The BEST episodes of W1A season 1
Every episode of W1A season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of W1A season 1!
From the creators of Twenty Twelve, Ian Fletcher, former the Head of the Olympic Deliverance Commission, has taken up the position of Head of Values at the BBC. His tasks include the licence fee renegotiation and charter renewal in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
#1 - Episode 3
Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/2/2014
A month into his job as head of values and Ian Fletcher is still trying to find somewhere to sit. But there are more important issues to get to grips with - not least the director general's desire to shape the debate as to what the BBC is really for. Anna Rampton already knows what it's for and, in a thinly veiled move to further her own career, advocates moving Songs of Praise to radio, thus freeing up a prime slot for her own series, Britain's Tastiest Village. The debate about the future of the BBC is not helped when Ian Fletcher's salary comes under intense scrutiny in the press - why should the BBC's head of values be paid more than the prime minister? Neil Reid, current controller of current affairs, is having to deal with the fallout from a blunder in BBC News coverage of the Syrian crisis when a photo of Trudi Styler was used instead of Asma Assad. Intern Will Humphries is given something important to do by the object of his desire, Izzy - a task he is keen to get right. And producer Lucy Freeman goes in to pitch Home Truth, a script she's been developing over several years with writer Dan Shepherd. But it's Siobhan Sharpe and her team at Perfect Curve that find themselves with the biggest challenge when they are asked to refresh the BBC logo and come to the conclusion that the problem with the current logo is that it has too many letters.
#2 - Episode 2
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 3/26/2014
BBC Head of Values Ian Fletcher has only been in the job a few weeks and already finds himself at the centre of a media storm. Spotlight South West presenter Sally Wingate believes she has been discriminated against because of her age and so Ian is on a mission to take the sting out of what has become known as 'Wingategate'. As he journeys North to Salford for his first big interview in the job - live on air with Jenni Murray on Woman's Hour - he finds himself unhelpfully joined by brand consultant Siobhan Sharpe, who is in serious tweeting mode. Meanwhile, things are getting complicated for the Britain's Tastiest Village production team. Having wooed and won Carol Vorderman as Clare Balding's replacement to co-present with Alan Titchmarsh, they have discovered at the very last minute that Clare Balding is unexpectedly available and she is keen to do the show. The problem is that no-one has told Clare that they were moving on and she unhelpfully turns up for her first production meeting at the same time as Carol Vorderman is leaving.
#3 - Episode 1
Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 3/19/2014
With the London games of Twenty Twelve successfully delivered, Ian Fletcher starts a new chapter in his life as head of values at the BBC. Ian's first challenge on arriving at New Broadcasting House, on his brand new and much-improved folding bike, is to find somewhere to sit in a building aggressively over-designed around the principle of not having a desk. Ian finds himself holding the hottest of hot potatoes when Mebyan Kernow activist Nigel Trescott complains that Cornwall, and the Cornish, are shamefully under-represented on the BBC. Things get worse when BBC Spotlight South West presenter Sally Wingate goes public with her feeling that her failure to progress to a national presenting role might be part of the BBC's institutionally anti-Cornish bias. Ideas of how best to limit the damage lead to PR company Perfect Curve's Siobhan Sharpe suggesting Sally should do something on Snog, Marry, Avoid or some kind of Bake Off. Meanwhile, producer Lucy Freeman is having meetings with head of output Anna Rampton and entertainment format creative David Wilkes about a forthcoming new flagship show - Britain's Tastiest Village - which, according to David, is 'kind of Britain's Got Talent meets Countryfile with a bit of The One Show thrown in just in case'. Anna wants a progress report and there's good news and bad news. They've virtually got Alan Titchmarsh on board now, but the very bad news is that it looks like they've lost Clare Balding - 'words you never ever want to hear' - as the dates of How Big Is Your Dog, a new show she's doing for ITV, have changed at the last minute.
#4 - Episode 4
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/9/2014
A national paper has not only published details of Ian Fletcher's salary but followed up with a story of how he took Sally Owen, his PA at the Olympic Deliverance Commission, on holiday to Italy. So the BBC can either stand by their man or get him to pre-empt potential criticism by persuading him to cut his own salary. Meanwhile, a female Newsnight presenter has been accused of wearing clothes that are inappropriately watchable. When her legs get their own Twitter account there is a feeling something should be done about it. Flagship series Britain's Tastiest Village has lost all three of the big name presenters who were attached to do the show - so the search continues. And brand consultant Siobhan Sharpe and her team unveil their barnstorming idea for a new BBC logo.