W1A
- TV sitcom
- BBC Two
- 2014 - 2020
- 14 episodes (3 series)
Spin-off from Twenty Twelve in which Ian Fletcher and Siobhan Sharpe now find themselves working for the BBC. Stars Hugh Bonneville, Jessica Hynes, Jason Watkins, Monica Dolan, Hugh Skinner and more.
Character guide
Ian Fletcher
We already know Ian from Twenty Twelve. A man who has got where he has because of his unique capacity to stay calm under pressure and ability to remain relentlessly positive even when all available evidence points in the opposite direction.
Ian is at the BBC to think big thoughts and to clarify the purpose of the BBC in a digital age.
Siobhan Sharpe
London 2012 was the most successful brand in recent times and, as a result, the BBC wants to get the person in who did that. If Head of Values Ian Fletcher is to be the BBC's Fred Astaire, what are you going to do? You're going to get Ginger Rogers. Enter marketing guru Siobhan Sharpe from PR Company Perfect Curve.
Most likely to say: "I totally am listening...what it is is, you guys aren't saying the right stuff."
Simon Harwood
Self-appointed gate keeper to the Director General, Simon is an important figure at the corporation and underneath his apparent informality and almost relentless bonhomie he is probably one of the BBC's most strategic Directors.
Most likely to say: "Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant."
Tracey Pritchard
Straight talking Tracey has seen it all. Nothing surprises her, and she prides herself on knowing how to deal with whatever it is before it happens. Proudly Welsh, she's now been with the corporation for nearly 20 years.
Most likely to say: "I'm sorry I'm not being negative or anything, but..."
Will Humphries
Will is the young, not especially bright but tremendously well-intentioned young intern who might well be working at the BBC because he is someone's nephew.
Will spends most of his time wandering round plugged into his MP3 player trying to find out what it is he's supposed to be doing, and is occasionally given menial tasks by various people when they remember that he's actually there.
In Series 2, Will gets a proper position. He's still useless though.
Most likely to say: "Yes... say again?"
Lucy Freeman
Producer Lucy has been with the BBC for eight years and as such is both an experienced producer and still there.
Following an unforeseen rationalisation of her department, Lucy has been invited to work on a variety of programmes that she never dreamed she would be invited to work on when she originally joined.
Most likely to say: "I think we're almost there."
Anna Rampton
Recruited last year from ITV, where she was Head of Daytime Factuality, Anna is responsible for everything the BBC broadcasts in all formats.
She has a reputation for being uncompromising, for not doing doubt, and for making decisions quickly and then sticking to them, albeit nearly always the wrong ones.
Most likely to say: "No."
Neil Reid
A BBC stalwart, Neil has responsibility for a vastly complex news operation in a fast-moving digital age. As such, he tends to be the last to know when breaking news stories he was unaware were about to break are then subsequently broken on his programmes. He is a man with no time for fools, which can often put him in an awkward position in this job.
Most likely to say: "Why don't we just get Bruce Forsyth to present Newsnight and have done with it? Then everybody's happy."
David Wilkes
Enthusiastic Entertainment Format Producer David has theoretically devised the corporation's next big Sunday night format, Britain's Tastiest Village, with the express hope of changing the face of Sunday night television, for either better or worse.
Most likely to say: "I know we haven't started yet, but can I just say I never want this lunch to end."
Izzy Gould
Effortlessly efficient and very bright, Izzy is PA to Simon Harwood: even though in theory no-one has their own PA in the fully joined-up and wirelessly integrated world of the modern BBC.
She seems to spend a lot of her time in Simon's office - which he is also not supposed to have in the fully open-plan environment.
Jack Patterson
Like Simon, Head of Output Anna Rampton seems to have simply ignored the edict that no one should have their own PA and has brought her own indispensable young assistant Jack with her from ITV, and so far no-one's been brave enough to say anything about it.
Ben Rosenstern
Ben and Jerry are potentially key support staff in terms of strategy, planning and governance at the BBC, and accompany Director of Strategic Governance Simon Harwood to almost every meeting he attends. They actually almost always say absolutely nothing at all.
Jerry Guildencrantz
Jerry is a digital strategist who, like colleague Ben, seems stuck to Simon Harwood's side. However, neither of the pair seem to actually contribute anything.
Barney Lumsden
Barney works at Perfect Curve PR. He thinks he's clever. He isn't.
Karl Marx
Karl is another member of the Perfect Curve team. It doesn't matter what he says, it's guaranteed the others will hate his ideas.