Twenty Twelve Recap: ‘Clarence House’ (Season 2, Episode 3) By Jem Bloomfield July 15th, 2012 at 2:38 pm (CALIFORNIA LITERARY REVIEW)

The Olympic Deliverance Team are drifting into the office, arguing with people on their phones. Here in the real world, the security company G4S has announced that it may have problems supplying the staff it had intended to work the Olympics, leading the British government to draft in an extra three thousand troops from the Army to make up the shortfall. Still, jokes about the various abilities of London football clubs must be made, and thank heaven Twenty Twelve is here to make them.

In comes Hugh Bonneville and the terrible truth dawns, only half hinted at the end of the last episode. Olivia Colman’s character thought Hugh Bonneville’s character had got back together with his wife, just as she (Colman’s character) was about to reveal her deep and abiding love for him (Bonneville’s character). Without staying to have her heart trampled on any further, or indeed clear up the misunderstanding, she disappears from the show, leaving a new PA in her place, the cheery and to Bonneville’s character faintly unnerving young man Daniel Stroud (Samuel Barnett). He is very definitely New Style – breezy, familiar with the team and slightly irksomely gets on better with most of them than the boss. He’s winsomely hard on himself when he brings a muffin rather than a Danish pastry, showing a proper regard for the niceties of baked goods protocol.

The plot of this episode revolves around a call they have received from Clarence House. Siobhan (Jessica Hynes) is sure this is one of the guys who do that jumping thing (cheap but brilliant joke), but in fact it is the residence of the Prince of Wales. Shelving the royals for the moment, and paying due attention to Jessica Hynes, she has continued to develop Siobhan along increasingly annoying lines. The flattening out of the character I noticed last week has (I think) gone even further, and there’s an entertaining little scene in which Ian (Hugh Bonneville) wants her to stop mucking about on her Blackberry whilst talking to him. It’s not epoch-making, but does capture the slight awkwardness of feeling that someone is being rude to you, but that drawing it to their attention would probably make you ruder than they are being, so you resent them without feeling able to do anything about it. That’s either emotional truth, or it’s one of the really screwed-up things about being from a certain slice of the British middle class and their allied brethren…

READ MORE: http://www.examiner.com/article/the-hobbit-movie-news-may-be-a-trilogy-third-film-from-jrr-tolkien-s-notes

Hugh Bonneville: Olympic sitcom in real life security breach TOM PECK WEDNESDAY 11 JULY 2012 (THE INDEPENDENT)

It is a plot line seemingly straight from the sitcom Twenty Twelve.

Olympic officials grant permission to film in a highly restricted security area, to a television sitcom satirising Olympic security. Said sitcom - a heavily trailed BBC prime time show - is then broadcast, creating an actual real life security risk.

Only it's not satire, it's real life, and the sitcom in question is, of course, Twenty Twelve.

In last night's episode of the award winning BBC comedy, the first of three final episodes to be aired before the games, rough-talking, Obama-guarding American Secret Service personnel arrive in Stratford, decidedly unhappy with the security arrangements. They are shown the airport style security in place, in an attempt to placate them, which fails (oh, and Hugh Bonneville gets shot in the foot, literally).

But the sequence in question, The Independent can reveal, was recorded in the Olympic Park's actual security areas. The only thing missing were the signs usually in place reading “For security reasons, filming and photography is not allowed in this area.”

A spokesperson for the BBC confirmed indeed that: "Twenty Twelve requested permission to film in a small area within the security gates of the stadium and the London Olympics kindly agreed."

READ MORE: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/olympic-sitcom-in-real-life-security-breach-7936336.html

Hugh Bonneville: Twenty Twelve Recap: ‘Boycott, Part 1’ (Season 2, Episode 1) By Jem Bloomfield July 8th, 2012 at 11:10 am (CALIFORNIA LITERARY REVIEW)

The day seems unlikely to be saved… Graham Hitchins (Karl Theobald) and Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville).


And they’re off! Another series of the BBC’s relentlessly gentle satire on the absurdities of the Olympic year. They’ve kept the same title sequence, the one that features footage of the Mayor of London waving a giant Olympic flag and a voiceover of the commentator celebrating Lord Coe’s gold medal race. Take that, establishment. I considered stopping berating this show for not being satirical enough, and accepting that it was just a sitcom about a group of people who just happen to work in the Olympic Deliverance Team. But firstly it’d be a little weird to write a sitcom including recognisable public figures about events that are currently taking place, and secondly it actually is a satire. At least in the sense that it mocks jargon, bureaucracy and those in power. It’s not very good at it, but this show definitely maps onto the territory marked “satire”, and I don’t think we can let it off the hook by suggesting it’s a closed comedy setup which has no connection to the real world, except for some accidental making fun of current events.

