![\"Will](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/p0n9tppq.jpg\")
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(Image: BBC\/Expectation Entertainment\/Jack Barnes)<\/p>\n
A new six-part fictional comedy series brought to us by the team behind W1A and Twenty Twelve. The BBC\u2019s former Head of Values Ian Fletcher has been appointed to a key new role as Director of Integrity for the upcoming global football tournament.<\/p>\n
Having previously held a leadership role on the London Games in Twenty Twelve and a spell as the Head of Values at the BBC in W1A, Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) is now bound for the greatest stage in world football.<\/p>\n
The tournament will be the biggest ever. Hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico, with 48 countries taking part and 16 venues thousands of miles apart across the whole of North America; what could possibly go wrong? Ian Fletcher is about to find out, as he joins the Twenty Twenty Six Oversight Team in Miami.<\/p>\n
Ian Fletcher says: “I\u2019m thrilled at the prospect of joining the Oversight Team in Miami for this unique event. And in terms of the Integrity role, to borrow a soccer analogy, this is a rare opportunity to set out your own goals and then score them on the global stage.”<\/p>\n
Watch Twenty Twenty Six on iPlayer and BBC Two from Wednesday 8 April.<\/p>\n
SH3<\/strong><\/p>\n Meet the Twenty Twenty Six Cast<\/strong> What can you tell us about Twenty Twenty Six?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s a six-part BBC series in which I reprise my role as Ian Fletcher. Formerly Head of Deliverance for the Twenty Twelve Games, Ian went on to be Head of Values for the BBC at its headquarters in London, W1A. Recently, he has been parachuted into an international football organisation as Director of Integrity, overseeing a major tournament that is being co-hosted by Canada, Mexico and the United States of America in the summer of 2026. What could possibly go wrong?<\/p>\n Is Ian Fletcher the same Ian Fletcher from Twenty Twelve and W1A?<\/strong><\/p>\n Ian has evolved. Although, \u2018evolution\u2019 is, of course, an interesting word, conjuring images of change – development from flaccid amoeba, for example, to homo erectus and indeed sapiens. Ian sees himself as crouching somewhere in between.<\/p>\n If Ian was a lapel pin it would be enamelled with the words, Stay Calm. The seas may be tossed and blown but Ian will be neither tossed and certainly not blown. He manages to maintain a degree of equilibrium when all around him is verging on chaotic. He\u2019s essentially a cat-wrangler, even when there\u2019s no cat food, or possibly even no cats.<\/p>\n How does Ian Fletcher develop through the course of the show?<\/strong><\/p>\n The tragicomedy of life is that we may think we develop and change but actually most of us reset at the end of each day to catastrophically normal and – if we can afford one – a take-away. During this series Ian\u2019s eyes are opened a teeny bit to emotional opportunity. Then again, he\u2019s also recovering from a detached retina.<\/p>\n What aspects of the character do you enjoy?<\/strong><\/p>\n Bewilderment and panic in the face of a ticking clock. We’ve all been in meetings in which someone says they’ll do something by Thursday… but we know instinctively that they absolutely won\u2019t. So, how do you lead a team with people like that around the table? That’s fun to play, the sense of everything on the agenda speeding towards a brick wall. Ian has to contend with that every day. John Morton skewers this dynamic in every single line.<\/p>\n Do you have any favourite storylines from this series?<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s a debate over a micro-chip in a football, which of course, is based on real life, but it all gets a bit out of hand. And there\u2019s a slip of the tongue \u2013 live on radio – by one of Ian\u2019s colleagues, which spirals and goes viral. Like W1A and Twenty Twelve, it\u2019s all shot in a chaotic order, nothing makes sense each day so, for that reason, every single tea break was spent running lines, or in my case apologising to my colleagues for not knowing mine.<\/p>\n How does comedic acting differ to playing a more serious script?<\/strong><\/p>\n There\u2019s no difference between comedy and drama. Comedic characters don\u2019t know they\u2019re in a comedy. If it shows, you’re not doing it right. Life is serious. Even when it\u2019s farcical. Which let\u2019s face it, most of it is.<\/p>\n Do you play football?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was the Under 11 B Team goalie at my junior school. I was fat and I was rubbish at running up and down. So I was put in goal. It was the days where you wore a padded top as a goalie, which was quite a warm garment, actually. So that was nice. I was quite cosy, toddling up and down in my little goal, pretending to stretch, in my green, figure-hugging little duvet. I don\u2019t think I ever saved a ball, if indeed one ever came my way. So, that is my footballing skill set: standing still in goal.