Dream Team | |
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Dream Team Main Title
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Starring | Final Cast Frankie Fitzgerald Terry Kiely Jonathan Howard Duncan Pow Jessica Jane James Floyd Junior Nunoo Danny Husbands Danny Midwinter Amy Perfect David Ajala |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
No. of episodes | 419 |
Production | |
Running time | 1 Hour (including commercial breaks) |
Release | |
Original network | Sky1 |
Original release | 14 October 1997 – 3 June 2007 |
Dream Team was a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007; it chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club.
The club is based in the fictional town of Harchester (which is said to be close to Tamworth) in the West Midlands.
The show began in 1997 and centered on the Harchester United youth team. The next series, series 2 transmitted in 1998 concluding in 1999 focused on the first team for the first time and on Ian Coates, the manager, Jerry and Lynda Block, the owners of Harchester United and Luis Amor Rodriguez, star striker and soon to be lover of Lynda. The end of the series resulted in Harchester winning the FA Cup.
The series that followed focused on the club fighting against relegation, qualifying for the highly acclaimed Champions League and being demoted to the Football League for financial irregularities and corruption after they were found guilty of match fixing.
As the show developed, the storylines became more and more extravagant, with the character death toll rising significantly in the final seasons. With declining viewing figures and repetitive storylines, Sky decided not to renew the Dream Team contract, and in April 2006, the director of programmes at Sky One, Richard Woolfe, confirmed the show would not return after the tenth series.
The tenth series began on 29 October 2006, the final episode being broadcast on 3 June 2007, with viewers left unaware of which characters survived a massive fire that ripped through the Dragon’s Lair during the final Premier League game of the season. However it is hinted that Harchester United win the Premier League thanks to a last minute goal from Jason Porter. The last ever song to be played on the programme was "Cast No Shadow" by Oasis.
The main storyline of series ten revolved around "Dragonslayer", a mysterious poster on the club’s fansite revealing the innermost secrets of the club. It was ultimately this storyline that resulted in the arson attack that ended the series.
Following the announcement of Dream Team being axed, many of the main cast members left the programme at the start of series ten. These included Alex Dempsey, Lynda Block and Ryan Naysmith.