It’s all kicking off this week because the Algerian delegation have insisted that the arrangements for the multi-faith worship centre are not satisfactory, since the centre does not face Mecca. If they don’t get what they want, they’re threatening to boycott the games. It’s another excellent demonstration of this show’s baffling ambivalence. Tackling the funny side of situations which arise from the sensitivities of certain world religions is an obvious target for a satirical show, and fair play that they chose the one which gets most attention in the British press. To do otherwise would probably have courted criticism for being “too PC” or “tiptoeing tolerantly around intolerance”, though it might have been funny to see how a Buddhist boycott threat would have looked. So they decided to square up to controversy and make it about Islam. But not to make anything in particular out of it.



READ MORE: http://calitreview.com/28248

A very gracious Hugh Bonneville speaks with young actors at the National Youth Theater

Hugh Bonneville 04 from National Youth Theatre on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/44533817

Hugh Bonneville on the BAFTA Television Awards Red Carpet, 5/27/12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfkI7UcBwm8

BAFTA nominated comedy Twenty Twelve starring Hugh Bonneville and Olivia Coleman is to air on BBC America. (ATV)

PRESS RELEASE:

The BAFTA nominated docu-comedy series Twenty Twelve, starring BAFTA nominee Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), joins BBC AMERICA’s Ministry of Laughs comedy block just in time for the Summer Games. From executive producer Jon Plowman (The Office, Extras, Absolutely Fabulous) and writer John Morton (People Like Us), the series follows the team responsible for delivering the biggest show on earth: the London Olympics. Twenty Twelve premieres with three back-to-back episodes on Thursday, June 28, 9:00pm ET, then moves to its regular time slot on Saturday, June 30, midnight ET as part of the Ministry of Laughs comedy block. The first season will be immediately followed by season two.

Bringing together actors and creators of some of Britain’s most iconic comedies – Twenty Twelve’s cast includes BAFTA nominee Olivia Colman (Peep Show), Jessica Hynes (Spaced), Amelia Bullmore (I’m Alan Partridge), Vincent Franklin (The Thick of It) and Karl Theobald (Green Wing), and is narrated by David Tennant (The Spies of Warsaw, Doctor Who).

Twenty Twelve deals with such hot topics as how to phase the traffic lights across London to get people from west to east, which celebrities should be approached to carry the Torch and what to do when protesters leave large quantities of horse dung on the doorstep in protest at the equestrian events. From how to cope with athletes who want to help but are just too dull, to getting a busload of non-English speaking Brazilians from A to B, this crack team of experts is paddling hard beneath the water to make the Olympics happen in London in 2012. With £9 billion to spend and plenty of time before the deadline, what can possibly go wrong?

READ MORE:  http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/twenty-twelve-coming-to-bbc-america45234/

BBC America Celebrates Summer of London Categories: Network TV Press Releases Written By Amanda Kondolojy May 9th, 2012 (TV BY THE NUMBERS)

via press release:

BBC AMERICA CELEBRATES THE SUMMER OF LONDON

Live Coverage of The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee

US Premiere Comedies: Twenty Twelve and Absolutely Fabulous

World Premiere Specials: The Brit List hosted by Asha Leo

US Premiere Documentaries: The Diamond Queen and Discovering Lennon

US Premiere Drama: Going For Gold – The ’48 Games

Entire Series Marathon: The Tudors

Multi-platform Summer of London countdown hosted by Asha Leo

New York – Wednesday, May 9, 2012 – As all eyes turn to London this summer, BBC AMERICA celebrates with a season of brilliantly British and exceptionally English programming.  From The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee in June through the London Olympics in August, BBC AMERICA offers viewers a wide slate of live event coverage, comedies, documentaries, dramas and special features across all of BBC AMERICA’s branded platforms under the umbrella - BBC AMERICA’s Summer of London.


The channel announced today BBC AMERICA’s Summer of London programming will include live coverage of both the Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant for Her Majesty The Queen and Jubilee Day, including Service of Thanksgiving at St. Paul’s Cathedral, as well as the US premiere of the landmark documentary The Diamond Queen.

