IT'S BACK!
Iconic BBC show set for epic revival after seven years off screens – with leading man twist
The show ran for three series and quickly became a classic
ANYONE still mourning the loss of hilarious mockumentary W1A can rejoice, because the show is getting a new spin-off – this time set in football governing body, Fifa.
Hugh Bonneville will be reviving his role as Ian Fletcher, and there are high hopes his hapless PR, Siobhan, played by Jessica Hynes, will be joining him.
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Talking on That Gaby Roslin podcast, the good news was revealed by actress Sarah Parish who played scary Anna Rampton on the BBC One show.
She said: “It’s being written — maybe I’m talking out of turn, I don’t know.
“John Morton, the writer, is so brilliant and so fabulous at picking out the subtleties of the horror of working in an institution that big, but he did it brilliantly. It was a joyful thing to be in.
“So Ian Fletcher will continue. And I thought probably Siobhan could go with him because wherever Ian goes, Siobhan goes as well and does all his PR, really badly.
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“So I’m hoping that those two characters will have another rebirth in another series.”
It’s been seven years since W1A last aired, with Hugh, Jessica and a stellar cast which included Jason Watkins, Monica Dolan, Hugh Skinner and narrator David Tennant.
It ran for three series and quickly became a classic for lampooning the red tape and bizarre culture behind the scenes of the corporation.
Though the show was in itself, already a bit of a spin-off, as it started life as Twenty Twelve, which was all about the London Olympics in 2012.
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Ian Fletcher was then Head of the Olympic Deliverance Commission, but later got a job as Head of Values at the BBC.
It remains to be seen which bizarre and ironic title Ian will get at Fifa.
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