<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, it\u2019s cheerier than watching the news.<\/p>\n Finally, what does your 2026 look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m washing my hair in June.<\/p>\n Hugh Skinner (Will Humphries, Assistant to Ian Fletcher)<\/p>\n How would you describe your character in Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n Will Humphries is Ian Fletcher’s assistant and is very well intentioned, but completely useless. Ian Fletcher previously sorted out the London 2012 Games, and then he got stuck in at the BBC, and now he’s tackling a major football tournament. I also played Will in W1A which was about seven years ago now and it\u2019s great to be back.<\/p>\n So, how has Will changed since we last saw him in W1A? <\/strong><\/p>\n Will hasn’t really changed in between W1A and Twenty Twenty Six nor does he throughout the new series and that is part of the glorious thing about John Morton\u2019s characters – they don’t ever really change that much.<\/p>\n But one of the things I really liked in the new series, is the fact Ian takes Will aside and tells him not to apologise for himself and to have a bit more confidence, and it’s fine to be how he is. I thought it was such a beautifully different scene and I found it very moving when I read it.<\/p>\n What do you think the main differences are between W1A and Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n The main differences are that there’s a whole new cast of American characters played by the most extraordinary group of actors and seeing how John Morton has taken on those vernaculars has been extraordinary! You also hear the voice of the documentary maker now as well, which is another side to it that I haven’t seen John do before which has been brilliant.<\/p>\n How does Will get on with the new characters? <\/strong><\/p>\n He sort of gets in with the social media team, I wouldn’t say they get on amazingly well with him, but he’s pleased to have some people to sit next to, and then there’s Emily, another executive assistant who I\u2019ll be honest isn\u2019t very nice to him.<\/p>\n What are the aspects of your character you enjoy the most? <\/strong><\/p>\n One of the things I love about playing Will is when he’s trying to do practical things because he does them very badly, so it’s perfect in a sense, because I can have a go and fail, and that is then right, which is ideal really! One of those things is doing keepy-uppies and I thought it would be fine, because I can\u2019t do them but actually it turns out doing keepy-uppies badly is quite hard.<\/p>\n Do you play football? <\/strong><\/p>\n No, I can’t play football at all, I have no control of a football and Will’s not supposed to have any control of the football, but when you’re not supposed to have any control of the football, but you are supposed to land a football in a really specific place\u2026 it’s beyond me! But I felt like I got through it without getting too embarrassed!<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n People should watch Twenty Twenty Six because it’s written and directed by John Morton and he’s got such an individual voice and he’s so specific. I read the script and it’s so brilliant on the page, and then he directs it and makes it more brilliant than you could have imagined. And then he goes into the edit it and makes it better again! It’s such a treat to work with him, he’s incredible, and I can\u2019t wait for people to see it!<\/p>\n Chelsey Crisp (Sarah Campbell, VP Sustainability and Climate Strategy)<\/p>\n Can you summarise the premise of Twenty Twenty Six and what viewers can expect from the series? <\/strong><\/p>\n Twenty Twenty Six is a workplace comedy about the fictional planning committee for a major football tournament. This year it\u2019s being organised by multiple countries, so you can imagine the chaos happening behind the scenes for an event of this scale. Expect a large, international cast with lots of competing interests doing their best to pull off one of the world\u2019s largest sporting events.<\/p>\n Were you a fan of W1A and Twenty Twelve before coming on board for this series? <\/strong><\/p>\n I was. Several years ago, I auditioned for a show called Ten Percent written by John Morton, and I was sent W1A so I could understand the tone of his writing. I watched the first scene where Ian Fletcher is met in the lobby by Will Humphries and thought it was one of the funniest things I\u2019d ever seen and every fibre of my being wanted to work with John by the time the credits rolled. I got that part and working with John exceeded all of my expectations. I had hopes that he would call again. But this (Twenty Twenty Six) surpassed my wildest expectations of what that phone call would be.<\/p>\n What else appealed to you about this project? <\/strong><\/p>\n When I saw that it was an extension of the world from W1A – I was giddy. Who gets the chance to step into one of their favourite shows? Every time I was opposite Hugh Bonneville or Hugh Skinner, I felt this little thrill like I was transported back to watching that first scene in the lobby.