John Morton

  • Writer, director and executive producer

Press clippings Page 2

It was a genuine delight to hear, once more, the strains of the Animal Magic theme as W1A returned for a third series. One of the joys of watch-again is that, in addition to the more garish tropes to which we're now used - the folding bikes, Monica Dolan's perpetual Welsh whining, Jessica Hynes's PR gorgon - one can find, in almost every 30 seconds, unlooked-for subtleties. David Westhead as Neil Reid, the one-man Greek chorus whose muttered "bollocks" says, in sadly splendid isolation, what we're all thinking, and the more hidden verbal tics from deadpan narrator David Tennant: "the department for culture, media and also for some reason sport"... "assistant of some sort Will Humphries".

Incidentally, did you notice Dolan in Strike, playing the wrongly jailed wife? True skills, to turn from blistering darkness to high comedy over two nights. W1A continues to draw flak, roundly undeserved: too BBC-smug, too London, too hugging of itself, too versed in PR knowingness, too not-Brexit. I revere it as a brave commission, and a gleeful and celebratory use of most of the best comedy actors and improvisers of the last decade, surely a golden age, and long may it continue: at least until a massive backdrop of caustic creator John Morton appears on one of the walls, at which point the BBC can officially be proved to have eaten itself.

Euan Ferguson, The Guardian, 24th September 2017

W1A: Why this final series might be the best yet.

I'm just a little upset that this is the final series as, from what I've seen, W1A is arguably the BBC funniest comedy that's currently on screen and I'm just wondering if the reason its leaving the screens is because of Morton's ability to spoof the company that's actually in charge of recommissioning his brilliant sitcom.

Matt, The Custard TV, 19th September 2017

John Morton: W1A - Nothing worthwhile is easy

John Morton, writer and director of W1A, discusses how he came to set his sights on the BBC for the hit series, and how he tried to avoid writing a follow-up to Twenty Twelve.

John Morton, BBC, 18th September 2017

W1A series three preview

There are moments in W1A that are almost too agonising to watch. The circuitous meetings of the BBC's directionless yet ironically named Way Ahead group so accurately replicate the prevarications of real corporate life that you can feel the knuckle-gnawing frustration from your own sofa.

Steve Bennett, Chortle, 18th September 2017

The idiocy of Siobhan Sharpe has infected office life

If you work in an office where the walls are made of glass and where brightly coloured, comfy "break-out" areas outnumber actual desks (by which I mean, if you work in the media), chances are you'll have come across a Siobhan Sharpe.

Rupert Hawksley, The Telegraph, 18th September 2017

Like the BBC W1A series 3 is easier to admire than love

"How about a BBC News forecast app? Like the weather forecast but with emojis. Each day, it'll be, like, Italy: smiley face. Syria: droopy mouth. Russia: angry face." Unfold your Brompton bike because W1A (BBC Two) was back for a third series of self-reflexive BBC satire and management gobbledegook.

Michael Hogan, The Telegraph, 18th September 2017

Preview: W1A Series 3

Writer John Morton's skill is to come up with a fine-tuned series that exquisitely satirises the BBC and broadcasting in particular but also a certain kind of modern workplace management culture in general.

Bruce Dessau, Beyond The Joke, 17th September 2017

New W1A series could be its last

The upcoming third series of W1A is likely to be the sitcom's last, writer John Morton has revealed.

British Comedy Guide, 12th September 2017

W1A Series 3 set to start filming

The BBC has confirmed via a comical press release that sitcom W1A is to return for a third series. Filming starts in February.

British Comedy Guide, 25th January 2017

Can Perfect Curve save the Beeb?

As W1A prepares for season 3, the show's creator needs to tread carefully.

Matthew Bell, Royal Television Society, 16th February 2016

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