Football documentaries - they're a funny old game. Today's fly-on-the-wall peeks into the lives of Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo may have marked a welcome return of the genre - but compared to mud-and-studs docs of old, they're as over-polished and blemish-free as one of David Beckham's Armani suits.
And so ahead of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and co's new BBC documentary series Out of Their League, let's reminisce about some classic football programmes - when the beautiful game felt like less a Nike advert, more like an episode of Bullseye.
1. Graham Taylor gets the sack
After an abysmal 1992 European Championships, England manager needed some positive PR, so the Fa allowed camera crews to follow him round during the entire 1994 World Cup qualification campaign for An Impossible Job.
Whoops: this spectacularly backfired for old Turnip Head, as England were knocked out. But not before Taylor effed and jeffed his way through every single match,...
And so ahead of Ryan Giggs, Gary Neville and co's new BBC documentary series Out of Their League, let's reminisce about some classic football programmes - when the beautiful game felt like less a Nike advert, more like an episode of Bullseye.
1. Graham Taylor gets the sack
After an abysmal 1992 European Championships, England manager needed some positive PR, so the Fa allowed camera crews to follow him round during the entire 1994 World Cup qualification campaign for An Impossible Job.
Whoops: this spectacularly backfired for old Turnip Head, as England were knocked out. But not before Taylor effed and jeffed his way through every single match,...
- 10/28/2015
- Digital Spy
ITV has hit a mighty milestone - first launched on September 22, 1955, the home of The X Factor, Downton Abbey and more is 60 years old today.
In its six decades, ITV has produced some of the biggest, best and most memorable TV shows in British broadcasting history.
But while everyone else is talking up Gladiators, Coronation Street and Blind Date, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate a few of the channel's less celebrated gems.
1. The Krypton Factor (1977-1995)
"Television's Toughest Quiz!" boomed the announcer back when the show launched in 1977. And even almost forty years later, nothing has quite matched Granada's brutal search for a UK superperson since.
Resembling a cross between a byzantine parlour game and a Soviet-era punishment for shoplifting, each week saw four more contestants subjected to a variety of cruel and unusual tests – from terrifying memory tests to landing a Boeing 747 (albeit on a simulator).
But worst of all?...
In its six decades, ITV has produced some of the biggest, best and most memorable TV shows in British broadcasting history.
But while everyone else is talking up Gladiators, Coronation Street and Blind Date, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate a few of the channel's less celebrated gems.
1. The Krypton Factor (1977-1995)
"Television's Toughest Quiz!" boomed the announcer back when the show launched in 1977. And even almost forty years later, nothing has quite matched Granada's brutal search for a UK superperson since.
Resembling a cross between a byzantine parlour game and a Soviet-era punishment for shoplifting, each week saw four more contestants subjected to a variety of cruel and unusual tests – from terrifying memory tests to landing a Boeing 747 (albeit on a simulator).
But worst of all?...
- 9/22/2015
- Digital Spy
ITV has hit a mighty milestone - first launched on September 22, 1955, the home of The X Factor, Downton Abbey and more is 60 years old today.
In its six decades, ITV has produced some of the biggest, best and most memorable TV shows in British broadcasting history.
But while everyone else is talking up Gladiators, Coronation Street and Blind Date, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate a few of the channel's less celebrated gems.
1. The Krypton Factor (1977-1995)
"Television's Toughest Quiz!" boomed the announcer back when the show launched in 1977. And even almost forty years later, nothing has quite matched Granada's brutal search for a UK superperson since.
Resembling a cross between a byzantine parlour game and a Soviet-era punishment for shoplifting, each week saw four more contestants subjected to a variety of cruel and unusual tests – from terrifying memory tests to landing a Boeing 747 (albeit on a simulator).
But worst of all?...
In its six decades, ITV has produced some of the biggest, best and most memorable TV shows in British broadcasting history.
But while everyone else is talking up Gladiators, Coronation Street and Blind Date, we wanted to take this opportunity to celebrate a few of the channel's less celebrated gems.
1. The Krypton Factor (1977-1995)
"Television's Toughest Quiz!" boomed the announcer back when the show launched in 1977. And even almost forty years later, nothing has quite matched Granada's brutal search for a UK superperson since.
Resembling a cross between a byzantine parlour game and a Soviet-era punishment for shoplifting, each week saw four more contestants subjected to a variety of cruel and unusual tests – from terrifying memory tests to landing a Boeing 747 (albeit on a simulator).
But worst of all?...
- 9/22/2015
- Digital Spy
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