<\/p>\n How would you describe Sarah Campbell? <\/strong><\/p>\n This woman is all heart, idealism and earnestness, and in John\u2019s world, most people are swimming upstream fighting for something they believe in, and Sarah is truly the personification of that.<\/p>\n Sarah\u2019s the Head of Sustainability and Climate Strategy, which means she\u2019s inherently at odds with the rest of the team. They\u2019ve been tasked with planning the largest scale event they can – and here\u2019s poor Sarah trying to protect the planet by making it all smaller. But she\u2019s so sweet and pure and good that she\u2019s not wired for confrontation.<\/p>\n How difficult was it to get through filming of the meeting scenes without laughing?! <\/strong><\/p>\n It’s damn near impossible. Hugh gathers everybody together beforehand to drill the lines because the rhythm is king on this show. So much story is layered in, underneath the lines that you don\u2019t know where to look because everyone\u2019s doing something unexpected and brilliantly funny. It’s really tough to keep a straight face. You\u2019re trying to stay in character, but if you turn your head the wrong way, you see something new and suddenly, you\u2019re fighting for your life!<\/p>\n Finally, are you fan of football\/soccer? <\/strong><\/p>\n I was fortunate to play a character who doesn\u2019t know anything about soccer, because I also do not know anything about soccer. Ironically, I had a sprained ankle for most of the shoot, which happened by playing soccer with my kids beforehand! It was a major curveball for filming and there were always crutches hidden out of shot on set. It was an embarrassment for me, but I think it\u2019s part of how we coalesced as a family, because everyone helped me get around our sound stage. It was a team effort and I felt very protected. Clearly, I was not put on this world to be a soccer player.<\/p>\n Stephen Kunken (Owen Mitchell, VP Logistics and Execution)<\/p>\n How would you describe Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n In 2026, one of the most important football tournaments in history is set to take place and Twenty Twenty Six is a brilliant mockumentary satire centred on the operations group tasked with making sure every detail runs perfectly.<\/p>\n John Morton, known for workplace comedies like W1A and Twenty Twelve, once again turns his eye to institutional chaos – this time asking what happens when you put that familiar collection of people in a room and hand them one of the biggest sporting events in the world.<\/p>\n How would you describe your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Owen is a fascinating guy. He\u2019s Canadian and something of the sober driver in the group. There are a lot of spiky, high-revving personalities in the room, and Owen is there to keep things from spinning completely off the rails.<\/p>\n His humour is intellectual – it lands two or three beats after everyone else\u2019s. While others throw direct punches, Owen drops little grenades that go off later. He listens carefully, then delivers something deceptively mild that ends up being devastating.<\/p>\n How does he relate to the other characters in the series? <\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s a sounding board for many of them – especially Sarah. He genuinely wants her to succeed. He\u2019s often perplexed by Nick\u2019s approach to the world, and when Ian joins the Oversight team, Owen is quietly relieved. It\u2019s nice to have another adult in the room – dare I say, another sober driver – who can help move things along.<\/p>\n How does Owen evolve? <\/strong><\/p>\n When Ian arrives, Owen begins to express himself more fully. He doesn\u2019t have to herd cats all day long and he feels freer to offer opinions and lean into his quirks.<\/p>\n As the tournament gets closer, the stakes rise for everyone. The pressure builds daily – and that affects how each of them show up. John writes with enormous affection. There\u2019s no out-and-out villain. These are fully fleshed people. Even when they\u2019re ridiculous, they\u2019re good. You can\u2019t help but fall in love with them over time.<\/p>\n What do you enjoy about playing Owen? <\/strong><\/p>\n I often play villains, so it\u2019s refreshing to play someone steady and fundamentally kind. I love that Owen listens. So often in drama you\u2019re front-footed – pushing plot, driving momentum. Here, I get to sit back and watch everyone spin themselves into butter, nod, and then find the perfect way to skim the cream off the top. That\u2019s a joy.<\/p>\n The show is set in Miami but filmed in the UK – what was that like?<\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019re very fortunate not to be filming in 110-degree heat. The depth of talent here is extraordinary, and the professionalism is second to none. There\u2019s also a genuine appreciation for football in the UK – getting it right feels almost like a matter of national interest.<\/p>\n I could see Wembley Stadium from my dressing room, which you\u2019re not going to get in Miami.