Hugh Bonneville to reprise role as Ian Fletcher in BBC football comedy
Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville will reprise his role as Ian Fletcher in a new BBC mockumentary series.
The six-part show, Twenty Twenty Six, is a follow-up to comedy series W1A, which followed Ian as the head of values at the BBC.
Bonneville, 61, will reprise the character as he takes on a new title, the BBC's director of integrity for the 2026 World Cup.
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.
Director John 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. 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.'
The character was first introduced in 2011 series Twenty Twelve, which followed an organising committee for the London Olympic Games.
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 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.
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