Twenty Twelve

I've finally caught up with the first episode of Twenty Twelve, the BBC4 comedy about the people who attempt to make the Olympic Games run smoothly. This first episode begins with the approach '1000 Days' Day; marking a thousand days until the games start. Head of Brand Siobhan Sharpe (Jessica Hynes) has commissioned an artist Anthony (Nicholas Greaves) to create a clock to count down until the opening ceremony. There is also the additional problem of Graham Hitchens (Karl Theobold), Head of Infrastructure, who decides to use the day to test his new traffic light phasing system, thus making all of North and North-East London impassable.

Twenty Twelve is filmed in a mockumentary style, complete with a voice-over commenting on the action and a journalist questioning the key members of the team. Perhaps the most worrying aspect of the show is the fact that you could actually imagine that there are people who actually act like the characters in the show; the over technical language and totally ineffective office workers seem rather realistic. There's a rather unsettling conversation about who should be the torch bearers for the Olympic Games; where names like Prince William, Trinny, Susannah and Gok Wan are banded about by Siobhan; who dismisses J.K. Rowling, as they've 'already got Joanna Lumley, which sort of covers that'.

In addition to the clever language used the show benefits from, firstly, incredible timing. Although it was obviously filmed earlier in the year, this episode was released a few days before the real countdown clock was unveiled, and then stopped working. In Twenty Twelve, the main problem is that the clock counts backwards, from the opening ceremony in July 2012 to the '1000 Day' Day, which is obviously a bit of a problem!

The show also benefits from great performances. As Head of Deliverance Ian Fletcher, Hugh Bonneville is great as a man attempting to bring some kind of order to the assortment of characters in his office, as well as sorting out the '1000 Day' Day, dealing with a sidelined Boris Johnson and organising a get-away with his wife to Barcelona. Perhaps the best performer is Jessica Hynes as the PR woman Siobhan, who seems to communicate in a series of 'okays' and also doesn't appear to be the smartest person in the room. There is also good support from Vincent Franklin as Yorkshireman Head of Operations Nick Jowett and Olivia Coleman as Ian's devoted secretary, Sally, who seems to be constantly plying him with food.

I'm really glad that I've caught up with this, having just caught the second episode as well, and it seems like it'll just get better.