Fact and fiction blur in hit sitcom
W1A BBC TWO, TONIGHT, 10PM
ONE of the more sobering life lessons you can learn is that moment when all your worst fears are found to be true – that the people who are meant to be in charge are just as clueless and confused as the rest of us.
That’s bad when it happens in politics, but has traditionally been the back bone of half the British sitcoms of the last 50 years.
W1A, which returns for its third and final season tonight (apart from on BBC Two Northern Ireland which is showing Cumhacht
an Cheoil), is a perfect example of bosses behaving badly in the BBC.
A kinda sorta spin off from the great Olympics mockumentary
Twenty-Twelve, which was a wonderfully observed take-down of the organisers of the London Games, W1A sees Hugh Bonneville’s Ian Fletcher holding down the job as Head Of Value at the Beeb, while Jessica Hynes returns as the truly, madly, spectacularly annoying PR guru, Siobhan Sharpe.
According to W1A, the BBC is a place run by clowns and halfwits, people so paralysed at the thoughts of making an actual decision that they have virtually invented an entirely new language of non-committal gibberish.
In many ways it’s a standard sitcom about absurd group dynamics. But what adds an extra bite is the fact so many of the more farcical scenarios have actually occurred within the real Broadcasting House – so much so BBC bosses were reportedly fuming over the ‘leaks’ which made it into the first season.
As the show’s writer John Morton admits, it can be hard to know where fact ends and fiction begins – for instance the first season featured a weekly ‘Jeremy Clarkson damage limitation’ meeting – it aired just as Clarkson punched a producer, got sacked and plunged the BBC into a crisis.
But you don’t need to be interested in the real life shenanigans of British broadcasting companies to enjoy W1A, the real pleasure is to be found in the cast of grisly executives, who spend their time covering their backs and seething silently at each other.
As TV has begun to supplant Hollywood as the place to be for many of the most exciting talents, the
Emmys (RTÉ2, tonight, 9pm) have grown in importance.
What was once the poor relation of the Oscars has grown in importance in recent years and so have the controversies – The
Leftovers, for one, didn’t receive nearly enough recognition, while the critically acclaimed HBO comedy Insecure failed to receive a single nomination.
The main attraction of the evening, however, will be host Stephen Colbert.
Will he turn the event into an evening of easy Trump-bashing, or will he tone down the politics?
Well, what do you think? Of course he won’t...