Olivia Colman

Olivia Colman interview

Her comic supporting roles endeared her to millions. But now Olivia Colman is showing her grittier side - and looking in every danger of becoming a leading lady.

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Sadly but inevitably, and inevitably brilliantly, the finis to Twenty Twelve. (Did you realise they couldn't even call the series 2012 because of "copyright" impositions by the gun-toting corporate carbohydrated school-sports greedfest?) The big question is whether Ian and secretary Sally did or didn't. Go away on holiday together.

The clue came in his earlier meandered musings to her about what he might do after these seven years of Olympic and divorce hell. "Nothing exotic. Just... rent somewhere in Umbria. Maybe some little village up a hillside, get up late, breakfast in a shaded courtyard... wander down to the bar in the old square in the evening, sit outside with a book and cool bottle of Pinot Grigio kind of thing." Not a bad premise, Ian, and the look on Olivia Colman's stoic, lovely face, yearning to give an unasked "yes", was paintable.

Of course they went. And that's all good then. But somehow, please, a spin-off.

There are fears that the fireworks at the Opening Ceremony will trigger ground-to-air missiles in London. Perhaps, wonders a member of the heroically dim Deliverance Committee, they could be incorporated into the display, even though the weapons "can't tell the difference between a Roman candle and a hijacked Airbus".

There are other problems: the Games' electric cars are under-powered, no one has thought to organise the national bell-ringing (called, with terrible, pin-brained inevitability, the Big Bong), and three of the team are fighting for the Director of Posterity job. But really, the last episode of this wonderfully silly comedy is all about the great unspoken love between Sally and Ian (Olivia Colman and Hugh Bonneville). Can they ever be together?

With a certain sporting event looming, it's the last ever episode of this marvellous mockumentary. As the Olympic Deliverance Team prepare to hand over to the Live Team, last-minute panics still need resolving. The fireworks planned by Danny Boyle for the opening ceremony will trigger the Army's ground-to-air missiles. Charging stations for the official Olympic electric cars work so slowly, the entire fleet will soon be stationary. And the special "Big Bong" peal of church bells, supposed to ring nationwide, has so far attracted only two entries. Cue BlackBerry-addicted "branding guru" Siobhan (Jessica Hynes) salvaging the crisis by roping in a celebrity. Will she land Sting or settle for Aled Jones?

Just to add tension, three colleagues have applied for the same post-Games job, with the shortlist about to be announced. Come handover day, Lord Coe isn't around to make his planned speech, having been "called away to argue with animal rights groups about a sheep", so Ian (Hugh Bonneville) steps in. Can he make it a rousing send-off? And will his excruciating but rather moving romantic tension with PA Sally (Olivia Colman) be resolved? Smart, superbly played and painfully close-to-the-bone.

In Twenty Twelve, Owen (Olivia Colman) hasn't actually declared her love for her Games-organising boss, but at least she's back as his PA to slice through "legacy", "diversity", "inclusivity" and all that rot, just as she would the lemon drizzle cake with which she keeps him sweet.

Twenty Twelve exploited the potency of deferred pleasure last night with the return of Sally, Ian's haplessly lovelorn PA, recruited by the perky Daniel after he was headhunted for Lord Coe's team. Her arrival in Ian's hospital room, in the midst of a cloud of self-deprecation and apology, was wonderfully touching. This was partly down to Olivia Colman, who can do more by lowering her gaze than many actors can do with their entire body. But it was also to the credit of John Morton's script, which sits very sharp satire on a foundation of beautifully understated character studies. Without the latter the former might get a bit thin. But with them it is irresistible. He can write a punchline too, one of which might serve as a useful slogan for the Home Office team currently dealing with security: "If we get this wrong we're in danger of running out of feet to shoot ourselves in."

More quick-fire comedy from the incompetent members of the Olympic Deliverance Commission. And with ODC head Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) in hospital after being shot in the foot with a starting pistol, there's evenmore chaos than usual. Not least when it emerges that Lord Coe has poached Fletcher's PA Daniel (Samuel Barnett) with just three weeks to go before the Opening Ceremony. A replacement is quickly found - a welcome return to the series for Olivia Colman as obsessively devoted Sally.

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, on BBC4, initially felt like a thin, sub-The Office comedy of embarrassment. But after a couple of repeat runs it emerged as something rather warm, and perky enough to transfer to BBC2.

Everyone on the hapless, chaotic Olympic Deliverance Committee, headed by the well-meaning but inept Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville, who, like the rest of the cast, downplays brilliantly), is still mired in doublespeak. But the Games are looming and the Algerians are threatening a boycott because the "Shared Belief Centre" doesn't face Mecca. Worse, there's a problem with the hand dryers.

And Ian's faithful secretary, "Not a problem" Sally (that comedy marvel Olivia Colman), is still hopelessly, wordlessly, in love with him. But iron enters Sally's soul when she spots a rival.