User reviews

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.

Not enough football to be a good sports movie, but I still enjoyed it. My wife loved it and anyone who likes PBS shows will enjoy this. I would give it a 7 and my wife would give it a 9, so I chose 8. It's a bit too neat and today for me, almost Disney-like, but overall I would recommend it.

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.

Enjoyed this new series. Captured the mood of the times quite well. However, as a Blackburn Rovers follower and someone who went to secondary school near the home of Blackburn Olympic I found the historical inaccuracies a little annoying at times. I suppose it did its job in displaying the development of professional football in this country well - but not the progression of the two Blackburn clubs and Darwin.

I came for football but I got Downton Abbey instead.

Started out slow but turned out very entertaing pop corn drama at its best 😊🤧😷😊

It's a good show, not necessarily one for the football fan or someone who enjoys historical documentaries. This is a drama, a fantastic cast, faultless performances, the only area that lets it down is the script which is a little bit twee, seemingly written by somebody that doesn't really understand football which is very disappointing if you expect something true to the game. However, the focus it pays towards social conditions at the time is slightly refreshing albeit somewhat unrealistic, idealistic and perhaps written by somebody who wants to portray the upper classes in a much better light then perhaps is fair to reality. The main problem with The English game is that it doesn't seem to know what market it is targeting, the writing is lazy or uninformed. In terms of the football aspect, it is very much secondary. For example, there doesn't seem to be one decent goalkeeper in the game, the brief football sequences are terribly laid out, not even fit to Grace the same screens as footballing movies such as escape to victory. Seriouss football fans will likely find this series irritating to say the least, it no doubt had a big budget, it's a pity that none of it was spent on getting somebody that understood the game to contribute to the writing. Sadly as well has the writers not understanding football, they also so don't appear to understand the working classes. So in order to enjoy the series the best thing to do is switch your brain off, accept it as a drama, written from the point of view of somebody that doesn't understand the working classes or football. If one can do this, it's not too bad.

Great Drama and conflicted story's in a historical TV series Very good actors hopefully Netflix renew the show. And six episodes are not enough

I was really impressed on how netflix created this. A second season would be hard to make with the same characters (altough i think they where all perfectly casted). But for season 2 i hope they jump for a decade and do something simular there. Ive read in 1 off the reviews that it is not historicly correct. being non english that is a bit of a shame for me since i really tought the history aspects are interesting. But since i knew i was watching fiction this only cost them 1 point Very good serie and i cant wait till season 2.

I found it very interesting, but kinda annoying in those parts where no football scenes were displayed. I was supposed to find out more about the beginning of the most popular game in the world. Anyway, well done Netflix.

Not a bad series. I can see why people would be upset about the sport being more of a side story and the show is geared more towards a drama surrounding some historical figures during that time. I thought it was worth a watch.

Contains 6 episodes of 45min each when it could easily have been a film of 2 hours or more.

There was a lot of filler which was very cliché. The best parts of the series are when class struggle is viewed through football but this takes a backseat at times so the writers can make their own episode of Downton Abby where two Etonians attempt to save the working class from themselves.

There wasn't nearly enough football, and when there was, it was poorly executed with jumpy camera work and purposeful confusuon.

All in all good film though - I mean series

As a huge football fan I had no hesitation in giving this a watch. I was more than shocked at how good this was straight from the first episode. Emotional, passionate and an all round incredible story. Even if you're not a football fan there's plenty to enjoy, learn and keep you watching throughout

Some reviewers do not know what fiction, or based on real events, means. Such a shame.

A most watchable outing showing the beginning of professionalism in football. An engaging tale which moves long nicely. Worth a watch if you...

The script is one long, and tiresome, list of clichés which reflects Julian Fellowes' style. It is writing by numbers which tends to suck the life out of any real drama.

That whinge made, the photography and cast were fantastic.

1. Bravo, Netflix, your productions are excellent. 2. Whereas Downton was enjoyable, it nevertheless could be accused of being soapy. This production gives us all the fun insight into the life of the privileged, the tribulations and small joys of the working class, and a halfway decent implied explanation of innovating the game of soccer as an allegory for how the evolving marketplace could "migrate some of that $$ to the working class". The dialog, acting, and story were all well done. There were no insulting scenes, though I must say that the Etonians' dinner scenes involved no old people, which seemed odd. The lighting was also odd, everything was just too evenly lit. But if those are my only complaints then it must have been a good show, right?

In short, I'm glad I watched it, but I don't think I'll rewatch a dozen times like I did for Sense8, Travellers, or Better Than Us. Think of this as "Peaky Blinders that you can watch with your wife".

It's true now that we're stuck at home, we will settle for less. Just as we know we should eat our fruit and vegetables, that's hard to do with cake in the house. That's what this series is, a bit of cake. Netflix knows that we will eat it up and we are a truly captive audience. Football scenes are predictable, as is dialogue. But the actors are pretty as is the scenery and costumes. Fellows knows what he's about, and is rich because of it. But don't expect any life changing lessons that Charles Dickens would teach, these are watered down struggles that leaves a sugary happiness in the end.

I started the first episode and despite some of its flaws, I quite enjoyed it. I binged the rest of the series in one night. However, I was mortified to find out that that first episode is the best of the lot. I was hoping it was going to return back to that quality by the end, but it never did.

There's very little football history in this series, and what little there is, is wrong.

The show follows mainly Fergus Suter, the first professional football player, and Arthur Kinnaird. These two existed, but essentially the show just invents an entire life around them, and then follows that, pretending like it's a real story, when it's not. What's more is that the show contains several major historical falsehoods. I can't say examples, as I would be spoiling it, but let's just say that the third most important team in the plot is not only the wrong one, they were the local rivals of the actual team, the show has the position of the playmaker invented 60 years ahead of its time, and in general the events in the plot have very little resemblance to the actual events that took place.

Additionally, the show tries to depict the political and social clashes of the time, between the wealthy upper class, and the poor masses of the lower class of that period. Political drama is easy to make, particularly in this day and age. Yet the show bungles that as well. It seems the conservative Julian Fellowes couldn't resist sprinkling his own political ideas on yet another show. Some characters and plot-lines appear well out of place as a result.

But fine, the show is trying to be a character drama. Does it succeed?

Nope. It's as uninteresting and dull as it gets. The actors are OK (I suspect their actual talents were not allowed to shine), their characters are completely one-dimensional. The drama stems from a bunch of cliche situations. The set-up for character relationships is non-existent. Despite the historical inaccuracy, the football parts are the most interesting bits. However, as the show progresses, it foregoes all the football and instead focuses primarily on the dull drama. If the show didn't make this choice, it would have most probably been fairly decent, despite any shortcomings, and it would have been one of the first half-competent football sports dramas. Instead it plays it safe and goes for the dull, uninteresting, unoriginal and painfully slow soap opera.

There are better things to do, better things to watch. It's a run of the mill, period peace, mediocre, unoriginal soap opera. If you are looking for football, it's not going to scratch the itch. If you are looking for political drama, you'll be disappointed.

I've never understood why football was so important in the UK and globally, until I watched this series, which made me understand that football was a force that helped to break down UK class barriers and change society for the better. This series is as much about history, the class system and the north/ south divide, as it is about football. I'd highly recommend weathcing it, it was an extremely pleasant surprise for me and kept me gripped throughout.