Try 30 days of free premium.

Twenty Twelve - Episode Guide

Season 1

Countdown

Episode: 1x01 | Airdate: Mar 14, 2011

Countdown

With time ticking inexorably downwards, the marketing team come up with a major public event to mark the '1000 days to go' milestone. A huge clock designed by a modern British artist will be installed outside Tate Modern on the banks of the Thames in a ceremony performed by both Seb Coe and Boris Johnson and will count down towards the start of the Olympic Games. The only problem is that the clock has a potentially disastrous design flaw which no-one seems to have noticed until it is too late.

Meanwhile the process of deciding which public figures should be approached to carry the Olympic Torch on its journey around Britain has begun.

Visitors from Rio

Episode: 1x02 | Airdate: Mar 21, 2011

Visitors from Rio

A visiting group of dignitaries from Rio (Olympic hosts in 2016) is in London for the week. For Head of Deliverance Ian Fletcher and his team the mission is simple. All they have to do is to meet the Brazilian delegation and take them by coach to the Olympic Stadium where they will meet Head of LOCOG, Lord Sebastian Coe. What can possibly go wrong?

As it turns out, just about everything: from language difficulties through satellite navigation issues to burst water mains and phantom punctures. For the team it's a lesson in the importance of staying positive and focused even when you are literally traveling in completely the wrong direction.

Roman Remains

Episode: 1x03 | Airdate: Mar 28, 2011

Roman Remains

It's another challenging week for Head of Deliverance, Ian Fletcher, and his team. Roman remains of potentially national significance have been discovered on the site of the aquatics centre, forcing them to contemplate radical last-minute modifications to the design of the building. It's a matter of asking the tough questions. What would happen if they made the diving pool shallower? Will it matter if athletes have to go through the cafeteria to get from the changing rooms to the pool?

Head of Brand, Siobhan Sharpe, has decided that the 2012 games should have their own unique audio logo. Head of Infrastructure Graham Hitchins is grappling with the sensitive issue of civil aviation flight paths during the period of the games, and Head of Sustainability Kay Hope is faced with recording her own video blog at the Olympic site itself.

Raising the Bar

Episode: 1x04 | Airdate: Apr 4, 2011

Raising the Bar

Dave Wellbeck is an ex-athlete, double Olympic silver medallist and, in theory, a natural choice as brand ambassador for Raising the Bar, a scheme to get young people inspired by Olympic ideals. He is hard-working, conscientious and loyal, but the truth is that he has about as much charisma as a dimmer switch and his busy schedule of presentations in schools around the country is having the effect of switching young people off in their thousands. Ian and Siobhan have different views on how to deal with the problem.

Head of Sustainability Kay Hope is forced to stand her ground in the light of the discovery that there might not, after all, be enough wind to power the much-vaunted Olympic Park wind turbine.

Cultural Curator

Episode: 1x05 | Airdate: Apr 11, 2011

Cultural Curator

There are only three applicants for the post of Curator of the Cultural Olympiad, so how difficult can it be to select the best candidate? As Ian Fletcher and his team find out, it is almost impossible. As if that wasn't enough, their ultimate boss, Sebastian Coe, has decided that it would be good for the profile of Twenty Twelve if members of the team entered the London Marathon.

As the pressure on Ian as Head of Deliverance gradually increases, the cracks in his marriage are starting to get wider and wider. Could this possibly mean that the secret hopes of his ever-loyal PA Sally might one day move closer to fulfilment?

Equestrian Controversy

Episode: 1x06 | Airdate: Apr 18, 2011

Equestrian Controversy

The decision to hold equestrian events in Greenwich Park is one of the most controversial choices made by the Olympic authorities. Among the many groups of people who are against it are local residents, led by self-styled maverick film director Tony Ward. Given that it is now over 30 years since he made his one and only successful film, Ward has had a lot of time on his hands to think about how angry he is and to plan his campaign of protest.

It starts with the arrival of an enormous pile of horse manure on the pavement outside the Olympic Deliverance Commission offices and climaxes with a live debate with Head of Deliverance Ian Fletcher on Radio 4's Today programme.

Meanwhile in Ian's personal life, manure of a different kind finally hits the fan. Fortunately his ever-loyal PA Sally is on hand and completely ready to pick up the pieces.

Season 2

Boycott (Part 1)

Episode: 2x01 | Airdate: Mar 30, 2012

Boycott (Part 1)

The Algerian Olympic team threatens to boycott the Games after discovering that the Shared Belief Centre does not face Mecca.

Boycott (Part 2)

Episode: 2x02 | Airdate: Apr 6, 2012

Boycott (Part 2)

It is the second half of a very long day. The Algerians issue a deadline of midnight for a solution to their demand for a Shared Belief Centre which faces Mecca, while the French threaten to pull out of the Games if a separate mosque is built. The team have to come up with an idea that will please everyone.

Clarence House

Episode: 2x03 | Airdate: Apr 13, 2012

Clarence House

A decision must be made about the future of the Olympic Stadium, and Clarence House has asked the ODC to look at ways of linking the Twenty Twelve Olympics with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee - is 'Jubilympics' the perfect branding solution?

The Rapper

Episode: 2x04 | Airdate: Apr 20, 2012

The Rapper

Siobhan's team design a major sexual health campaign, complete with a rap song "Get it On," which may upset the Catholic competitors.

Catastrophisation

Episode: 2x05 | Airdate: Jul 10, 2012

Catastrophisation

Thirty two days to go, and with Head of Deliverance Ian Fletcher chairing the final ever meeting of the Twenty Twelve Security Committee's Special Catastrophisation Unit, it emerges that someone has been caught converting official Olympic starting pistols to fire live rounds. With the US Security Forward Team about to arrive to review security arrangements for the Games, the challenge is to find a way of handling this piece of news that doesn't involve shooting themselves in the foot.

Meanwhile Kay Hope continues her one woman quest to find a Sustainable use for the Stadium post Games, and Siobhan Sharpe and her team at Perfect Curve take on the task of re-branding the Twenty Twelve Travel Advice Pack in such a way that no-one will ever have to read it.

Inclusivity Day

Episode: 2x06 | Airdate: Jul 17, 2012

Inclusivity Day

Having been shot in the foot with a doctored starting pistol, head of deliverance Ian Fletcher discovers that he is also shortly to be without a PA as current PA Daniel Stroud has been offered another job.

Back over at the offices of the ODC they try to work out how to launch Inclusivity Day in London on the same day that Seb Coe is launching Diversity Day in Oldham, when, even though both Boris Johnson and Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson have agreed to take part, no-one knows what Inclusivity Day is.

Meanwhile over at PR company Perfect Curve, Siobhan Sharpe and her team devise a viral campaign designed to change the face of women's football without mentioning women's football, following catastrophic ticket sales. The clock ticks on.

Loose Ends

Episode: 2x07 | Airdate: Jul 24, 2012

Loose Ends

Ten days left to try to tie up loose ends before the Deliverance Team finally hands over to the Live Team. Issues include what to do when it's discovered that the fireworks planned for the Opening Ceremony will trigger all the ground to air missiles that are in place for the Games; how to respond when the environmentally sound charging stations installed for the official Olympic electric cars turn out to charge so slowly that the entire fleet will quickly become plugged in, unable to move; and how handle a much publicized competition to compose a special peal of church bells to ring in the dawn of the Opening Day but which so far has attracted only two entries.

On a personal note, newly divorced and soon to be redundant Ian has some loose ends of his own, including what to do with the rest of his life and what to do about Sally.

Specials

Try 30 days of free premium.