<\/p>\n How does comedy differ from the more serious roles you play? <\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s harder in many ways. You\u2019re not just playing the truth – you\u2019re playing the mechanics. Timing, rhythm, generosity. You feed someone a pass so they can turn it into a goal. But you can\u2019t sit around gawking – you\u2019ve also got to get back on defence as quickly as you moved forward. Comedy is a group exercise.<\/p>\n When it works, it\u2019s a high-wire act. And there\u2019s nothing more fulfilling.<\/p>\n Do you play football? <\/strong><\/p>\n Growing up, it was really a collegiate sport where I was living. We didn\u2019t know the modern game the way you all do over here. There wasn\u2019t the same hero worship of players or choreographed goal celebrations – that energy was reserved for American football, basketball, and baseball.<\/p>\n I did play goalkeeper for my junior high team, and I think I was very much on track to secure a deal with a top-tier club in the UK – based entirely on my performance in practice. In games… well, let\u2019s just say I may actually have been worse than not having a goalkeeper.<\/p>\n Paulo Costanzo (Nick Castellano, VP Business and Legal Affairs)<\/p>\n How would you describe your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Nick is an Italian New York lawyer. He\u2019s kind of angry all the time, swears a lot and generally says whatever he wants, whenever he wants. I know guys like this. They are inherently funny without knowing it and so is Nick.<\/p>\n How does your character relate to the others in the show? <\/strong><\/p>\n My character has a feud going with Gabriela, played by Jimena Larraguivel, which is one of my favourite aspects of the show – our characters are constantly exploding into little fights. It\u2019s very fun.<\/p>\n What aspects of your character do you enjoy playing?<\/strong><\/p>\n I love playing a character who just speaks his mind and has no filter at all. I think we all wish we could live like Nick a little bit.<\/p>\n What do you love about being on set? <\/strong><\/p>\n The level of talent on the show is insane \u2013 when we have scenes where we\u2019re all together it\u2019s like having front row seats to a brilliant play. And that was every day.<\/p>\n How does comedy acting differ from playing more serious roles? <\/strong><\/p>\n This feels different from both for me, because of the way it is written. Each actor must say every single word exactly, at the exact time they\u2019re supposed to say it or the whole thing flies off the tracks \u2013 it\u2019s almost like a playing music. We were all quite nervous at the beginning. No one wanted to be the one to mess up.<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n Twenty Twelve and W1A were great, but this one feels truly special, and completely works as a standalone. You\u2019ve got Hugh Bonneville specifically drawing people into watching it – you have a very interesting international cast, and you have this soccer tournament that it’s about. So it feels topical. John Morton, who\u2019s legitimately a genius, wrote and directed every bit of it. If you pay attention to the words, every sentence is funny. That\u2019s how I feel about it. It’s kind of a work of art that John has made, it’s so precise, and kind of perfect.<\/p>\n Alexis Michalik (Eric Van Depuytrens, Chief Coordinating Attache\u0301)<\/p>\n Describe your character?<\/strong><\/p>\n Eric is the Chief Coordinating Attache\u0301 liaison between Zurich and our football tournament and he is rather mysterious, well-spoken and uses a lot of interesting language.<\/p>\n What can you tell us about your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Eric is a very enthusiastic person, and has a strong relationship with his assistant Emily, who is very trustworthy and probably the most efficient person of the band. He likes to try and make sure everyone around him is happy, even though his instructions and communication to the team are not always the clearest, which adds more humour and confusion to the situations the team find themselves in, and he always brings a positive energy with him.<\/p>\n What aspects of your character do you enjoy playing? <\/strong><\/p>\n It’s a joy because he is this very ecstatic and over the top guy and I get to use my strongest French accent which I enjoy very much.<\/p>\n What is fun about being on set? <\/strong><\/p>\n We end up impersonating each other\u2019s characters – we all have our own catchphrases and when we opened the actors\u2019 WhatsApp group everyone introduced themselves by just saying their own catchphrase.<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n I watched Twenty Twelve and W1A just before I got here and they were fantastic and felt that I had to be part of this. They are shows which are very loved by the British audience and this one is not going to disappoint. Twenty Twenty Six has a more international environment and cast but it works perfectly and it\u2019s brilliant to watch us all interacting to the same rhythm and all share the same love of comedy.