Twenty Twenty Six Review: A Foam Mallet of a Comedy
In the new BBC mockumentary series Twenty Twenty Six, Hugh Bonneville reprises his role as the perpetually vexed Ian Fletcher, now serving as the incoming director of integrity for an unnamed world football organising body. Set in Miami, the show aims to skewer corporate culture and international folly, but often wields its jokes as subtly as oversized foam mallets, resulting in a mixed bag of humour that feels both tired and slightly off-target.
A Meeting of Minds and Misfires
The opening episode plunges Ian into a whirlwind of meetings where action plans are tabled only to be rehashed in further gatherings. As narrated by David Tennant, the series follows Ian's attempts to navigate an irretrievably American corporate environment, complete with swooning sustainability tsars and baffling management speak. Yet, for every genuinely funny moment, such as the bleeped-out references to Fifa and the World Cup due to legal constraints, there are gags that fall flat, like the caricature of an angry Mexican woman that borders on uncomfortable stereotyping.
Returning characters add some spark, with Hugh Skinner's hapless Will Humphries providing a highlight as Ian's assistant, visibly haunted by his own incompetence. Alexis Michalik also shines as Eric, a Belgian conduit with a sand-like beard, drifting in gnomic complacency. However, the ensemble cast often feels like a collection of roughly daubed caricatures, each assigned a repetitive joke that lacks the sharpness of previous John Morton projects like Twenty Twelve and W1A.
Dated Satire and Unclear Targets
The mockumentary format, with its jittery camera work and zoom-ins on pointless whiteboards, comes across as dated, meandering through scenes that sometimes lose their punchlines. While Tennant's voiceover remains pitch-perfect, the absurdist energy that once powered Morton's comedies is notably absent. Moreover, the series seems uncertain of its satirical aims; instead of firmly targeting Fifa or football culture, it opts to lumber in the vague space between corporate idiocy and American stereotypes, leaving viewers wondering about the core message.
In essence, Twenty Twenty Six feels like a missed opportunity. With a premise ripe for comedy, it struggles to balance humour with coherence, resulting in a show that, much like its characters, often doesn't seem to know why it's there. Available on BBC iPlayer, this six-part series may entertain fans of Bonneville's previous roles but falls short of its predecessors' brilliance.