 As a tribute to the London Olympics, the channel will air highly acclaimed comedy Twenty Twelve starring Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville, an Olympic themed Absolutely Fabulous special starring Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley and Doctor Who’s Matt Smith stars in the uplifting drama  Going for Gold – The ’48 Games.

 On the pop culture front, the channel will premiere The Brit List, a series of specials hosted by BBC AMERICA’s pop culture correspondent Asha Leo, as well as a series of Asha Leo hosted short-form pieces featuring insider highlights of the upcoming summer activities.

 The last great British culture invasion will be celebrated with a slate of Beatles programming, including the premiere of the documentary Discovering Lennon, plus BBC AMERICA will get into the royal spirit with a marathon of the entire series of The Tudors.

Perry Simon, General Manager of BBC AMERICA, said: “It feels like we’re in the midst of a new British cultural invasion and this coming summer offers a non-stop series of events and stories that will put London front and center on the world stage.  If you can’t experience it in person, we want to make BBC AMERICA the next best place for Americans to celebrate this historic Summer of London.”


READ EVERYTHING:  http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2012/05/09/bbc-america-celebrates-summer-of-london/133164/

Hugh Bonneville in 2012 (soon coming to BBC America) (yay!!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AAVckOrYTqk

You can never go wrong with Hugh Bonneville - finally the world has found that out.

Hugh Bonneville to Star in BBC America's TWENTY TWELVE, Premiering 6/30 (TALK TV WORLD)

As BBC AMERICA warms up for the London Olympics, the actors and creators of some of Britain's most iconic comedies come together for a new comedy, TWENTY TWELVE, premiering in the US in June as part of BBC AMERICA's Saturday night comedy block the Ministry of Laughs.




Starring Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey), Jessica Hynes (Spaced), Olivia Colman (Peep Show), Amelia Bullmore (I'm Alan Partridge), Vincent Franklin (The Thick of It), and Karl Theobald (Green Wing) and narrated by David Tennant (The Spies of Warsaw, Doctor Who) - the documentary style comedy follows the team responsible for delivering the biggest show on earth: the London Olympics.

Twenty Twelve premieres Saturday, June 30 as part of the Ministry of Laughs. From executive producer Jon Plowman (The Office, Extras, Absolutely Fabulous) and writer John Morton (People Like Us), Twenty Twelve (12 x 30) is a BBC production, distributed by BBC Worldwide and has been acquired by BBC AMERICA. 

Read more:

Hugh Bonneville: Fun and games: Deadline looms to appease the Algerians in Twenty Twelve (MIRROR)

The BBC mockumentary that gave the world the superb word “multiculturality” continues this week, with a looming deadline to appease the Algerians. They want the Olympic Village’s Shared Belief Centre to face Mecca, and Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) must find a way to make this happen without appearing to be giving one religion special treatment.

Happily, there’s no PR crisis so bad that it can’t be made much worse by Head Of Brand Siobhan (Jessica Hynes) lumbering in.

One of tonight’s most enjoyable performances comes from “Emergency Architect” Mike Whittaker (Neil Edmond) who, as David Tennant’s voiceover tells us, has spent “the last four years of his personal life” constructing the Olympic village and is now just one retractable minaret away from succumbing to a total nervous breakdown.

BBC AMERICA, please show this in America - please




READ MORE:  http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/staying-in/what-s-on-tv/twenty-twelve-782983

Twitter Mayhem on 2012 (Please bring this show to BBC America - must better than Gordon F'ing Ramsay!!!)

Tonight sees the much-heralded return of the BBC2’s Twenty-Twelve. Back to take a brazen satirical swipe at the organisational abilities of the Olympic organisation committee are PR plonker Siobhan Sharpe (Jessica Hynes), Graham Hitchens – Head of Infrastructure (Karl Thobald), Nick Jowett – Head of Contracts (Vincent Franklin) and bemused boss Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville). Joining the team tonight at 10pm on BBC2 will also be new girl Fiona Healey as Head Of Legacy.


ON THE BOX

READ MORE and watch the video that I couldn't embed here::  http://channelhopping.onthebox.com/2012/03/30/videos-the-twenty-twelve-team-attempt-twitter-and-fail/

Hugh Bonneville discusses his role as Ian on 2012

http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/twenty_twelve/videos/3600/meet_the_actors_hugh_bonneville_on_ian/

Hugh Bonneville in 2012 (THE INDEPENDENT) I PRAY THIS COMES ON IN AMERICA!!!

