As Hugh Bonnevilee brings back the much-loved mockumentary character at the 2026 World Cup, writer John Morton says this is Ian’s ‘biggest opportunity yet to get things right’
He spent many years as the BBC’s Head of Values but WIA’s Ian Fletcher has now found himself a new role – at the heart of global football. In time for next year’s World Cup the character, played by Hugh Bonneville, is to become Director of Integrity, building on the skills he developed at the London Olympics.
His move to join the Twenty Twenty Six Oversight Team, based in Miami, is the basis of a new six-part series for BBC1 and iPlayer, from the team behind W1A and Twenty Twelve.
Next year’s FIFA World Cup tournament, hosted by the USA, Canada, and Mexico, will see 48 countries taking part at 16 venues spread across North America.
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Announcing the new project, Ian Fletcher said: “I’m 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.”
As Paddington and Downton Abbey star Bonneville, 61, reprises his role as the jargon-obsessed boss, he will be joined by a new cast of characters including The Day of the Jackal’s Nick Blood and The Inbetweeners’ Belinda Stewart-Wilson.
The show’s writer and director John Morton said he was delighted that Ian was on his way back to the screen. “I wasn’t sure what Ian Fletcher had been up to recently. The last I heard he was still recovering from a serious Mindfulness Course in Somerset. So, it’s great to hear that he’s made it back and has re-emerged in his natural habitat at the centre of a well-known institution, but now on the world stage and facing his biggest opportunity yet to get things right.
“I’m thrilled and hugely grateful to the BBC for giving me the chance to follow him again, this time all the way to Miami, and I literally can’t wait to see what happens.”
BBC comedy boss Jon Petrie said: “We’ll miss Ian’s invaluable contribution to the BBC as Head of Values but how could he resist getting the call-up to be a part of one of the most expansive and ambitious sporting events in the world? We wish him, and the team, all the best.”
Executive producer Paul Schlesinger added: “It’s 15 years since Ian Fletcher’s journey started with the run-up to the London Olympics and we are delighted the BBC has given John another chance to capture the universal comedy of people trying to organise something really big in a room, but this time with an outstanding international cast.”
The rockumentary W1A was last seen in 2017, with the series revolving around Fletcher – formerly the Head of the Olympic Deliverance Commission in his role as the BBC’s Head of Values. His task at the Corporation was to clarify and re-define the core purpose of the BBC across all its functions and to position it confidently for the future.
He was previously flanked by Jessica Hynes, who won a Bafta for her role as BBC Brand Consultant Siobhan Sharpe – Head of Perfect Curve.
Other stars to feature regularly included Monica Dolan (senior communications officer Tracey Pritchard) and Jason Watkins as director of strategic governance Simon Harwood and Sarah Parish as Director of Better Anna Rampton.
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