Twenty Twelve

On TV: Monday 14th March 2011

Channel: BBC4 10pm

Episode Type: Episode 1/6

In 1 Sentence: Mockumentary of awkward humour.

Twenty Twelve

BBC Summary: Comedy starring Hugh Bonneville, following the challenges - personal and professional - faced by the team responsible for delivering the biggest show on earth: the 2012 Olympics

My Review: Well, that wasn’t as good as I was hoping. 

Twenty Twelve had a promising premise, but almost felt out-dated before it had even begun. 

With a lovely, but perhaps oddly cast, narration by David Tennant, the humour bumbles along without actually much of it. It relies heavily on the performances of the actors to make it funny, while the script was a bit try-hard.

I found it similar to Roger and Val Have Just Got In, which I actually enjoy. It was silent humour - almost not a comedy at all, but it worked because you invested in the characters, while the characters in Twenty Twelve are kind of blah. I applaud some of the acting though - Jessica Hynes and Amelia Bullmore standing out as the only interesting characters so far.

The comedy issues may be because of my age, so I don’t pick up some of the references. For instance the line “Matthew Pinsent? I don’t even know who that is” has been used in some of the press as being funny. The Guardian has reported 341,000 viewers (a 1.75% audience share), quite good for the channel.

Hopefully though, the actual olympic games are of a higher quality. We can only hope. 

Score: 6/10