Jessica Hynes

As the Olympics loom in real life, so they do in this short third series about the fictional - but it's a close call - "deliverance" group behind the Games in Twenty Twelve, still the finest comedy this year. This week we're mired in meetings of the "catastrophisation committee". The straight-faced delivery of such too-believable abominations is one of the joys: those offscreen must have their fists in their mouths. Only two things scare me: when the actual Olympics are over, so will this be, which leaves in me the same conflicting emotions as someone desperately wanting to be rid of a massive toothache but knowing they'll miss the fun drugs. And the fact that writer John Morton is becoming - as real and fictional universes curve faster together - ever spookily, supernaturally more prescient.

In the opener to this series there's a desperate attempt to "re-brand" the problems everyone expects with transport. Not to solve the problems, of course, but to call them something else. There are too-late-in-the-day panics about security, when they've had five years to get it right. There is much hustling for post-Games power over both "sustainability" and "legacy", when it's quite clear no one quite gets the difference. In real life it was even worse; just read last week's papers. But Morton and co made this a while ago, and if he is a djinn and a seer, he's also a psychopomp: one of those ancient spirits whose job is to lead us benignly into hell.

Characters get ever better, and we'll miss them. Logistics manager Graham Hitchins somehow grows ever more gauche and unknowing with every episode. As the team argue over special lanes for VIPs, and special special lanes for Americans, he deadpans: "Yeah, but what happens if you want to have some sort of... baby, or heart attack."

Towering over all, technically, has been a masterful Hugh Bonneville as Ian, a very modern doomed English Everyman, surrounded by fools and too polite to say so. But main memories will be of Jessica Hynes as grotesque "head of branding" Siobhan Sharpe; apparently London PR people now regularly quote her imbecilities ("It's not arugula science, guys!"), some of them maybe even ironically. Though I don't know whether they'll stick with this week's "If we get bandwidth on this, you've got maple syrup on your waffle from the get-go: what's not to understand, guys?" A quiet aside from Nick, the refreshing Yorkshireman, dry as a stone dyke: "Well, you, basically." Terrific ensemble, and I'd put up with more of the Games toothache for more of this. Almost.

The blockheads from the Olympic Deliverance Committee return for three episodes before the Games begin. As usual, Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville, who should win every comedy award going) and his quarrelsome minions are wading through a towering mess of inconsequence, PR drivel and pointless bureaucracy.

There are problems with the Olympics travel advice pack, which is too dull and needs a "brand refreshing exercise" so is renamed, with exquisite vacuousness, Way to Go. This is all down to dead-eyed halfwit Siobhan (Jessica Hynes), who seeks to "dial in visual noise".

Then Ian has a disastrous, painfully funny meeting with a nervous and inept police chief, the head of the "catastrophisation unit", who quite obviously has no grasp of her job or the business end of a starting pistol. A joy.

As London's big moment looms ever closer, the Bafta-nominated Olympic-themed sitcom returns for a final run of three episodes. This curtain-raiser, entitled Catastrophisation, opens with 32 days to go until the Games. Newly divorced Head of Deliverance Ian Fletcher (the excellent Hugh Bonneville) chairs his usual succession of interminable meetings, rammed with well-observed management-speak: "going forward", "win-win", "no-brainer" and other such babble. Lord Coe's on the phone, flapping about transport. Boris is worried about bikes. Everyone's obsessed with "sustainable post-Games legacy". Translation: desperately trying to flog the stadium to anyone who fancies it. Meanwhile, a delegation of American officials arrives to check security arrangements. As usual, Jessica Hynes as clueless branding consultant Siobhan Sharpe and Karl Theobald as incompetent infrastructure guru Graham Hitchins steal most of the laughs. Twenty Twelve's subtly satirical style is much gentler than The Thick of It or Veep but it does share one quality with those shows: as you're chuckling, there's also a creeping sense that somewhere this is all actually happening.

If the hoopla surrounding the London 2012 Olympics is beginning to grate, the perfect antidote is nestled in the BBC schedules. Twenty Twelve is a subtly-rendered comedy which pokes the mildest of fun at the London 2012 circus.

