‘The process itself is agony’: Hugh Bonneville on his Twenty Twenty Six role

Hugh Bonneville has said reprising his role as Ian Fletcher from John Morton’s mockumentaries Twenty Twelve and W1A for a new World Cup series was a “painful” experience.

Six-part comedy Twenty Twenty Six follows Fletcher as he moves to Miami to take up the post of “director of integrity” for the 2026 World Cup.

Having previously held a senior role for the London Olympic Games in Twenty Twelve, before a stint as the BBC’s head of values in W1A, Fletcher now finds himself heading to the biggest stage in world football.

The series also sees the return of Hugh Skinner as Fletcher’s PA, Will Humphries, who is as eager as ever to help him deliver a seamless football tournament.

David Tennant, who also appeared in W1A and Twenty Twelve, will narrate the series.

Joining the cast are Day Of The Jackal actor Nick Blood, Fresh Off The Boat star Chelsey Crisp and Designated Survivor’s Paulo Costanzo.

Also joining the series are Stephen Kunken, best known for playing Ari Spyros in Billions, and The Inbetweeners actress Belinda Stewart-Wilson.

Bonneville, 62, compared returning to the series to undergoing root canal treatment.

“I think anyone who’s had a root canal would understand the process of doing a John Morton show. It is about the most painful thing you could possibly put yourself through,” the Downton Abbey actor told the Press Association.

“In terms of the intellectual and memory gymnastics involved, and trying to get your head around these complicated words, they’re basically word salads.

“The process itself is agony.”

Bonneville joked: “Ever since Ian Fletcher made a triumph not only of the Olympic Games in 2012, but also really sorted out the BBC once and for all, until values were outsourced, he then spent a little time with the national obesity campaign, but that didn’t really seem to go anywhere.

“So being parachuted into this new role in Miami has been an absolute godsend because, frankly, Ian’s been out of work for a little while. Parachuting into a new set of characters and a completely new, let’s face it, country was quite a challenge for Ian. But I have to say, the multinational, multilingual team of actors that I joined was a complete joy.”

Referring to how closely the series mirrors reality, Bonneville said: “I can only refer back to when we did Twenty Twelve and Danny Boyle, who famously curated the opening ceremony, when he eventually sat down to watch the show long after the Olympics had finished and he’d recovered from his padded cell.

“I believe he watched it and said, ‘Did they have microphones in our meetings?’

“And the number of BBC journalists who have come up to me over the years and said that wasn’t a sort of fly-on-the-wall mockumentary, it was a documentary, or indeed, a training manual.

“So whether John Morton has once again got it right with the 2026 football World Cup tournament event, that’s a bit like one that might be happening elsewhere, we’ll have to wait and see. But so far, I don’t think any of the plotlines could be any more ludicrous than what’s happening in our real world.”

Bonneville is known for playing Robert Crawley, the Earl of Grantham, in period drama Downton Abbey, and has also starred in the Paddington films as Henry Brown.

Twenty Twenty Six airs on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Wednesday April 8 at 10pm.