This document provides a detailed summary and analysis of the BBC sitcom Twenty Twelve. It summarizes the plot, which follows the fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission tasked with planning the 2012 London Olympics. It discusses the characters, broadcast and reception of the show. It received critical acclaim and BAFTA awards. Viewership increased from the first to second series. The style captures a documentary feel through handheld camerawork. Strong performances and writing made the incompetence of planning the Olympics comedically charming.

1. Main Product Analysis
Twenty Twelve
Plot
Twenty Twelve followed the fictional Olympic Deliverance
Commission (ODC), the body tasked with making the London 2012
Summer Olympics happen. Spanning the series are persistent
problems caused by construction errors, infrastructure problems
and general failures, many of which are caused by the characters’
whose jobs it is to fix these problems. The main character, Ian
Fletcher, spends every episode troubleshooting and crisis
managing, a subplot of Ian going through the failure of his marriage
whilst his PA, Sally, is falling in love with him.
Siobhan Sharpe of PR company ‘Perfect Curve’ provides some
comic relief to the otherwise dry show, she is almost entirely
clueless in every situation, providing meaningless answers to
problems that have no actual value. The other supporting
characters follow mostly the same pattern, they are mostly
incompetent whilst also having to deal with a troubled home life.
Broadcast
Twenty Twelve was produced by the BBC as an in-house production, originally for BBC Four for
the first series then graduating to BBC Two for the second. It was later broadcast in Finland under
the name ‘2012: Olympiaseikkailu’ and also in Portugal under the name ‘Dois Mil e Doze’.
Critical Response
The programme was well recieved; The Telegraph gave it 4.5 stars, calling it ‘sublime’, it went on
in 2013 to win 2 BAFTAs for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme for Olivia Colman
and Best Situation Comedy. It also won Best Sitcom at the British Comedy Awards, Best
Comedy/Entertainment at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and Best Comedy Performance
from the Royal Television Society for Jessica Hynes.
Viewing Figures
The viewing figures for the first series stayed fairly consistently at 400,000 viewers; the first
episode with 417,000 and the last with 432,000. The second series, following the move to BBC
Two, had much higher figures, the first episode with 1.2 million viewers, reaching a peak of 1.8
million in episode 6 and dropping to 1.78 million for the last episode, where the team get ready to
deliver the games.
Legacy
Twenty Twelve was later released on DVD. ‘Ian Fletcher’ found a new home at the BBC in the form
of a sequel. Following the success of the London 2012 Olympic Games, he was appointed the
BBC’s new ‘Head of Values’. The new series, W1A, follows mostly the same pattern of crisis
management and characters that aren’t very sure of what they’re doing, nor how they should get to
where they want to be. ‘Siobhan Sharpe’ also made her way across to W1A, in much the same role
as in Twenty Twelve.

2. Twenty Twelve S2 E1 - Boycott Part One
This episode was the first of the second series,
following the move to BBC Two, giving it a threefold
boost in ratings from the first series, gaining 1.2 million
viewers.
The opening titles re-introduce us to every character
at the start of every episode, they are presented to us
in a series of photographs being laid atop each other
on a desk. One additional aspect that breaks it up is
the pastry being eaten by one of the characters, as
seen in a picture, then appears on the desk then being
slowly eaten. Set to Nat King Cole’s “Let’s Face the
Music and Dance”, an appropriate accompaniment as
every episode involves the team ‘facing the music’
and being forced to deal with the fallout.
This episode opens with Ian Fletcher having a phone
conversation with Boris Johnson’s team whilst riding,
and then collapsing a folding bicycle. He uses a Latin
phrase, a well known trademark of Boris Johnson, and
also hurts his hand whilst collapsing the bicycle, this
becomes a recurring feature. As Ian walks into the
office and tries to enter the office with his pass failing
to open the door, another recurring feature.
As Ian has the cuts on his hands sterilised by his PA,
Sally and he enters a meeting, the visual style that
remains through every episode is apparent. The
camera is almost always handheld, usually at
shoulder height, unless it’s made clear that there is a
tripod to be used, for example, in the case of a news
crew. There are a smattering of other tripod uses
during long shots that would most likely be too shaky
to take handheld and be distracting to the viewer,
similarly for the establishing shots that are
interspersed throughout the show to bridge across
time and locations. The style is a higher production
value version of fly-on-the-wall with shots often being
taken through glass walls that include obstructions,
this adds realism as an actual documentary would not
be able to move anything in the office to get the right
shot. The show contains masses of over-the-shoulder
shots as the programme is very dialogue heavy, often
having situations where there are only 2 people in the
scene. The majority of the other shots are medium
shots taken well above the waist but still allowing for
some of the location to be evident, particularly
important when frequently moving between locations.
Part of the documentary feel is added by the lack of
any significant depth of field, there is some to be seen
when there is significant distance between two
characters but otherwise, there is not a great deal of
visual subject separation from the surroundings.

3. However, there does not always need to be subject
separation because most of the scenes take place in
office sets. The ‘ODC’ office, shot on location on the
37th floor of One Canada Square, Canary Wharf,
comprises almost entirely of white, grey and glass
which is not distracting. Other significant props are
Ian Fletcher’s folding bike, somewhat condescending
news reports and a paper mock-up of the Olympic
park. In this particular episode, the eating of a
banana whilst in a taxi with ‘Graham Hitchins’ would
suggest that he is one.
The episodes are lit naturally, giving the impression
that there is no designed lighting. When in offices,
the impression of cold fluorescent lighting is given,
whilst in other locations, the lighting follows the
general colouration. The colours are generally neutral
with a bias towards a warmer feel, there are not
many variations on the mood through colour.
The sound comprises mostly of dialogue and sound
bridges of upbeat big band music which keeps the
mood light.
One of Twenty Twelve’s biggest strengths is in the
excellent cast, Hugh Bonneville as ‘Ian Fletcher’
carries the series and its excellent script. His
performance as the captain of a sinking ship, brings
lines such as ‘problems are just solutions waiting to
happen’ and his catchphrase ‘well that’s all good
then’ are essentially meaningless and reinforce the
theme of the ODC being a complete shambles. His PA, ‘Sally Owen’, played by the excellent Olivia
Colman, reinforces Ian by being even more of a bumbling shambles that ultimately makes the
Olympics happen. Head of Brand ‘Siobhan Sharpe’ played by Jessica Hynes, is a character that
Twenty Twelve could not do without as she has no real awareness of what is going on, nor the
ability to be original despite her working for a creative agency. Her trademark ‘so here’s the thing
with this guys’, followed by stating the obvious, makes her ultimately useless and having to watch
the other characters deal with her is part of the show’s charm. The other supporting characters,
‘Kay Hope’ with her catchphrase, ‘I really believe that’, ‘Nick Jowett’ as the down-to-earth
Yorkshireman and his catchphrase ‘I don’t care who you are’, and ‘Graham Hitchins’ as the oddball
Head of Infrastructure who ultimately doesn’t know anything despite not knowing that he doesn’t,
all contribute essentially nothing productive towards organising the Olympics throughout all the
episodes. One of the most important members of the cast is David Tennant and his excellent
deadpan narration that mocks the ridiculousness of the situations, he binds the episodes together
and fills in the gaps.