Twenty Twelve
| 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 by Nat King Cole |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Jon Plowman |
| Producer(s) | Paul Schlesinger |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company(s) | BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network |
BBC Four (2011–2012) BBC Two (2012) BBC HD |
| Picture format | (SDTV) 576i (HDTV) 1080i |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 14 March 2011 – 24 July 2012 |
| Chronology | |
| Followed by | W1A |
| External links | |
| Website | |
Twenty Twelve was a BBC television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. Starring Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore, the programme was a spoof on-location documentary (or mockumentary) following the organisation of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. It was first broadcast on UK television station BBC 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, which began airing on 30 March 2012 on BBC Two. A further three episodes of series 2 began airing from 10 July 2012. The series' last episode was broadcast on 24 July 2012, three days before the opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games.
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.
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. In series two a new 'Head of Legacy' is appointed, whom Hope clashes with on virtually all subjects. She continually mentions that she is a single mother after a bitter divorce, and is paranoid about her public image. Finally, Head of Infrastructure Graham Hitchens gives the impression that he knows everything about the London transport and traffic systems, but evidently does not.
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