Hugh Bonneville to reprise award-nominated comedy role for 2026 World Cup series

Bonneville previously played the character in the mockumentary series ‘W1A’ and ‘Twenty Twelve’

As the BBC's Games satire Twenty Twelve returns, Hugh Bonneville tells James Rampton about a role far removed from Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville will reprise his role as Ian Fletcher, the fictional Head of Values at the BBC, for a new comedy centred around the 2026 World Cup.

The six-part show, Twenty Twenty Six, is a follow-up to the comedy series W1A, which is a satire of BBC management.

W1A, which is the BBC headquarters’ postal code, was created by People Like Us writer John Morton, was launched in 2014 and earned Jessica Hynes a Bafta for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme in 2015.

W1A was itself a sequel to Twenty Twelve, which followed Fletcher in the role of Head of Deliverance of the Olympic Deliverance Commission during the London 2012 Olympics.

Bonneville was nominated for four TV Bafta awards and the original series took the Best Situation Comedy award in 2013. The series also starred The Crown’s Olivia Colman, who won the 2013 Bafta for Best Female Performance in a Comedy.

Bonneville, 61, is now returning as the character in his new job as BBC’s director of integrity for the 2026 World Cup, which is set to be held next summer across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Hugh Bonneville as Ian Fletcher in W1A (BBC)

Bonneville’s character will join the Twenty Twenty Six Oversight Team in Miami, with a cast including The Day Of The Jackal’s Nick Blood, Fresh Off The Boat star Chelsey Crisp and Designated Survivor’s Paulo Costanzo.

Stephen Kunken, best known for playing Ari Spyros in Billions, also joins the cast alongside The Inbetweeners’ Belinda Stewart-Wilson.

In a press release, Morton said: “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.

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“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.”

Hugh Bonneville and Jessica Hynes in ‘W1A’ (BBC)

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.

Executive producer Paul Schlesinger said: “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.”

Twenty Twenty Six will consist of six 30-minute episodes and will be available to watch on BBC One and iPlayer.

Additional reporting by PA.