[TV] Finding Jackie Charlton

[Wardy's twin]

I didn't have any expectations but thought the end result was brilliant even if other important bits of his career were missing.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Actually got round to watching it yesterday, and thought it was excellent. Did get me thinking that I hoped Paul McGrath is coping better these days.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

Just got round to watching this and I must confess to being a little disappointed. It was very well done, but it was over-long and apart from the dementia it concentrated almost entirely on the ten years he spent as Ireland manager. Probably my mistake, but when I saw how long the programme was I was expecting more of a full retrospective of his career, if you didn't know any better you'd think he'd had a handful of games as Middlesborough manager and then got the Ireland job. (He was also the Sheff Wed Manager when we beat then at Highbury).

Seven out of ten.

I agree - although four out of ten for me. The subject matter was obviously very touching, but I thought they did a very poor job with this documentary. It was overly long at an hour and a half and contained a lot of completely irrelevant detail. For example, what on earth did Brenan O'Carrol add to this? Baffling why he was featured. As far as I could tell he had no association with JC at all.

 

[Hugo Rune]

Just picked this up with the repeat tonight.

An utterly brilliant documentary, one of the best I’ve ever seen.

It seemed that some folk were expecting almost a chronological year by year obituary style programme, however it was actually based on a structure of themes around Jack such as love, family, leadership etc rather than moments in his life and career (which were only selected to match to a theme).

The relationship with McGrath is astonishingly moving as is the the honesty of the recent footage of Jack with dementia.

 

[CaergybiGull]

I agree - although four out of ten for me. The subject matter was obviously very touching, but I thought they did a very poor job with this documentary. It was overly long at an hour and a half and contained a lot of completely irrelevant detail. For example, what on earth did Brenan O'Carrol add to this? Baffling why he was featured. As far as I could tell he had no association with JC at all.

I think you missed the point of the programme.

A major element was how this Englishman represented to the Irish a very different example of Englishness compared to what the Irish had previously known. Seeing the effect the Irish team had on the psyche of Irish people all over the globe was represented in part by the documentary footage of O'Carroll in America at the time of the '94 World Cup. While B O'C is only known these days here for Mrs Brown's Boys, he has a much deeper history back in Ireland. You might as well bemoan the presence of Larry Mullen but his contribution was equally valid. Certainly not 'baffling'. Jack built a team that virtually rewired the view the Irish had of themselves in the world.

It was incredibly poignant seeing the absolute love ordinary Irish people had for Jack and his reciprocation, that when he had no idea what he was watching near the end was just so sad. And then he immediately recognises Paul McGrath...

There is loads of stuff about chronicling the football career of Charlton as a player and manager, this was about something more. Great piece of film-making.

 

[Eeyore]

I think it was brave of the BBC to keep the "n" word. Its all about context. That word is horrible and to hear a black player have to endure that is even more horrible. Hearing Paul say it emphasized the pain that he must have felt at a young age.

He was a top class player. I think he could have been one of the best midfielders/centre halfs in the world. He wasnt far off

I can't see why it should be classed as brave purely for the reason you give. Context.

It wouldn't have had so much emotional leverage if he had just said 'the N word'. Whenever someone says that you hear it in your head anyway.

Any word is permissible in context. I feel sometimes there is too much focus on the avoidance of the usage of such words rather than their application.

As for the documentary, I did enjoy it but felt something was missing. I did think it may be because have so much exposure to dementia in my life that I wanted more emphasis. It's an emotive subject for many.

 

[faoileán]

I agree - although four out of ten for me. The subject matter was obviously very touching, but I thought they did a very poor job with this documentary. It was overly long at an hour and a half and contained a lot of completely irrelevant detail. For example, what on earth did Brenan O'Carrol add to this? Baffling why he was featured. As far as I could tell he had no association with JC at all.

He was there to provide some context; this wasn't just a football story, it's the story of how a gruff Englishman transcended any historical friction and became the most popular and hero-worshipped man in Ireland. Brendan was speaking for how the man in the street felt.

 

[faoileán]

Being of Northumbrian stock it was a special documentary for me. In fact my grandad was a miner in Ashington and would have at the very least known the Charlton's dad- probably worked with Jack when he briefly worked down the pit. Find it incredible how different the brothers are- Jack for me is like so many Northumbrian men from that generation- life is tough there especially in the mining communities and that hard exterior and straight talking attitude is very common there- as is a good sense of humour and humility. Despite his toughness he clearly had a big heart and a lot of the stuff with Paul McGrath was really heartwarming- he clearly loved him like a son.

I can see why Ireland took him to their hearts- I feel like the North East of England and the Ireland of that era shared a lot of similarities

I totally agree and he demonstrated to the Irish that they have more in common with regular British folk than divides us. And to a degree it worked the other way round too.

 

[1066familyman]

I've only just learnt about an organisation called Dementia Friends.

It's a fantastic initiative, so I thought I'd help spread the word here.

Please take a look if you can. Every little action helps, however small.

https://www.dementiafriends.org.uk/WEBArticle?page=become-dementia-friend