To watch Dear England (Sunday, 9pm, BBC One) \u2013 the BBC\u2019s stellar adaptation of James Graham\u2019s Olivier award-winning play \u2013 you must first understand the incomparable damage to the national psyche that arose from Gareth Southgate missing a penalty in the Euro 96 semi-final. For those born outside England or too young to remember, imagine the apocalypse mixed with the death of your childhood pet and you\u2019re just about halfway there. I was 11 at the time and almost three decades later still remember going to bed crying as my dad explained over my tear-strewn pillow: \u201cThis is what it is to be an England fan.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019d better get your therapist on speed dial: the four-part fictionalised account of Southgate\u2019s revolutionary reign as England manager begins with a real-life clip of his penalty miss. Fast forward to 2016 and England is in crisis, with the men\u2019s squad crashing out of the Euros to Iceland while Brexit looms large. Meanwhile, Southgate (Joseph Fiennes, reprising his critically acclaimed West End role) \u2013 now middle-aged and managing the under-21 men\u2019s team \u2013 is watching football on the TV and looking pensive.<\/p>\n
Tunnel vision \u2026 Jodie Whittaker with Edem-Ita Duke and Hamish Frew in Dear England. Photograph: BBC\/Left Bank<\/p>\n
The first 10 minutes is essentially exposition for anyone unfamiliar with the minutiae of mid-2010s English football. There\u2019s a scene in which manager Sam Allardyce is asked to resign by the FA while explaining helpfully for the viewer that he\u2019s only lasted one game and has just been caught giving illegal player transfer advice \u201cover a pint of wine\u201d. An irate Allardyce insists this is what people want from an England manager: a pint of wine (but presumably while winning games). Cue Southgate \u2013 the gent who buys croissants for staff and remembers the cleaner\u2019s name \u2013 waiting in the corridor to be asked to be caretaker coach.<\/p>\n
Wait, there\u2019s more exposition! It\u2019s the World Cup in two years, the FA bosses tell Southgate\/viewers, and the press and fans are foaming at the mouth. No caretaker manager has ever gone on to be the long-term manager, Southgate explains back to two men who presumably know that.<\/p>\n
Once the script gets past this, it\u2019s a joyous, rousing ride. We begin with Southgate finding his new young players as their names are flashed on screen as if in Ocean\u2019s Eleven \u2013 which is useful because some of the actors look nothing like their real-life counterparts (Wayne Rooney will be very pleased, is all I can say). Next, Southgate recruits psychologist Dr Pippa Grange (Jodie Whittaker) to help tackle the men\u2019s mental blocks. Or as he puts it, \u201cCome help fix England with me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
If you don\u2019t buy the link between football and the wider country, these winks to the camera may seem a bit much. At one point, Southgate actually wonders out loud if there is an alternative universe where he didn\u2019t miss that penalty and we would all be living in a happier, more confident England as a result.<\/p>\n
But that apparent weakness is arguably the drama\u2019s strength. This, of course, is not just a show about kicking a ball into a net. Named after the open letter Southgate wrote to fans in 2021 after backlash over the team \u201ctaking the knee<\/a>\u201d, the script is meaningful precisely because it weaves in multiple wider themes: from the concept of English values and changing ideas of masculinity to racism among football fans. The scene in which Black England players endure monkey chants from the stands is deeply affecting.<\/p>\n Soccer aid \u2026 Adam Hugill and Joseph Fiennes in Dear England. Photograph: BBC\/Left Bank<\/p>\n