<\/p>\n Marli Siu (Mia So, Sentiment Curator)<\/p>\n What can you tell us about your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Mia is part of the social media team, she wants to do well and impress her boss Madison and she is also pretty tech savvy.<\/p>\n How does your character relate to the others in the series? <\/strong><\/p>\n I would say Mia and Will form a bond of sorts, where she helps him a lot. I think she takes him under her wing, and I think he is quite happy to be under it, it’s a very cute dynamic.<\/p>\n Does your character evolve at all? <\/strong><\/p>\n Mia doesn’t really speak up, and she often gets eclipsed by Zach’s voice, but she has a moment later in the series where she takes the reins, and fixes a problem, which she probably could have done a bit more of, if only she spoke up a bit more!<\/p>\n It\u2019s really nice because John Morton doesn’t see any of these characters as ridiculous. Because whilst we are all stereotypes in some ways, he doesn’t see it as – the younger generation are just on their phones all the time – but recognises they are really good at their jobs, but the silliness comes from how we communicate together when the different stereotypes all get in a room, and how they all see each other as people.<\/p>\n What are the aspects of your character you enjoy playing? <\/strong><\/p>\n I like that Mia is so positive, which I think is quite an American thing \u2013 the confidence and positivity is quite unlike British people and it\u2019s quite fun to be play a character with that mindset.<\/p>\n Was it hard not to laugh whilst on set? <\/strong><\/p>\n Yes! But it’s terrifying because everyone thinks corpsing is funny, but when you’re doing it and everyone else is taking the scene really seriously, it’s really scary, that you’re the one person laughing in the room!<\/p>\n Joe Hewetson (Zach Linksfeld, Lead Thread Analyst)<\/p>\n What can you tell us about your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Zach is a really confident self-assured moron, who is always convinced that his ideas are amazing, when in fact they’re terrible a lot of the time. But whenever it is pointed out to him that his ideas are really bad – he’s very quick to agree and accept that, but he remains endlessly positive. Also, I think he definitely hails from the Siobhan Sharpe school of talking in largely meaningless PR-speak catchphrases.<\/p>\n How does your character relate to others in the series? <\/strong><\/p>\n I think Zach is constantly online and thinks only in terms of social media, that he doesn’t properly listen to anyone else. I think he is slightly confused by Will and doesn\u2019t really understand him, but Will starts copying Zach a lot which is funny. Zach and Mia are sort of partners in crime but they don\u2019t talk about anything other than social media I suppose.<\/p>\n Does your character evolve at all? <\/strong><\/p>\n He\u2019s so assured that he’s right and so smart but I don’t think he really evolves at all, or learns anything because he doesn’t listen to anyone, apart from Madison occasionally.<\/p>\n What are the aspects of your character you enjoy playing? <\/strong><\/p>\n I think it is fun playing a really energised but fairly dim character, but that being said it is important to stress the team aren\u2019t completely useless and at times can be very good at their jobs, but just being able say such ludicrous things, and back it 100% and say it with your full chest is so brilliant and something I\u2019ve really enjoyed.<\/p>\n In W1A, I feel that a lot of the time the characters have a general sense of despair when anything happens, that they immediately think it\u2019s going to go terribly wrong, but in this series it\u2019s the opposite especially with the social media team \u2013 everyone is so optimistic and think it\u2019s going to be amazing but ultimately it is still terrible but at least the positive attitude is there!<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n It is just absolutely hilarious, and I feel like audiences will relate because it’s so accurate for any office environment. This show is a window into those sorts of conversations that often happen in major boardrooms where somehow people are coming up with the most awful and daft ideas and other people are clearly thinking it\u2019s genius \u2013 then there is one normal, sensible human being with a brain, like Ian Fletcher, who tries his best to get people to realise we need to avoid this idea at all costs.<\/p>\n Nicole Sadie Sawyerr (Emily Nash, Assistant to Eric Van Dupuytrens)<\/p>\n Describe your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Emily Nash is the assistant to Eric Van Depuytrens in the show, and she is a woman of very few words. She’s quite stern and quiet \u2013 definitely borders on the serious side and can be perceived as quite cold, but I think underneath that exterior is someone who’s really capable and highly ambitious who has worked hard to get to the position that she’s in, in this sort of entry level job. She tends to resist in really small, subtle ways, which I really love about her.