{"id":456390,"date":"2026-05-19T09:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/456390\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T09:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T09:36:18","slug":"jodie-whittaker-describes-new-bbc-drama-dear-england-as-the-most-english-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/456390\/","title":{"rendered":"Jodie Whittaker describes new BBC drama Dear England as “the most English story”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jodie Whittaker<\/a> has given football fans a taste of what they can expect from the new BBC drama Dear England. Based on the stage play of the same name<\/a> by James Graham, Dear England is a fictionalised tale focused on Gareth Southgate and the England men\u2019s football team.<\/p>\n

Joseph Fiennes appears as Gareth<\/a> as he begins his new chapter with the England team, alongside the likes of Will Antenbring as Harry Kane and Edem Ita-Duke as Marcus Rashford.<\/p>\n

Doctor Who icon Whittaker stars as Pippa Grange, the psychologist for the England men’s team.<\/p>\n

\"jodie<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services UK 2026 \u2013 including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV<\/a><\/p>\n

Opening up about her role, the Broadchurch star said: “The drama is a fictionalised account, but these people do exist, and they did have these roles within English football history. <\/p>\n

“Pippa is fascinating because she\u2019s at the top of her field, but within sports psychology, so it\u2019s not like she\u2019s recognisable in the way that some of the footballers are.”<\/p>\n

She continued: “What was great about the role was the freedom to interpret James\u2019 writing, and I knew from the cast of the play that everyone had approached Pippa\u2019s character in different ways, as they all had different interpretations of the part. <\/p>\n

“I felt excited by the fact that this could be my version and not feel like I needed to do an impression of the real person. It was helpful that she\u2019s written an incredible book about the psychology around fear and our approach to it. <\/p>\n

“Pippa narrated the audio version, so I would listen to her accent and the way she spoke. She\u2019s from the North, but she spent a long time in Melbourne, and that absolutely comes through in her accent \u2013 I hear an Aussie twang over a Northern twang, so that really helped to give me a way in.”<\/p>\n

\"jodie<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

Whittaker, who said she was brought up around football her entire life, heaped praise on Dear England, describing it as “the most English story”.<\/p>\n

“I think what\u2019s so brilliant and exciting about Dear England is that this piece isn\u2019t Hollywood,” she continued. <\/p>\n

“They don\u2019t win in the last two seconds of the game, and everyone runs onto the pitch crying, and they\u2019re carried off as heroes. <\/p>\n

“This is the most English story, it\u2019s an absolute celebration of someone\u2019s dedication and craft to achieve, but also to achieve as a team and not just as an individual. <\/p>\n

“I feel this celebrates Gareth Southgate and how, through his experience, he wants the team to get better at their own pace, ensure nobody is left behind, and that their mental health doesn\u2019t suffer.”<\/p>\n

\"jodie<\/p>\n

BBC<\/p>\n

She described the show as an “absolute celebration of marrying achievement with support, wellbeing, and care”.<\/p>\n

“The series shows how far they came as a team and also sums up, unfortunately, the problem where we only see the loss and never the success,” she went on. <\/p>\n

“If someone asks about the England team, people are more likely to talk about the losses before the wins. I think Dear England really highlights how much there really is to celebrate.” <\/p>\n

An official synopsis for Dear England reads: “With the worst team track record for penalties in the world when he takes over as manager, Gareth Southgate knows he needs to open his mind and face up to the years of hurt to take England back to the promised land. <\/p>\n

“The country that gave the world football has delivered a painful pattern of loss. Why can\u2019t the England team win at their own game?”<\/p>\n

Dear England begins on BBC One and iPlayer from 9pm on Sunday, 24 May.<\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, a collector’s edition exploring the royal family, is here! Buy The Royals in newsagents or online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Lettermark\"<\/p>\n

Freelance Reporter, Digital Spy
\nRebecca is a freelance journalist who specializes in TV and film. After beginning her career as a digital entertainment journalist for the Express & Star and Shropshire Star, she embarked on a freelance career in 2021 contributing to the likes of Metro UK, The Sun, WhatCulture, Screen Rant, FilmHounds Magazine and more.
\nHer particular field of interest is horror cinema and she has written for genre publications such as Ghouls Magazine and Moving Pictures Film Club.
\nLinkedIn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jodie Whittaker has given football fans a taste of what they can expect from the new BBC drama…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":456391,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[198047,150510,131124,1105,198046,1107,93,61,60,184510,1135,198045,282],"class_list":["post-456390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-collection-broadchurch","tag-collection-doctor-who","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-266e42ac-0633-408f-894a-d4593ed9ec75","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-shorttitle-jodie-whittaker-talks-new-bbc-drama-dear-england","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/456391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}