Twenty Twenty Six is a British television comedy series written and directed by John Morton. The series is a spoof mockumentary following the organisation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It premiered on BBC Two on 8 April 2026, with all episodes released the same day on BBC iPlayer.
The series is a follow-up to Twenty Twelve, which followed the 2012 Summer Olympics, and W1A, which satirised the management of the BBC. It sees the reintroduction of Hugh Bonneville as his character Ian Fletcher from Twenty Twelve and W1A and Hugh Skinner as his character Will Humphries from W1A, alongside a new cast, with David Tennant's role as narrator continuing from the earlier series. The series received generally positive reviews from critics.
Contents
Premise
Following on from his role at the BBC, Ian Fletcher leads the Oversight team behind the 2026 FIFA World Cup as the Director of Integrity. The series is a spoof mockumentary following the organisation of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Each episode follows a workweek at the Oversight HQ in Miami.
Episodes
On 30 March 2026, a two-minute short was released on BBC iPlayer, entitled Ian Fletcher: A Career, which predominantly comprises a recap of events from Twenty Twelve and W1A to (re)introduce the character and his career up to the events of Twenty Twenty Six.
All episodes were made available on BBC iPlayer on 8 April 2026.
Production
Initially announced in June 2025, Twenty Twenty Six is a follow-up to Morton's previous series Twenty Twelve, which followed the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and W1A, which satirised the management of the BBC, both starring Bonneville and the latter also starring Skinner, alongside a new cast. David Tennant continues his role as narrator continuing from the earlier series.
The series was filmed during summer 2025, in a school in Wembley made to look like a Miami arts centre. The nearby North Studios was also used for sets, with no filming taking place in the United States except drone footage.
Clarkson's Farm production company Expectation produced the six-episode series, taking over from the producer of Twenty Twelve and W1A, BBC Studios, who will still handle global sales.
Despite being heavily influenced by the 2026 FIFA World Cup, the tournament name and all mentions of FIFA are bleeped out for comedic effect, due to "an overabundance of caution on the production's part".
Broadcast
Twenty Twenty Six premiered on BBC Two on 8 April 2026, with all episodes released the same day on BBC iPlayer from 6 am.
Reception
The series received generally positive reviews from critics. Sarah Dempster of The Guardian dubbed the series "a missed opportunity" but complimented Michalik's performance and Tennant's narration. The Telegraph's Benji Wilson was more positive, awarding four out of five stars. Writing in The Times, Ben Dowell also awarded four stars, calling Twenty Twenty Six "another very funny comedy".
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 80% of 15 critics' reviews are positive. Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the series a score of 74 out of 100, based on 6 critics, indicating "generally favourable" reviews.