MONDAY

W1A

BBC2, 10pm

People say that life imitates art, but sometimes art holds a mirror up to life and makes us laugh out loud at it.

That’s certainly the case with W1A. Although it’s meant to be an exaggerated portrayal of life at the BBC, those of us who work in offices probably all know versions of useless, irritating PR guru Siobhan Sharpe, yes man David Wilkes, nice but clueless intern Will and doormat Ian Fletcher, who could be good at his job if only he wasn’t surrounded by strong-willed idiots.

Hugh Bonneville plays the hapless Ian, who must wake up every morning wondering why he’s bothering to go into work – nothing ever changes, he achieves very little and nobody listens to what he says. Being Head of Values seems to entail nothing but being ignored.

While most of us are happy to guffaw along at the cast’s antics, some critics have sneered at W1A, claiming that it’s merely the Beeb trying to prove it has a sense of humour and is able to laugh at itself. However, writer-director John Morton claims it’s anything but that.

“It isn’t a demolition job on anybody or anything, and it isn’t one giant in-joke, and this isn’t a game of guessing who is supposed to be who,” he says. “If it is satirical then it’s satirical about an environment, an ethos, and the absurdities of modern corporate life itself.

“The key principle is to operate at a level of reality just to the left or the right of fact, to create stories that haven’t actually happened but that could happen or might have happened.”

Despite that, there may be the odd nod to recent events at the Beeb, including those muchpublicised pay revelations.

When we meet up with Ian again, efficiency is the name of the game, as Ian himself says.

“In a period where we’re looking to identify as many Creative Efficiency Opportunities as possible we’ve been faced with some tough choices, but the good news about that is that in lots of ways tough choices are actually easier than easy choices because there are fewer options to choose from so that’s all good.”

Meanwhile, Head of Output Anna Rampton is trying her best to make sure that everyone is doing more of less, whatever that might mean. The phrase is, however, the Beeb’s new mantra, and she’s keen to see everyone “putting what we do best front and centre and identifying ways of doing less of it more.”