The has released a 90-second trailer and new pictures for Dear England, the four-part drama about Gareth Southgate and the England men’s football team that will begin rolling out on May 24. Episodes one and two will be available to stream on iPlayer from 9pm on Sunday 24 May, while the first two parts will also air on One on Sunday and Monday nights at 9pm.
Joseph Fiennes stars as Southgate in the 4x60 series, with jodie whittaker playing England men’s team psychologist Pippa Grange. Jason Watkins appears as former FA chairman Greg Dyke, John Hodgkinson as former FA chairman Greg Clarke, Daniel Ryan as Steve Holland and Sam Spruell as fictional coach Mike Webster. The remaining two episodes will arrive on iPlayer on Sunday 31 May.
James Graham wrote the series after his National Theatre play, which won the Olivier Award for Best New Play in 2024, and the production was commissioned by Lindsay Salt, the ’s Director of Drama. Rupert Goold directed the first episode, with Paul Whittington directing episodes two to four, and Sony Pictures Television will handle international distribution.
Dear England is billed as a fictionalised account of the England men’s team’s struggles and successes, drawn from extensive research and interviews. In the trailer, Southgate takes over as manager when the team has the worst penalty track record in the world, a detail that keeps the story focused on the pressure points that shaped his tenure rather than on a straightforward sporting comeback.
That makes the release more than a routine schedule announcement. The is pushing a prestige drama built on a stage hit that already proved its reach in 2024, and its timing gives viewers the first half of the story on one weekend, before the final two episodes land the following Sunday. For anyone following Southgate’s era, the question now is not whether the series exists, but how closely its fiction will track the real frustrations and reversals that made the original play resonate.
