TV drama Dear England sees Joseph Fiennes revive his stage portrayal of former England football manager Gareth Southgate with stunning accuracy.
What is ‘Dear England’ about?
Dear England is the work of writer James Graham, who adapts his Olivier Award-winning play of the same name into four episodes for the BBC.
It uses Southgate’s miss at the 1996 European Championship Semi-Final at the old Wembley Stadium as an inspirational foundation for the now knighted Briton’s revolutionary reign in charge of the national team.
Taking over the England squad ahead of the 2018 World Cup, Southgate broke England’s penalty shoot-out curse, won more knockout games combined than his predecessors post-1966, and made it to two European Championship finals across his four-tournament tenure.
This is the story of Dear England, and on paper, it might seem an odd gateway into a four-part television drama, let alone an award-winning stage play.
But it’s Southgate, the man, that makes Dear England such an intriguing case study.
His quiet, careful and considered leadership feels unique in the sometimes cutthroat world of football.
Moreover, his decision to bring psychologist Pippa Grange (played by Jodie Whittaker in this series) into the England camp ahead of the 2018 World Cup to encourage a positive mindset opens up Dear England to examine the psychological triumphs and turmoil of Southgate and the players under his tutelage.
All of this occurs amid the backdrop of the political developments and turmoil England faced during the period Southgate was in charge of the nation’s team.
The pandemic and racial tension, which come far too close to home for many members of the England playing squad, make Dear England more about football.
This is underscored in the open letter Southgate penned ahead of the 2020 Euros, calling for national unity.
Fiennes is uncanny as Gareth Southgate
All of these intriguing ingredients aside, the main draw of Dear England is the incredible central performance put on by Fiennes.
When any actor plays a real-life human being, the line between imitation and immersion is thin.
Fiennes falls on the right side of this line, totally immersing himself in the role.
Hair and makeup make him look as much like Southgate as possible, but it’s the things Fiennes is in control of that make his performance remarkable.
Fiennes moulds his voice to be exactly like Southgate’s, and he embodies almost every physical mannerism to convince the audience that he is the very man he’s employed to portray.
It’s a bewitching act, and you find yourself feeling like a witness to every behind-the-scenes event of the story as if you were actually there, as if this is exactly how it happened.
Of course, the conversations and scenes that didn’t play out to the world’s cameras are fictionalised, but it doesn’t stop them from having any less impact.
The only problem is, such is the accurate portrayal that Fiennes puts on display, you feel every bout of emotional angst suffered by Southgate all the more intensely.
You also feel every major loss by his England team just as painfully as the first time over.
But you also believe in the team, and the man who led them.
All just in time for the delusional World Cup hysteria to start up again in Summer 2026.
You can watch all four episodes of Dear England on BBC iPlayer.
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