W1A

It's said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and Alan Titchmarsh certainly seems to go along with that. The BBC spoof W1A has a diva-like character, based on telly's green-fingered great, who refuses to take part in a show because of the low star-rating of the co-host, reports the Daily Telegraph. Alan was unaware of the character, but didn't seem to be at all put out by it. "It was very funny," he said. "How could anyone pull out of a programme called Britain's Tastiest Village? You've got to do it, haven't you? I'm waiting for the call." Could this be an insight into how the Beeb comes up with programme ideas? Keep an eye on the TV listings, folks.

W1A, episode 3, BBC Two, review

As well as being funny, the third episode of the BBC-based satire, W1A, represents a quietly angry fightback against the forces of darkness, says James Walton.

Radio Times review

Nobody, but nobody can burble the jargon like Siobhan. Here she is talking about the possibility of a new BBC logo, maybe one that makes it look more like an app? "You homescreen your brand takeaway right there in the logo. You're drinking from the firehose from the get-go. It's a no-brainer." Brilliant, isn't it? And as the redesign proceeds there's more absurdity from her and her "Ideation Architect".

Everywhere you look there are deft comedy moments: nice-but-dim Will has the taxing job of putting invitations in envelopes for his beloved Izzy. The controller of news has to apologise for an apology. And a nervous writer pitches a script to ice-cool Anna Rampton (Sarah Parish), but first he must sit on a ludicrous stool.

Have you been watching ... W1A?

The BBC's followup to Twenty Twelve, set inside the corporation itself, may be the most self-referential comedy ever - should the BBC be poking fun at itself, or are the in-jokes just tiresome?

Further examples of "Real W1A" were not hard to find last week, as if toilers in New Broadcasting House are using the sitcom as a kind of manual rather than a wake-up call. There was the timing of the news of the axing of BBC Four's The Review Show, just two days after director general Tony Hall summoned the media to rejoice as he announced a raft of initiatives amounting to "the biggest arts push for a generation".

And Monkey hears of an in-house seminar where the World Service was being discussed, and "amoebas" - squishy shapes mapping its performance according to various criteria - were used in a presentation to demonstrate its value. To be fair, though, the insider audience made clear they found the amoebas baffling (in W1A such surrealism would have been treated as perfectly normal), and suggested they should be renamed butterflies "before it goes public".

The teaming of Fletcher and Sharpe was one of Twenty Twelve's greatest assets due to the fact that they are incredibly mismatched. Although W1A doesn't have quite the spark that Twenty Twelve possessed it still rings true due to its fantastically accurate script. Once again Hugh Bonneville's Fletcher is our baffled guide to a world of shared working space and company jargon that he struggles to understand.

I believe that Siobhan Sharpe is one of the greatest comedy creations of the last decade, partly due to the delightfully zany performance from Jessica Hynes. Some of my new favourite characters in W1A include Monica Dolan's Welsh Communications Officer Tracey Prichard and Hugh Skinner's befuddled intern Will.

The fact W1A has already had some quite big names in cameo roles means that it's definitely a sitcom that BBC is passionate about promoting. I just hope it finds an audience as, judging by the first two episodes, this is a genuinely funny series that shows that the BBC does have a sense of humour about itself.

W1A episode 2 review

I'm just not sure how much the jokes actually rely on it being the BBC, which is perhaps why 'Auntie' has felt confident making it.

BBC head of values Ian Fletcher continues to try to assuage complaints of "institutional anti-West Country bias within the corporation", aided not at all by Jessica Hynes's savagely stupid PR Siobhan Sharpe. ("Let's ride this train, let's nail this puppy to the floor.") Meanwhile, with Carol Vorderman accidentally booked into a Clare Balding presenting gig, the Britain's Tastiest Village production team must "find a way of breaking the bad news to Carol in such a way that it doesn't sound like a giant and protracted cock-up". Delicious.

Tonight Jessica Hynes plays glorious havoc with the future of the BBC as PR consultant Siobhan snares head of values Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) on a fast train to Manchester.

He's on a damage-limitation exercise but Siobhan is on a cyber trip to hashtag mash-up city in a bid to launch 'Brand Fletcher' to the tweeting masses.

Back in London, events have set the lovely Carol Vorderman on a collision course with the lovely Clare Balding. Could get messy.

If you were disappointed that we didn't get to see more of Jessica Hynes's character [Siobhan Sharpe in last week's opening episode, tonight's blisteringly farcical instalment more than makes up for it.

The BBC's new Head Of Values, Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville), and Tracey "I'm-not-being-funny-or-anything," Pritchard (Monica Dolan), are on the train to Salford where Ian is going to be interviewed by Jenni Murray on Woman's Hour about the BBC's alleged "institutional anti-West-Country bias".

It's a golden opportunity for him to change the subject by announcing that Carol Vorderman will be joining Alan Titchmarsh to co-present a new series called Britain's Tastiest Village.

Until, that is, Siobhan starts tweeting incessantly on Ian's behalf.

Meanwhile, Clare Balding is on her way to New Broadcasting House because she thinks that SHE is presenting Britain's Tastiest Village.

A perfect storm of a PR disaster is brewing and Siobhan Sharpe is the lunatic steering the boat straight into the middle of it.