*Spoilers from episode 3, as well as the end of Twenty Twelve*
Okay, you know what? The series 1 finale is actually pretty good. Stuff happens! Some good narration from David Tennant too. Might be a low bar, but I enjoyed it. And while I think it makes a difference that we get more direct ties to Twenty Twelve here, that’s only part of it.
The newspaper article about Ian is more than just harping on his (apparently exorbitant) salary. It also details allegations that he misused funds when he was on the Olympic Deliverance Commission, and the whole thing is turning into both a professional and personal shitstorm. Lucy is languishing on Britain’s Tastiest Village, which has become a bit of mess, when she really wants to be working on the comedy-drama script she pitched alongside the show’s writer in episode 3. Siobhan brings Barney to the BBC to present their ideas for the logo rebrand.
When Ian’s time with the commission was nearing its end, he’d mentioned to Sally that he was interested in taking a holiday in Italy when it was all over. Sally being Sally, she went above and beyond, planning the whole trip for him—that’s where the allegations came from, because she all did this while she was on the clock. What’s more, at the last minute, Ian invited Sally to come with him to Italy. Now the whole story is being dragged through the press, including pictures of Sally, and reporters are waiting outside the BBC for Ian every morning.
Ian responds to this with some of his usual fecklessness. His attempt to send Sally an apology bouquet backfires in a big way, and there’s an entertaining scene where Ian has to sit listening to all the higher ups spitball figures on reasonable reductions to his salary. But at the same time, this experience helps Ian discover a bit of backbone and ingenuity. We see him taking some much-needed proactive steps here, on behalf of himself and another character.
Our character of the week is Simon Harwood, played by Jason Watkins. Simon is the BBC’s Director of Strategic Governance—he’s who most characters in the show report to on a day-to-day basis, although there’s a Big Boss who gets namedropped. His main quirks are 1) passing duties onto someone else and 2) enthusiastically agreeing with the person who last spoke, regardless of how much they contradict the previous person he agreed with.
It’s clear that Britain’s Tastiest Village has all but collapsed due to its various complications, yet it’s still limping along. If Lucy’s heart was ever in it, she’s completely over it now. And Siobhan and Barry’s presentation is amusing. They manage to accidentally reinvent the Star of David, so Siobhan evidently doesn’t know any more about religions than she did on Twenty Twelve.
After being a little down on David Tennant’s narration in the first three episodes, this is honestly a good episode for him. He’s got some funny lines in the season finale! Here are my favorites:
- When Ian gets to the BBC in the morning, a gaggle of reporters are waiting outside for him – “He’s already late for work, but he’s about to discover he’s not as late yet as he’s eventually going to be.”
- There’s a minor subplot about concerns over the wardrobe of a female news commentator “who’s been accused of wearing clothes that are inappropriately watchable” – good line!
- This sums up the state of affairs with Britain’s Tastiest Village – “Despite Lucy’s concerns about the basic premise of the show itself, the question of who’s going to present it is much more important than that.”
- This line cracked me up – “Elaine Pearson walks Ian through some of the advantages of cutting his current salary (which we are unable to reveal here for ethical reasons) to a level comparable with someone who earns a lot less than that.”
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