<\/p>\n How does she relate to the other characters? <\/strong><\/p>\n She’s got a one-sided rivalry with Will Humphries, and when he comes into Oversight, she doesn’t really take to him at all in the beginning, but I think she understands that Will is in this setting for completely different reasons and for a completely different journey compared to her.<\/p>\n How does your character evolve? <\/strong><\/p>\n I think the comedy comes from them not having learned anything about themselves because they’re so into the into what their own world is and into not messing up, because it feels like they are all performing at work, and whenever there’s any slip up, mistake, or a sense of vulnerability from a character, they don’t want to reveal themselves.<\/p>\n Any favourite scenes or lines? <\/strong><\/p>\n That\u2019s a really tough one because there are some really good lines! And every character seems to have their own catchphrase which is hilarious, all of the actors are top tier, the writing is masterful and genius.<\/p>\n Nick Blood (Phil Plank, VP On Pitch Protocols)<\/p>\n What can you tell us about your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n I play Phil Plank, he’s the VP of On Pitch Protocols, which is a suitably vague title. He had a few trials for Oldham Athletic back in the day, and then somehow managed to carve a career for himself in US soccer and found himself working for this global tournament. He’s a very linear thinker, he takes things very literally and offers very literal solutions.<\/p>\n Phil is somewhat of a loner \u2013 but having said that, the comedy comes from the fact the team aren’t great at collaboration, which is their downfall and that they are very much each focused on their own priorities, jobs, and goals. So they’re not very good at working with each other and it is quite rare that they ever do.<\/p>\n How does your character evolve? <\/strong><\/p>\n Phil doesn’t evolve a great deal throughout the course of the series, he’s a ‘does what it says on the tin’ kind of guy (and possibly there’s not much written on the tin in Phil’s case.)<\/p>\n What aspects of your character do you enjoy playing? <\/strong><\/p>\n I enjoy the fact that Phil never really gets the joke and his responses to problems are very literal. He is quite naive and misses the joke all of the time. He takes everything quite seriously so when there is something that’s obviously absurd, he just is just straight down the line and oblivious to what everyone else sees. Those moments are really fun to play.<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n It’s very funny and I think everybody can recognise the world we’re exploring. It\u2019s got a lot of heart to it as well, it doesn’t sneer at the characters, even though they are all quite absurd at times, it’s very sympathetic to all of them.<\/p>\n Jimena Larraguivel (Gabriela De La Rosa, VP Optics and Narrative)<\/p>\n What is Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n Twenty Twenty Six is about an Oversight team that all come together to help organise a big international football event, and whilst we\u2019re all working hard to make it work, we don\u2019t do a very good job of putting out the fires we come up against, it\u2019s more like lighting them!<\/p>\n Who do you play?<\/strong><\/p>\n I play Gabriela, she is Mexican and is VP of Optics and Narrative so she’s in charge of the communications, and I think she’s very passionate about stories and people. She\u2019s a fast thinker, and is an ex-footballer herself so she often behaves like she\u2019s on a football pitch and comes in as if she is the captain of the team, expecting everyone to follow her lead.<\/p>\n How does your character relate to some of the others?<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a lot of a rivalry between Gabriela and Nick (played by Paulo Costanzo) because I think they\u2019re both very strong willed and confident and I think Gabriela finds that triggering.<\/p>\n Gabriela is a champion for women so she has moments of connection with Sarah for example where she is very supportive of what Sarah is trying to do. But every character has their own agenda and so that’s what makes it funny because we’re all operating in our own ways and I think these characters really are passionate about defending their position.<\/p>\n How does your character evolve?<\/strong><\/p>\n I think she evolves in that she gets more comfortable in her role within the team. You see different sides to these characters as the series goes on but I think they are very consistent in how they operate and I think as someone watching that’s quite reassuring that you get to understand how they work. But then also there are moments with Gabriela where you get to see a different side to her, a much softer and more caring side which you don\u2019t see a lot of when she is in meetings with the whole team.