Twenty Twelve, where TV scripts spookily come true

Week after week, the BBC Olympics comedy, which returns on Friday, came up with plots ahead of real life

The BBC Olympics comedy Twenty Twelve featured problems with the Olympic countdown clock. The morning after it aired, the real-life clock in Trafalgar Square broke (AFP)

Stranger than fiction: the 2012 coincidences

Countdown clock chaos:

Twenty Twelve

14 March 2011: The series' opening episode features problems with the 1,000-day countdown clock. Time seems to be running the wrong way, leaving red-faced public relations people to try to explain the concept.

Real-life incident

15 March 2011: The morning after Twenty Twelve is aired, the real-life clock in Trafalgar Square breaks. Red-faced PRs try to explain the problem.

Archaeology gets in the way:

Twenty Twelve

Roman remains are found under the diving pool and a new design has to be scrambled. The episode was written before writer John Morton was aware of archaeological problems with the real stadium.

Real-life incident

Remains of an Iron Age settlement were found in the aquatic centre site in 2007.

Design flaws for athletes:

Twenty Twelve

Organisers realise that swimmers would have to tramp through the café in their Speedos to get back to the changing rooms.

Real-life incident

February 2012: it emerges the layout of the Velodrome means athletes have to walk miles to find a toilet, with only one official ladies' loo for competitors.

Protesters get cranky about horses in Greenwich Park:

Twenty Twelve

A Greenwich anti-equestrian campaigner dumps a pile of horse manure outside the 2012 offices in protest at the equestrian events being held at the "unsuitable" location.

Real-life incident

A campaign against equestrian events being held at Greenwich Park has been raging for some time.

Terrible retro logo:

Twenty Twelve

A daylgo zig zag that would have looked out of date in the Eighties.

Real-life incident

A dayglo zig zag spelling "2012" and looking remarkably like a swastika was unveiled in 2007.

Traffic panics:

Twenty Twelve

The nerdy head of infrastructure Graham Hitchins (played by Karl Theobald) tests a new traffic light phasing system causing a city-wide jam.

Real-life incident

August 2011: the hysteria following predictions of traffic chaos means organisers consider traffic light phasing.

Boring Olympic ambassadors:

Twenty Twelve

Former athlete Dave Wellbeck (played by Darren Boyd) is unveiled as an ambassador to promote the Olympics. There's just one problem: he's the most boring human being alive.

Real-life incident

Games promoters such as Chris Hoy are admirable but they could make a cauliflower look charismatic.

PR gobbledegook:

Twenty Twelve

Head of Brand Siobhan Sharpe (played by Jessica Hynes) spouts a torrent of PR speak: "Here's where we ramp up the public interest and take it to the next level ... go viral and launch 2012 2.0."

Real-life incident

An army of PRs has issued a stream of superlative-ridden press releases, the latest of which described the new GB kit as "inspirational".

A sustainable legacy or a legacy of sustainability?

Twenty Twelve

Nobody knows the difference between "sustainability" and "legacy", infuriating the over-sensitive head of sustainability Kay Hope, played by Amelia Bullmore.

Real-life incident

Does anyone really know the difference?

The search for a culturally diverse Olympiad:

Twenty Twelve

The team fires a woman and then an ethnic minority candidate in an attempt to choose the most politically correct representative for the cultural Olympiad.

Real-life incident

Danny Boyle, Damon Albarn and Elbow are the main attractions – so far, so white and male.