THE FIRST TEAM
Ayoung, decent, smart, good-looking footballer signs for a major premier league team. Sounds like he’s living the dream, right? Well, yes, until he walks into the dressing room, where it quickly dawns on him that he’s entering a total shit-show. That’s the premise of this properly funny, brilliantly observed new comedy from Damon Beesley and Iain Morris, best known for creating The Inbetweeners. “We wanted it to be set at a big club that has seen better days,” Beesley tells heat. “The new American owners don’t really know or care about the traditions of the club, the manager is past his sell-by date and the whole place is in turmoil”.
THE INSPIRATION
The initial spark for the project came when Morris randomly sat next to a professional footballer on a flight back from LA, and spent the next 11 hours finding out what it was really like for a young man to be a part of this unique world. “He’s this really bright bloke whose life basically consists of training for one hour a day while earning enough money to do what he wants,” explains Morris. “For this guy, that meant trying different types of food and going to the library. For most players, it means a lot of Playstation”. So, Morris and Beesley decided to make a sitcom delving into this odd lifestyle, showing what it’s like to be thrust into the highest level of football. Luckily, you don’t have to be the slightest bit interested in the game to enjoy the series.
THE OUTSIDER
Early on, the writers made the decision not to focus on an established footballing superstar, but instead to make the main character a newcomer to the Premier League. “We made Mattie an American, because we wanted him to be an outsider coming into this mad world, so he’s seeing it from the audience’s point of view,” says Beesley. Soon, Mattie becomes
friendly with two other players in particular – one a shy young man, the other a would-be Casanova. “We tried not to make it about banter and drinking,” says Morris. “If anything, it’s a study of boredom.” Put that on the poster! Of course, what he means is that the characters are driven to all kinds of bizarre, foolish behaviour, living the oddly empty lives that they do. As such, the show is a razor-sharp study of male privilege and supreme entitlement. Hilariously so. HHHH