately clueless Head of Brand through her PR company Perfect Curve. She answers almost every problem with phrases that have almost no substance whatsoever, and never turns her phone off during meetings with the other managers. Consequently, the rest of the managers find her ideas and enthusiastic attitude tiresome, particularly Nick Jowett, Head of Contracts, a blunt Yorkshireman who generally opposes ideas without making alternative suggestions, whilst emphasising that he is from Yorkshire. Jowett briefly becomes Acting Head of Deliverance in Series 2 when Ian Fletcher becomes incapacitated.

Kay Hope, Head of Sustainability, is in charge of sorting out what will happen to the buildings, stadia and other Olympic venues after the games. Hope is emphatic that Legacy is something separate from Sustainability although no one makes any attempt to differentiate these two apparently identical areas. She continually mentions that she is a single mother after a bitter divorce, and is paranoid about her public image. In series two Fi Healey joins the team as a new 'Head of Legacy', and instantly becomes Kay's nemesis due to being younger, ambitious and career savvy; the pair constantly clash. Finally, Head of Infrastructure Graham Hitchens gives the impression that he knows everything about the London transport and traffic systems, but is completely ignorant, has no clue about deadlines and frequently upsets various officials.

Reviews for episode 1 were mixed, commenting that it was milder in its satire than they expected; Ed Cumming inThe Telegraph stated "Perhaps it just needs some time to settle. Though it was very funny in parts, the first episode ofTwenty Twelve suggests that the series, like the actual cost of the Olympics, might hit slightly wide of its ample target."^[9] Likewise, Sam Wollaston inThe Guardian suggested that due to the participation of Seb Coe it was "on song": "Biting satire this isn't. It's nibbling satire, delivered byGarra Rufa fish...The Thick of It is a lot more entertaining...I don't think that politicians were removing their shoes, rolling up their trousers and queuing up for cameos inThe Thick of It".^[10]Brian Viner, writing inThe Independent was more impressed by Coe's cameo: "There is surely no other country in the world that would laugh at itself in this way, even persuading the vast project's principal mover-and-shaker, in our case the Rt Hon Lord Coe KBE, to participate in the joke". He went on to commend the series "...I was hooked anyway, by the mischief in John Morton's script and the beautifully nuanced performances of, in particular, Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes".^[11]

Reviewing the series as a whole, Viner stated that the series was "always amusing and sporadically very funny... It's hard to think of a spoof documentary that has been more fortuitously timed thanTwenty Twelve."^[12]

It was widely commented upon in the press that the day after the broadcast of the first episode, which features problems with the 1,000-day countdown clock, the real-life clock inTrafalgar Square broke soon after it had been launched byLord Coe and London mayorBoris Johnson.^[13]

An additional coincidence occurred when some of the first athletes to arrive in London for the Olympics suffered delays; their bus drivers were unfamiliar with London and unable to find the Olympic Park, in scenes that closely resembled the plot of episode 2.^[14]

Twenty Twelve has been criticised as bearing a strong resemblance to the Australian mockumentary seriesThe Games, a similar series set before the 2000 Sydney Olympics.^[15] Writer ofThe GamesJohn Clarke said, "We worked very hard on that project and we had long conversations with these people who've now done a show like that in Britain".^[16][17]

The BBC denied claims of plagiarism. "It is a very different show, the only similarities between them are that they are both set around the Olympics," a corporation source said.^[18] Clarke's own website later made a reference to the dispute by describing himself and writing partner as "run[ning] a charitable institute supplying formats to British television".^[19]

The programme was the winner of the Best Sitcom category at theBritish Comedy Awards 2011,^[20] while Jessica Hynes received the Best Comedy Performance award for her role from theRoyal Television Society.^[21] For his role inTwenty Twelve Osy Ikhile was nominated for "Best TV Comedy Performance" at the Black International Film Festival and Music Video & Screen Awards.^[22]

In May 2013, the programme was awarded title of 'Best Sitcom' at the annualBAFTA awards, with starOlivia Colman also picking up the award for 'Best Female Comedy Performance', a category in which co-starJessica Hynes was also nominated.Hugh Bonneville also received a nomination for his role of Head of Deliverance, Ian Fletcher.^[23]

On 23 October 2012 BBC Home Entertainment released the entire series in a two-discDVD set.^[25]

After the final episode had aired, there was speculation in the media about a third series with the team liaising with the organisation team of theRio de Janeiro games in 2016, or becoming management consultants.^[26] When asked about whether the hit show could return, main starBonneville said, "Absolutely. They could go and help with the organisation of the Rio Games in 2016...but ultimately, this is a crack team that could go anywhere and manage anything – the City, say, or the armed services. The NHS also needs rebranding. They could get Ian in to announce, 'If health is about anything, it's about managing expectations. We have got to get people to appreciate there are a lot of positive things about ill health. We need to make it sexy'."^[27]

A sequel was announced by the BBC in late 2013 and broadcast 19 March to 9 April 2014. NamedW1A, it follows Ian Fletcher (Bonneville) and Siobhan Sharpe (Jessica Hynes) as they pursue new careers as part of the BBC management team. A second series was commissioned in September 2014 and broadcast 23 April to 14 May 2015. A third series began airing on 18 September 2017.

A further sequel was announced in 2025. TitledTwenty Twenty Six, it will seeHugh Bonneville reprise his role as Ian Fletcher, as he joins the Oversight Team inMiami as part of preparations for the2026 FIFA World Cup. Further cast members announced includeNick Blood,Chelsey Crisp,Paulo Costanzo,Stephen Kunken, Jimena Larraguivel,Alexis Michalik, andBelinda Stewart-Wilson. As with the original series,Twenty Twenty Six will be written and directed by John Morton.^[28] In September 2025, it was further announced thatHugh Skinner would reprise hisW1A role of Will Humphries, whileDavid Tennant would return as narrator. Additional cast membersMarli Sui, Nicole Sadie Sawyerr, Joe Hewetson, andErin Kellyman were also announced.^[29]

• Olympic Delivery Authority
• London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games

• Twenty Twelve atBBC Online
• Twenty Twelve atBritish Comedy Guide
• Twenty Twelve atIMDb

• 2011 British television series debuts
• 2012 British television series endings
• 2010s British satirical television series
• Works about the 2012 Summer Olympics
• BBC television comedy
• British English-language television shows
• British mockumentary television series
• Television shows involved in plagiarism controversies

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from February 2021
• BBC programme template using Wikidata