Starring Hugh Bonneville, the series follows the team responsible for delivering the Olympics, and includes some great turns from the cream of British comedy acting, including Spaced's Jessica Hynes' genius performance as a vacant PR girl and Peep Show's Olivia Coleman as Bonneville's intent and slightly creepy PA.

Despite the satirical edge, the characters on show make the whole thing seem unfeasibly realistic. This week, a pledge to merge the Olympics with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee resulted in the Frankenstein construction of the Jubilympics. The heinous idea, from Hynes' team of PR try-hards, received a reluctant thumbs-up from hapless Bonneville, constantly buffeted from pillar to post feeling the need to play "yes man", who travelled all the way to Clarence House, where it was duly vetoed. In the vein of satire hit The Thick Of It, it's perhaps more gentle without a foul-mouthed spin doctor Malcolm Tucker character, but nonetheless entertaining as it lurches towards what can only be its staggeringly inept finale.

In case you hadn't noticed, we've dipped under 100 days to go to the Olympics - so here's hoping this thoroughly amusing satire set in the office of the Olympics Deliverance Team isn't too close to the truth. Once again Jessica Hynes's horrifyingly stupid PR woman Siobhan Sharpe steals the show: in this final episode her efforts to look cool in front of a rapper has echoes of Ab Fab's Eddie, but the highlight is when she's flummoxed by guest star Vicki Pepperdine (Getting On), who turns about to be a hilariously forthright adviser for Sharpe's Olympics village sexual health campaign.

Have you been watching ... Twenty Twelve?

BBC2's joyous Olympic mockumentary starring Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes has proved a Friday night comedy treat.

The final episode of the Olympic-themed mockumentary is as clunky as the rest. The satire isn't sharp enough and the comedy feels forced. But it's not the fault of the actors: Jessica Hynes is on fine form as branding exec Siobhan, negotiating to cover Anish Kapoor's Orbit Tower with a special wrap sponsored by a condom company, but when the accompanying rap video goes viral on YouTube the team threatens to alienate every single Catholic competing country. Meanwhile, Karl Theobald delights as hapless Head of Infrastructure Graham, forced to re-design the Olympic Torch Relay route so that it goes beyond Surrey.

We get a glimpse into the workings of unspeakable PR agency Perfect Curve when dead-eyed Siobhan (Jessica Hynes) gathers her team to brainstorm ideas. They come up with a terrific wheeze - combining the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with the Olympics. Result? The Jubilympics.

Back at the Olympic Deliverance Committee offices, Ian has an attentive male PA, and febrile head of sustainability Kay Hope (Amelia Bullmore) is quietly in meltdown. There's a wonderful scene between Kay and Ian (Hugh Bonneville) after Kay has a moment of madness with a vitally important document.

Twenty Twelve delivers quiet chuckles rather than belly laughs, but that's not to underestimate the subtle humour that mostly hits the mark. Much of the wit lies in the small details: from the gruesome multi-coloured logo to the ubiquitous fold-up bikes that are fast becoming a visual running gag. There's much merriment to be had tonight from the Perfect Curve PR team, led by clueless head of brands Siobhan (a superb Jessica Hynes) and including a 'viral concept designer', called Carl Marx. Elsewhere, Hugh Bonneville's performance is as beautifully nuanced as ever, juggling 'sustainability', 'legacy' and - this week's catch word - 'inheritance'. 'Who knows what that shit is,' says Siobhan when told she has to come up with a concept to combine the three. Indeed.

Top of the agenda in this neatly played Olympics satire is what happens to the stadium after the last closing ceremony ribbon-twirler has turned the lights out. It's an issue that poor Hugh Bonneville must navigate in a meeting that involves random shout-outs of 'Hammers!' We also get to see inside the office of Perfect Curve, the moronic PR agency run by Jessica Hynes's brilliantly hideous Siobhan Sharpe. Their branding solution to link the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with the games? 'Jubilympics'.