The series will be based on his ‘rags to riches’ rise to stardom and will chart his humble upbringing in Gateshead
Paul Gascoigne(Image: PA)
The life and extraordinary career of football legend Paul Gascoigne is set to be turned into a TV series. Producers are currently auditioning actors to play Gazza’s family for the planned six-part dramatisation.
The series will be based on his ‘rags to riches’ rise to stardom and will chart his humble upbringing in Gateshead and the heights of his fame at Italia ’90. The series will not shy away from the lows of his addiction and his periods in treatment centres, either.
The Mirror reports that actors are being auditioned to play the key roles for the series, including roles for his three siblings Carl, Lindsay and Anna. Gazza, 58, gave a harrowing account of his battle with alcoholism and how he had ‘died’ before being given an injection into the heart during rehab in Arizona in 2013.
Of the new TV series, he said: “It is basically Gazza: The Life Story. They are doing screen tests for the parts of my sisters Anna and Lindsay, brother Carl and my mam Carol. My mam is an unbelievable woman and still fit as a fiddle, she is 82 now.
“Obviously they will be going from my school days. My mam was always sticking up for me and telling me what to do. She came to the parents’ evenings and watched me playing football as my dad was working all the time.
“But it was my dad who bought me a ball at the age of seven, and it was at my feet from that point on. Then I got my first Patrick boots because I loved Kevin Keegan and they were the brand he wore at the time.”
In his new book ‘Eight’, published by Reach Sport, the star also tells of his return to Heathfield School in Gateshead in 1990. His tears in the semi final defeat to Germany at the World Cup in Italy made him one of the most famous faces on the planet.
He was lauded by staff and pupils alike at Heathfield. But he also wanted to see one former teacher who had warned him that he would not make it as a footballer. “It was to show him that you shouldn’t discourage kids from following their dreams,” added Gazza.
The series is expected to air on U&Dave, owned by UKTV, a subsidiary of BBC Studios. The 2022 documentary ‘Gazza’ shown on BBC2 was awarded ‘Best Documentary Series’ at the 2023 Royal TV Society Awards.
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