W1A

The BBC has a problem. It's in danger of losing the Wimbledon rights to a rival broadcaster. On top of that it's considered that the tournament is too staid, white and elitist.

Enter PR extraordinaire Siobhan Sharpe, who is tasked with the job of making Wimbledon cool and 'ethnically, not so much white'.

It was just one of the corporation's dilemmas witnessed in W1A (BBC Two), which returned for a new series with an hour-long special. It's the mock-umentary that mercilessly lampoons the Beeb in all its politically correct, management-speak glory.

Just like most of the employees Siobhan (played by the brilliant Jessica Hynes) communicates in meaningless, corporate parlance. 'Yah. Totally. Epic,' is her favourite soundbite. Her solution to the Wimbledon issue was to 'mash it up and pimp it' by calling it Win-bledon, getting people like Alan Sugar and David Attenborough to act as umpires while members of the crowd chant and wave giant foam fingers.

Meanwhile hapless Entertainment Format Executive David Wilkes is desperate to come up with a new family-viewing show following the spectacular failure of Britain's Top Village.

His suggestion is Heavy Petting, a reality show were celebrities swap pets. Alternatively there's Britain's Top Family, where a family of toffs and a family of chavs fight it out to decide who is better.

'That's what ITV is for,' snapped Anna Rampton, the steely, charmless Head of Output. She had a point. I bet I wasn't the only person imagining ITV executives watching last night, pen and paper in hand, furiously scribbling notes.

Jeremy Clarkson's endless gaffes must be manna from heaven for writer and director John Morton. Last night Head of Values Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) was investigating the number of times Clarkson (whose name was bleeped out) said the word 't*****' following viewer's complaints.

Posh, clueless intern Will had to sit through four years' worth of Top Gear counting the number of times the word was uttered -- and, naturally, he messed that up as well.

Amid all that, the BBC was preparing for a visit from Prince Charles to congratulate them on becoming the first 'zero energy broadcaster'.

The BBC's bungling Head of Security, who bragged about his 'foolproof zonal lock-down system', was as competent as Mr Bean, while producer Lucy Freeman was chosen to greet HRH for no other reason than the fact she was non-white.

Last night's opener was witty, wordy and frantic with David Tennant's voiceover hitting the mark perfectly. At times it felt like too much was being crammed in, leaving the viewer almost breathless by the end.

You have to credit the BBC for allowing its operation to be ripped apart so savagely. Everybody had a daft title, nobody knew what they were doing and all were too afraid to do their job for fear of upsetting somebody else.

If the bumbling buffoons of W1A are even halfway accurate then it's little wonder all the political parties are promising to either reduce or freeze the licence fee!

W1A: BBC pulling its pants down & slapping its cheeks

Every episode, for me, is a ticker-tape parade of recognisable woes - not just from my nigh-continuous dealings with the Beeb, but with all channels.

The glorious return of the BBC's self-flagellating sitcom, whose second series begins with a one-hour special. Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) and co prepare for the impending royal visit of the Prince of Wales. Elsewhere, Jessica Hynes's viciously stupid Head of BBC Brand, Siobhan Sharpe, attempts to mash-up the Beeb and Wimbledon, Entertainment Format Producer David Wilkes (Rufus Jones) has a title but not a show, and lovable doofus Will the intern might just have solved everyone's problems by possessing a sister.

W1A: so pitch-perfect as to be profoundly depressing

W1A is so pitch-perfect that its only real downside for those of us who fundamentally like the BBC is that it can often be quite depressing.

Radio Times review

An hour-long special of the comedy where the BBC looks at itself in a fairground mirror. As usual, writer/director John Morton happily tramples on touchy subjects. Not just in the subplot about Jeremy C****son (his full name cannot now be broadcast, due to events) saying "tosser" on Top Gear with controversial frequency, but in the main disaster-in-waiting: a visit to New Broadcasting House by Prince Charles. Head of security Dave (Andrew Brooke) briefs Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) on the protocol for the Royal Range Rover's arrival: "I will at that point assume control of the rising bollards personally." Dave also plans to lock all internal doors in case of emergency...

When it eventually gets going (I know the myriad characters who say the same thing over and over are meant to be annoying, but still) it's a fine farce, albeit one in which director-general Tony Hall's much-anticipated cameo is still as yet unviable.

Video - W1A: Back to poke fun at the Beeb

It's the "mockumentary" which does not need to aim far to hit its target. W1A is a comedy which satirises the BBC, and it's back for a second series, which starts tonight on BBC Two at 9pm. BBC Breakfast was joined by two of its stars, Hugh Skinner and Rufus Jones.

Preview: W1A returns with hilarious Clarkson parody

In the episodes, a character based on Clarkson is seen getting in trouble after writing a controversial tweet and repeatedly using the word 'tossers'.

W1A: can a BBC satire about the BBC ever really bite?

If W1A were made by ITV or Channel 4, the storyline would have shown BBC executives desperately wondering whether they could get away with exonerating Clarkson for alleged violence - or, as satire works by exaggeration, even murder - because of his commercial value to the organisation. External writers might also have had fun with the negotiations between PR and legal teams that presumably led to the use of the antique term "fracas" to describe his actions.

W1A preview: Goes like an arrow to the heart of the BBC

A storyline about censoring Jeremy Clarkson/p] in Top Gear provides comedy gold, says Ben Dowell, even if the double-length opening episode is a little too much of a good thing

Hugh Bonneville on W1A

The BBC mockumentary's Head of Values on filming the second series and the future of Downton Abbey.