ITALIA 90
3-part series for Sky Documentaries, Blast Films
* Royal Television Society Award nominee for Best Specialist Factual Series
*Broadcast Award nominee for Best Sports Documentary
Italia 90 came at a time of epic global change, with the end of the Cold War, the rise of Africa and the fall of Thatcher’s Britain playing out dramatically on the pitch. Through the eyes of the footballing legends who were there, including Gascoigne, Barnes, Schillaci, Milla, Matthaus and Klinsmann, this series tells the story of the World Cup that transformed football.
Over the course of the competition, it follows the fortunes of England, Italy, Cameroon, Yugoslavia and West Germany. Robson’s England emerge from the black cloud of hooliganism to become national heroes, with Gazza’s tears transforming the game’s image. Roger Milla, the 38-year-old plucked from the footballing wilderness by Cameroon’s President, sends an African country to the quarter finals for the first time, with his wriggling hips going viral before social media existed. And Ivica Osim, the Yugoslav coach, reveals the untold story of uniting his dressing room, while the civil war that would break his country apart brewed back home.
Combining intimate documentary sequences with rare insights into key moments, unseen 35mm film from the FIFA archives and a soundtrack of Pavarotti, New Order and the Happy Mondays, this landmark series will change how we see history’s most iconic World Cup.