<\/p>\n What aspects of your character do you enjoy playing? <\/strong><\/p>\n I love playing the moments where she is losing it a little bit because she’s normally so in control but she does everything in her power to cover that up, she’s not going to let anyone see that she’s made a mistake and so she blames, delegates, or steals an idea and that’s really fun to play. I love playing the little flaws or quirks of a character and we are all a bunch of clowns really, but Gabriela will always ignore the joke. She can let loose if she knows she\u2019s winning, but until then she\u2019s headstrong.<\/p>\n Any favourite lines or scenes?<\/strong><\/p>\n There is a scene when we are all discussing how some key Twenty Twenty Six host cities may now be too hot to safely play football in due to global heating and for me when I read that episode, I thought it was brilliant, especially the scenes with Professor Fuchs who the team consult with but maybe it\u2019s because I’m Mexican, and the idea of worrying about the heat feels a bit ridiculous! In the scene Emily starts tweaking the Professor\u2019s report and I just love that because I feel like it\u2019s a very Mexican thing to do – tweak things without permission – so when I read it, I really connected with it.<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six?<\/strong><\/p>\n It’s hilarious and I think if you love Twenty Twelve and W1A, you now get to see Ian Fletcher navigate a foreign country, with all the cultural differences that come with that, along with the different international characters which is really fun.<\/p>\n Erin Kellyman (Madison Flynn, Thought Leader)<\/p>\n What can you tell us about your character? <\/strong><\/p>\n Madison wants to impress but I feel she does it in a loud way. She’s very assertive and bossy, but ultimately she’s inherently good and she wants the best for everybody. So, whilst she is always trying to get her point across, the way she goes about it sometimes is a little forceful. She\u2019s very cutthroat with her team Mia and Zach and very opinionated in the in the rooms with the main team, but she is a good egg.<\/p>\n How does Madison relate to other characters in the show? <\/strong><\/p>\n I think a lot of the main team get irritated with Madison a lot of the time, and her main conflict with other people is that she’s trying so hard to be constantly politically correct and the men in the Oversight team are throwing things out there that she doesn’t agree with, but she can\u2019t even reach her main point because she’s constantly telling people \u2018you can’t say that\u2019 and \u2018that’s not ok\u2019.<\/p>\n Also, Madison and Gabriella actually have a really nice relationship, whenever they’re in the boardroom together, they seem to back each other, which is really nice so that was fun.<\/p>\n Does your character evolve at all? <\/strong><\/p>\n I feel like Madison thinks that she’s a completely perfect, well-rounded human that is ready to go straight from the package. She doesn’t need any adjusting.<\/p>\n What are the aspects of your character you enjoy playing? <\/strong><\/p>\n I really like how fast they all talk, it really wakes you up in the morning when you\u2019re going a million miles at minute at 6am and I think that’s really fun to like bounce off each other in that way.<\/p>\n Do you have any favourite storylines or scenes? <\/strong><\/p>\n It can be something so simple, but we were filming a scene all shouting over each other and trying to get our points across and of course no one’s listening. Throughout Hugh Bonneville\u2019s character is trying hard to get everyone listen, then he just says \u201cit\u2019s too late now, we\u2019ve run out of time\u201d and I couldn\u2019t pull myself together, I don’t know what it was about it \u2013 maybe just the way he delivered it, but it was just so funny.<\/p>\n Why should people watch Twenty Twenty Six? <\/strong><\/p>\n To watch something different because I don\u2019t I think this feels like a written comedy, due to it’s a mockumentary style. The way that it is written it really does feel like you’ve just put cameras in the room, it\u2019s so naturalistic, but then also just so hilarious like all of the little nuances in the script make it feel so real.<\/p>\n Follow for more<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Image: BBC\/Expectation Entertainment\/Jack Barnes) A new six-part fictional comedy series brought to us by the team behind W1A…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":863048,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[49,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-863047","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-united-states","9":"tag-us","10":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116325035511099028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=863047"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/863047\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/863048"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=863047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=863047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=863047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nHugh Bonneville (Ian Fletcher, Director of Integrity)<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/p0n9tt52.jpg\")
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