BBC mockumentary W1A set for revival with a major twist seven years after it was last on TV

A mockumentary about one of the UK’s biggest broadcasters which became a hit with viewers is coming back to our screens.

W1A, named after the postcode of the BBC's headquarters, Broadcasting House, satirised the management of the BBC. The series revolves around Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville), formerly the Head of the Olympic Deliverance Commission, who was chosen to be the Head of Values at the BBC.

The series is the follow-up to Twenty Twelve, a BAFTA-winning comedy series by the BBC about the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. W1A saw the reintroduction of Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes as their Twenty Twelve characters Ian Fletcher and Sionbhan Sharpe, alongside a new cast.

The first series began in March 2014 and a second series launched in April 2015 with a one-hour special. A third and final series, which began airing on 18 September 2017.

In the show, Ian Fletcher was told to clarify and define the core purpose of the BBC, and the series dealt with the everyday events at the corporation, and how Ian and the rest of his team dealt with these. Such events include the arrival of Prince Charles, as he was then, problems surrounding a new programm called ‘Britain's Tastiest Village’, as well as media scrutiny of Ian Fletcher's salary.

Now, W1A is getting a new spin-off – this time set in football governing body, Fifa. Bonneville will be reviving his role as Ian Fletcher, and viewers also hope his PR, Siobhan Sharpe, played by Jessica Hynes, will be joining him.

Talking on That Gaby Roslin podcast, the news was revealed by actress Sarah Parish, who played scary Anna Rampton on the BBC show. She said: “It’s being written — maybe I’m talking out of turn, I don’t know.

“John Morton, the writer, is so brilliant and so fabulous at picking out the subtleties of the horror of working in an institution that big, but he did it brilliantly. It was a joyful thing to be in.

“So Ian Fletcher will continue. And I thought probably Siobhan could go with him because wherever Ian goes, Siobhan goes as well and does all his PR, really badly. So I’m hoping that those two characters will have another rebirth in another series.”

No detail has yet been revealed about the plotline of the new show, so fans will have to wait to see what role Ian Fletcher will be given at Fifa.