Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) is back and after using his portfolio of skills to help out the BBC and the London Olympics now he has crossed the Atlantic to run a department involved in the imminent global soccer tournament. We don't actually know what the tournament is called as every time narrator David Tennant mentions it the words are bleeped out.
Fletcher is, as ever, trying his best but getting entangled in red tape and admin-speak. In the first episode he is involved in a decision of what city to stage the semi-finals. This is never going to be an easy decision as a lot of candidates are going to be disappointed. And to make matters worse, on the day of the announcement Fletcher is due to speak at an event in Miami – the locals at the press conference are convinced they have been chosen and are waving their little flags in excitement.
John Morton's script doesn't quite hit the ground running this time. Maybe because unlike the BBC or the London Olympics we have less skin in the game here. He could make more out of Fletcher being a fish out of water, but at times our hero simply feels outnumbered. At meetings he is surrounded by cookie cutter stereotypes, a flaky Californian, a gung ho can-do team member, a perma-angry Mexican. The one English member of his team has played a bit of football, but is unfortunately not the sharpest of tools.
Stick around and there are some stand-out lines though. The department is called 'Oversight' which has a lovely double meaning – are they overseeing things or are they destined to miss things that are staring them in the face? David Tennant's narration has its moments too, sounding serious but spouting nonsense.: "At the end of the week, it's Friday morning..."
And things look up at the end of episode one when a another familiar face pitched up – Hugh Skinner as posh-but-dim Will. Let hope with two Hughes now on board Twenty Twenty Six will really take off.
Twenty Twenty Six, Wednesdays, 10pm, BBc Two and iPlayer.
Image: BBC/Expectation Entertainment/Jack Barnes
