Twenty Twelve
Cast & Key People
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Our Review
Before W1A, there was the Olympics. Twenty Twelve follows the fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission as it prepares London 2012, which mostly means finding a way to agree on the shape of a traffic cone, arguing about whether the clock should count up or down, and commissioning a bespoke West Ham arena. Hugh Bonneville’s Ian Fletcher is the calm centre, a decent man drowning in stakeholder feedback.
John Morton’s dialogue is the driest thing on this list, and the documentary format is flawless: everyone talks to camera with total sincerity about nothing at all. It landed so accurately that the real 2012 committee reportedly watched it like a horror film.
Two seasons, thirteen episodes, and a payoff nobody expected from a satire: by the end, the fake Olympics feel genuinely moving, which is the series’ final, best joke. Our score: 8/10. Watch it tonight, especially if you have ever sat through a planning meeting.
