Twenty Twenty Six brings us back to Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale) as Ian Fletcher, who was once the BBC’s Head of Values, and now he’s the Director of Integrity, for the 2026 World Cup.
You will remember him from W1A and, originally, the Olympics spoof, Twenty Twelve, which may sound like it happened 14 years ago, but that’s not the case, because I’m still 29 years of age. So that’s all good.
Ian’s off to Miami for the footy, ergo a different job, elsewhere, which means a mostly-different team to work with, and Florida is in the land of Grand Theft Auto Vice City. Those involved haven’t yet sorted out the venues – since normaly the World Cup would be in one venue, as I gather – but this time round that’s not the case.
The comedy relies on those in charge being fairly dimwitted, with the basics being a surprise to them, as well as coming out with many a faux pas. Plus, every now and again, Ian will make a sensible suggestion, much to the confusion of the others.
You can’t reinvent the wheel, and Twenty Twenty Six doesn’t try to do so, but since it’s been 8.5 years since W1A ended, it does take a little bit of time to get back into the mindset. Having watched the other series before now, Twenty Twenty Six isn’t quite as funny as a result, only because it’s not as fresh, but it’s certainly enjoyable enough, and better than most things on TV, lately, and gives us something reliable since Small Prophets ended.
It does need some of the original blood, however, hence the welcome return of Hugh Skinner (Wicked Little Letters) as Ian’s assistant, Will Humphries.
I’m not quite sure how they all ended up having a meeting in the toilet, though…
As an aside, it’s unclear why Soccer World Cup was altered to “Soccer World (bleep)” – is that meant to be as if someone thinks it’s the c-word? The same thing happens for other words, which are bleeped for “legal reasons”. Personally, I find the bleeping – at any time – very jarring. Just blanking it would’ve been fine. A lot of the time, it’s just “FIFA”. Yes, we get the joke. Please stop it.
Twenty Twenty Six continues next Wednesday on BBC1 at 9pm, but the whole series is now on the BBC iPlayer.
It’s also available to pre-order on DVD and Complete DVD Boxset: So That’s All Good Then: The Ian Fletcher Years (Twenty Twelve, W1A, Twenty Twenty Six).
Director: John Morton
Producer: Catherine Gosling Fuller
Cast
Ian Fletcher: Hugh Bonneville
Narrator: David Tennant
Eric van Dupuytrens: Alexis Michalik
Sarah Campbell: Chelsey Crisp
Phil Plank: Nick Blood
Nick Castellano: Paulo Costanzo
Owen Mitchell: Stephen Kunken
Gabriela de la Rosa: Jimena Larraguivel
Will Humphries: Hugh Skinner
Daniel Krassman: Tristan Gemmill
Zach Linksfeld: Joe Hewetson
Madison Flynn: Erin Kellyman
Emily Nash: Nicole Sadie Sawyerr
Mathew Jones: Anthony Shuster
Mia So: Marli Siu
Amelia Wilson: Belinda Stewart-Wilson
Posted September 22nd 2025:
Twenty Twenty Six set to air on BBC One and iPlayer next year, sees Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale) reprise his role as Ian Fletcher.
Next year’s football tournament will be the biggest ever. Hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico with 48 countries taking part and 16 venues thousands of miles apart across the whole of North America; what could possibly go wrong? Ian Fletcher is about to find out, as he joins the Twenty Twenty Six Oversight Team in Miami as its Director of Integrity.
The BBC can reveal that firm W1A favourite, Hugh Skinner returns as Will Humphries. Across two series of W1A, Will graduated from hapless intern to the dizzy heights of Ian’s PA. Will is back, to his – alongside everyone else’s – great surprise, as eager as ever to personally assist Ian on delivering a seamless soccer competition.
Hugh Skinner says: “It’s been absolutely ages since I played Will in W1A. He’s still on the whole, completely useless and I’m thrilled to be having another go. It’s been a complete joy being back with the cast and crew, old and new, and I am so looking forward to seeing what audiences make of the Twenty Twenty Six Oversight Team.”
Also returning from both W1A and Twenty Twelve is David Tennant (Thursday Murder Club) who will be narrating proceedings as the Twenty Twenty Six Oversight Team strive to oversee next year’s football tournament.
The rest of the cast is rounded out with Erin Kellyman, Joe Hewetson, Marli Siu, Stephen Kunken, Gabriela De La Rosa, Jimena Larraguivel, Chelsey Crisp, Alexis Michalik, Nick Blood, Nicole Sadie Sawyerr, Paulo Costanzo.
Twenty Twenty Six is a new six-part series for BBC One and iPlayer, from the team behind the BAFTA and British Comedy award winning W1A and Twenty Twelve.
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