Jessica Hynes

The Olympic Deliverance Committee, a bunch of people who do an awful lot of talking yet somehow never manage to say anything. Take half-witted PR flack (sorry, Head of Brand) Siobhan (superb Jessica Hynes), whose contributions to meetings begin and end with "I'm totally good with that" and who thinks Canterbury (as in the Archbishop of) is in Sussex.

As the row over the faith centre escalates, there are discussions about whether the Olympic Village laundry centre could be converted into a mosque to appease the Algerian team. Siobhan and Ian Fletcher (the great Hugh Bonneville) have a painfully funny on-site meeting with an exasperated architect at the end of his tether. It's another layer of tortuous bureaucracy as everyone strives for a "beacon of inclusiveness".

Is it just us or is Twenty Twelve getting funnier as the Olympics draw nearer? After all, it's not impossible to imagine a real-life row about a faith centre escalating into a frenzy of stubborness and obfuscation. Tonight, the Algerian boycott threat comes to a head with all manner of compromises - including a six-sided building and a retractable minaret - being considered. Sadly, the team is also prone to getting side-tracked by - for example - whether hand dryers are a legacy or sustainability issue. The performances are brillliant - particularly Jessica Hynes's unbearable Siobhan and Olivia Colman's devoted Sally - and the script is pitched perfectly between fondness and scepticism. If we Brits are good at anything, it's taking the piss. Particularly out of ourselves.

The first series of Twenty Twelve (BBC2[]/z]), which went out on BBC4 last year, was underwhelming; "nibbling satire", I think I said - rather brilliantly, if I may say so - rather than biting satire. The fact that real Olympic overlord Seb Coe was happy to take part is not a good sign (and he appears here again). I doubt he'd agree to be in The Thick of It. Its transfer to BBC2 hasn't changed things much: it hasn't become more off-message or less gentle. But ]Jessica Hynes, who plays the hopeless head of brands, is still fabulous. And the final scene, a disastrous video conference with the Algerian representative, is wonderful. Literally LOL.

Back tonight for a new run is BBC2's sitcom Twenty Twelve (10pm), about the hapless bunch charged with the task of organising this year's Olympics.

Hugh Bonneville resumes his role as the chairman, dealing in this first episode with a threatened boycott by the Algerians, angry that the Olympic Village's so-called Shared Belief Centre doesn't face Mecca.

Other stars include Olivia Colman and Jessica Hynes.

The dry-as-toast mock-doc about the London Olympic planning committee returns. Ian (Hugh Bonneville) faces an escalating crisis when one national team insists that the multifaith worship centre in the Olympic village faces Mecca. The way Siobhan (Jessica Hynes) says "Muslim" is perfect in its ignorance: "Muss-lum" she repeats, over and over. That and her insistence that Muslim and Islam are two different religions. Another perfectly judged script with superb performances, most notably Olivia Colman's PA. Solid gold stuff.

One of last year's biggest comedy success stories, this mockumentary, which won Best Sitcom at the 2011 British Comedy Awards and was given its own Sport Relief special, has been promoted to BBC Two for this second series. We return to the shambolic offices of the fictional Olympic Deliverance Committee, headed by pen-pusher Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville). His signature torturous metaphors, delivered with earnest sincerity, provide much of the comedy - among tonight's gems are "Sustainability is the centre pole that keeps this whole tent up". Jessica Hynes also shines as Head of Brand Siobhan Sharpe, a Sloane Ranger who talks in a baffling text-speak. Tonight, Fletcher faces a publicity nightmare when Algeria threatens to boycott the Games because the Olympics' new multi-faith centre doesn't face Mecca.

John Morton's satire doesn't bite so much as lick playfully at viewers like a friendly labrador. This is largely Bonneville's show, his wonderfully Pooterish Fletcher showing off the actor's talents better than Downton Abbey. With the real Games about to begin, it's fun to imagine a similarly crazed paddling going on just below the surface at Olympics HQ.

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