We’re less than a week away from the start of the 2012 Summer Olympic Games. So it’s the perfect time to take a look at Twenty Twelve, a mockumentary about the Olympic Deliverance Commission, the committee organizing the games in London. It’s kind of like The Office (both UK and US versions) with the characters speaking on camera about what they’re doing.
The series starts off 1,000 days before the games. The committee deals with problems like choosing who will carry the torch for Britain. They want a public figure or celebrity who will represent the country, someone who will make them proud to be British. They can’t think of anyone! And then there’s the countdown clock that goes backwards, working out the traffic problems, thwarting potential boycott threats and figuring out what to do with the venues after the games. These guys certainly have their hands full. But can they really handle this job?
The idea of a comedy about the Olympic Games is not an original one. When Australia hosted the 2000 Sydney Games, they produced a show called The Games. Twenty Twelve has been compared to that.
The show isn’t necessarily laugh out loud funny, but it’s the kind of dry, subtle British humor that I most enjoy.
Again, you can compare it to the UK version of The Office.
Twenty Twelve didn’t get stellar reviews when it aired in Britain, but I had fun watching it, just to see Jessica Hynes (Spaced). Her character, Siobhan Sharpe, is Head of Brand, doing the PR work for the games. She’s totally clueless. But no matter what crisis comes up, as far as Siobhan is concerned everything is “cool.”
The brilliant Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) plays Ian Fletcher, the Head of Deliverance, the lead man on the team. He is always great to watch, but to see him in a comedy role was so much fun.
MAIN CAST:
Hugh Bonneville – Ian Fletcher
Jessica Hynes – Siobhan Sharpe
Amelia Bullmore – Kay Hope
Olivia Colman – Sally Owen
Vincent Franklin – Nick Jowett
Karl Theobald – Graham Hitchins
Morven Christie – Fi Healey
Samuel Barnett – Daniel Stroud
Total Seasons: 2 (13 episodes)
Seasons Available on US Formatted DVD: 0
In Production: 2011-2012
Viewer Discretion: Language
I loved this wheh it was on, perhaps because I really enjoy Jessica Hynes’ work, ie Spaced. I miss that.
She is so versatile. She’s someone totally different in The Royal Family too.