Best of British

31 August 2011

TX: From Wednesday 14th September, 10pm, Channel 4

As the official UK broadcaster, the London 2012 Paralympic Games will be the biggest event in Channel 4's history. 

With a year to go, Best of British, a new ten-part documentary series follows the extraordinary journeys of Paralympians, or those hoping to be, in their sporting and private lives as they journey towards selection for the 2012 London games.

Focusing on different sport - including wheelchair racing, sitting volleyball swimming, shot putting, wheelchair rugby, Cerebral Palsy football, para equestrian, tennis and blind football - the series reveals the brutal training regimes and the fierce rivalries as they compete for a place in Paralympics GB.

With unprecedented access to the trials and tribulations of Paralympic selection and qualification, each film offers an intimate and unflinching look at the sporting and family lives of these men, women and teenagers as they strive for glory.

Many Paralympics athletes owe a great deal to the Spinal Unit at Stoke Mandeville. Channel 4 has been granted special access to unit and spends time with medical staff as well as patients in the early throes of their disability. 

The first film in the series follows Dave Clarke, Robin Wiliams and Owen Bainbridge as our central characters in the British Blind Football squad. 

Although the film will follow the highs and lows of team selection and the squad's performance, the film will also look at the wider family around these players. 

What is it like to have sighted family members, or sighted children and conversely what is it like for those families to have blind sons, brothers, and a dad?    

 

Director: Chris Williams

Series Producer: David Russell

Executive Producer Dan Adamson

Prod Co: TwoFour