On 14 March last year, the Olympic countdown clock was unveiled at a grand ceremony in Trafalgar Square. Less than 24 hours later, it had ground to an embarrassing halt, which became known as the "Olympic clock-up".

In a spooky coincidence, that very same evening the climax of the first episode of Twenty Twelve, a mockumentary about the fictional Olympic Deliverance Commission written several months earlier, featured an Olympic clock, which had – you've guessed it – ground to an embarrassing halt.

A (real-life) London 2012 spokesman was forced to release a statement saying, "It could be a case of life imitating art."

Twenty Twelve, which returns to BBC2 at 10pm on Friday, is full of these spot-on satirical moments. In fact, it could win a gold medal for prescience. This spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary, which won the Best Sitcom gong at the British Comedy Awards last year, tracks the confederacy of dunces who tie themselves in increasingly complex knots attempting to prepare for the biggest event this country has ever hosted.

The ODC is run by the hapless Ian (played by Hugh Bonneville). He is hindered by his gloriously inept team, who include the spectacularly un-self-aware PR chief, Siobhan (Jessica Hynes). It is entirely appropriate that the show's theme tune is "Let's Face the Music and Dance" (There may be trouble ahead...").

 READ MORE:  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/twenty-twelve-back-on-track-with-hugh-bonneville-the-lord-of-office-jargon-7594951.html

Hugh Bonneville - 2012 Preview Clip (DT FORUM)

The second series of award-winning comedy Twenty Twelve begins on Friday 30th March. David Tennant narrates the spoof documentary that follows Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) and the Olympic Deliverance team in the final run up to the 2012 Games. In the first episode, Ian and colleagues have to respond to a threat by the Algerian team to boycott the Games.


http://www.dt-forum.com/entry/twenty-twelve-preview-clips

Hugh Bonneville: Nice video of Hugh on a morning BBC show, talking about Downton and 2012

26 March 2012 Last updated at 05:42 ET Help Actor Hugh Bonneville joined BBC Breakfast to talk about the second series of the award winning British Comedy Twenty Twelve, which follows the 'team' behind the 2012 Olympics. He told BBC breakfast what was in store for his character, Head of Deliverance Ian Fletcher.


WATCH THE VIDEO:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17511265

Hugh Bonneville: 'How the hell are you organising the Olympic games?' Zara Phillips lambasts 2012 organisers in spoof sketch for Sport Relief (MAIL ON LINE)

By ALANAH ERIKSEN
PUBLISHED: 18:12 EST, 23 March 2012 |
UPDATED: 18:53 EST, 23 March 2012

She has hopes of competing in the 2012 Olympics.

So when the PR team in charge of the event failed in their pitch on how Zara Phillips could promote the games, she was obviously unimpressed. The 30-year-old, 13th in line to the throne, was left annoyed during a hilarious sketch for Sport Relief.

Zara and rowing legend Sir Steve Redgrave were seen meeting with the fictional characters of the BBC comedy series, Twenty Twelve.

Ian Fletcher, played by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, led an incompetent team who were unable to come up with ideas on how the pair could push the games during Sport Relief.


READ MORE:  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2119596/How-hell-organising-Olympic-games-Zara-Phillips-lambasts-2012-organisers-spoof-sketch-Sport-Relief.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

HUGH BONNEVILLE IS COY ON HIS HEART-THROB STATUS (EXPRESS CO.UK)

Tuesday March 20,2012
By Lizzie Catt with Lisa Higgins and Jack Teague

 IT WOULD be fair to assume achieving heart- throb status at the age of 48 would be something to crow about but Downton’s Hugh Bonneville is coy on the subject.

The actor, who also stars in Olympic comedy Twenty Twelve, tells the Radio Times: “I do keep being teased that I’ve become a ‘Saga pin-up’.

While I’m happy that ladies of a certain age aren’t throwing bricks at the telly when I come on it’s really not an area I’m interested in talking about.”


READ MORE:  http://www.express.co.uk/features/view/309187/Hugh-Bonneville-is-coy-on-his-heart-throb-status

Hugh Bonneville: Twenty Twelve

This looks very very good but was it on already in UK?  Will it be shown in the states.  I really hope so.  They are all wonderful.