The English Game

I just finished watching the English Game and absolutely loved it. I'm an American and I don't have mucH interest in the game of soccer (to football as the rest of the world calls it). But that didn't stop me from loving the hell out of this miniseries. For those who may stumble across this review months or treats from now, let me set the scene. Coronavirus has ravaged families and economies. Everyday there seems to be some new depressing thing that comes to light (political division in the US, Brexit, Australia burning... take your pick). Media tends to mimic what is going on in the world, if not in plot, but in mood. In other words, there's some pretty depressing stuff on tv. A lot of it is very high quality (e.g. Chernobyl, The Plot Against America, Westworld, etc), but it can be hard to watch when real life is such a mess. Then comes along this gem of a show. It's very optimistic. I suppose you could say it's a typical sports story (there's adversity and adversity is ultimately overcome). But so what? Right now I'll take a show about growing as a person, seeing things from a different perspective, and demonstrating good sportsmanship (aka showing respect to others). Don't get me wrong... I love shows that are heavier on action, violence, sex, etc. But I can also appreciate some positivity. And this show has positivity in spades. I can't recommend the show enough. If you like soccer, maybe you'll like this show. If you don't... you'll probably like it too. It's good. Give it a watch.

Bravo for choosing a production that is not only beautiful to look at and we'll made, but also deserves a Credit line simply for its Beards!A show that may or may not be a Footies fanboys dream but a slice of life inhabited by interesting people and some new History (to me) along with the costumes and characters that round it out. I suspect fans looking for hours of pitch may be less than excited but it is more than Downtown Abbey.

THE ENGLISH GAME is a beautiful and well made historical drama. Everything about it is compelling - great characters, high production quality and thrilling game sequences. I watched the whole thing in one day and enjoyed every minute of it.

I'll admit the first episode was somewhat slow, but such is the nature of first episodes in any series - introducing characters, plot themes etc. By the end of the second episode I was totally engrossed.

You can tell this is from the makers of Downton, it has the same kind of theme - upper class and lower class divide, though this time it is played out on a football pitch. I'm a keen football fan and was interested in this for the historical perspective, however, my wife is also a Downton fan and definitely not a fan of football and she loves it too! It's more of a societal drama than football drama. The characters are engaging, the world they have created is authentic and fascinating, oh and people have mentioned the beards! There are some great ones! Give it a go, it's bloody good fun.