BBC's Gary Lineker call mocked as Hugh Bonneville and Jason Watkins revive W1A
Hugh Bonneville and Jason Watkins brilliantly revived their roles from sitcom W1A to poke fun at the BBC following their decision to take Gary Lineker off the air.
The football legend has been hauled over the coals by corporation bosses following his tweet on the government's asylum policies.
The 62-year-old likened the Home Office’s plans to ‘Germany in the 30s’ and refused to back down.
The presenter was suspended from the BBC for breaching impartiality guidelines and in a dramatic escalation the broadcaster has been met with a major backlash from several of Lineker's Match of the Day colleagues who will boycott tonight's programme.
Hugh and Jason poked fun at the decision to take Gary off the show, which will look very different this evening.
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Hugh Bonneville and Jason Watkins had a cheeky poke at the BBC (WARNING: Use of this copyright image is subject to the terms of use of BBC Pictures' Digital Picture Service (BBC Pictures) as set out at www.bbcpictures.co.uk. In particular, this image may only be published by a registered User of BBC Pictures for editorial use for the purpose of publicising the relevant BBC programme, personnel or activity during the Publicity Period which ends three review weeks following the date of transmission and provided the BBC and the copyright holder in the caption are credited. For any other purpose whatsoever, including advertising and commercial, prior written approval from the copyright holder will be required.)They returned to their W1A characters for a twitter sketch as they joined the debate.
The series, which ran from 2014 to 2017, saw Hugh play Simon Harwood, the Head of Values at the BBC in a cringe mockumentary.
Alongside Jason, portraying manager Ian Fletcher, fans loved the show - and they brought it back last night.
Discussing the Match Of The Day crisis with Simon, he suggesting Lord Alan Sugar or former prime minister Boris Johnson could step in as pundits.
Gary Lineker has been stood down - and everyone has a view (Getty Images)Hugh tweeted: "Right no yes it’s all perfectly under control: Alan Sugar’s going to present (Match of the Day) and if Ian Wright does end up playing truant, (BBC chair) Richard Sharp says Boris Johnson will stand in for £800,000....So that’s all good."
Former Crown and Trollied star Jason responded: "Yes no brilliant brilliant brilliant Ian.
"I mean you’ll know how you want to deal with this but Timmy sweating a little as, (did you know?) Boris is asking for the 800k PER SHOW. He knows less about football than he does about throwing a party. And Alan supports Spurs!
"Ah now no yes, it’s a knotty isn’t it? Shearer going behind the bike shed too now. Says HE won’t do (Match of the Day) (Hates being left out!)"
W1A made a twitter return after the BBC rowThe brilliant Twitter exchange continued as Hugh claimed they could bring in new Wimbledon host Clare Balding.
"She’s currently on that brainstorming retreat for BBC WINbledon in the Algarve but we could just about get her back in time," he told his pal.
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"I suppose we could ask the FA to cancel all matches. That would help us out of a sticky I mean wouldn’t it?"
Hugh then suggested Sir David Attenborough is keen on the gig.
The decision was mocked by Hugh and Jason during their hilarious Twitter skit"Just had a missed call from Sir David Attenborough. Do you think he’d be up for it?"
Jason replied: "Yes no good thinking Ian.
"He’s incredibly expensive of course and we’ve blown our budget on Boris. I have told various awards panels that if you keep giving people #LifetimeAchievement awards, fees go up and we have to pay them.
"If only we could get a loan to pay Sir David."
The fall out continues as fans rage over Gary's treatment as the former Spurs star stays silent on Twitter.
The Mirror has launched a petition to have Gary Lineker reinstated at the BBC and as the host of Match of the Day. Sign it here.
A BBC spokesperson said he would be off air until an agreement was reached on his future use of social media
A statement read said: “Some of our pundits have said that they don’t wish to appear on the programme while we seek to resolve the situation with Gary.
“We understand their position and we have decided that the programme will focus on match action without studio presentation or punditry.”
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