W1A Star Says New Series Is Due To Film In Early 2017

The third series of the award winning BBC Two sitcom W1A is to begin filming in February 2017. Sarah Parish, who plays Anna Rampton, confirmed the return of the comedy show and its star Hugh Bonneville during an interview to promote the new series of Trollied. David Tennant has narrated both previous series of W1A, as well as its predecessor Twenty Twelve, although his involvement with the new series has not yet been confirmed.

W1A is the creation of writer and director John Morton and is set in the BBC, although it is said to be a satire on all labyrinthine management structures. The series follows on from Twenty Twelve, which wryly mocked the organisation around the London Olympic Games, and tracks the next career steps of former Olympic Deliverance Committee lead Ian Fletcher (Hugh Bonneville) and inept PA Siobhan Sharp (Jessica Hynes) as they take on new roles in the BBC. W1A utilises the same spoof fly-on-the-wall documentary approach as Twenty Twelve, complemented by David Tennant’s dry narration.  Although the BBC itself has yet to confirm officially the return of the comedy, John Morton has stated for some time that he is keen to tackle the issue of the corporation’s charter renewal.

Sarah Parish explained that the gap between series was due to the difficulties of getting such a high-profile cast, which also includes Nina Sosanya, Jason Watkins, Monica Dolan, David Westhead and Hugh Skinner, all back together. Speaking on BBC Radio 2 last week she said, "Hugh was going off to do another Paddington Bear film, and lots of other people were doing lots of other things, so it's trying to get us all together at the same time. So it just worked out that it took quite a long time to do that, but we are back!"

There is no information about plots, series length and broadcast date yet, but as soon as we hear anything we’ll let you know – stay tuned!

Sarah Parish will soon be seen alongside David in the third and final series of Broadchurch, expected on ITV early next year. She will also be appearing in David's new film project, the romcom You, Me And Him, expected in cinemas by Christmas 2017.