''An Evening with Gary Lineker'' is a 1991 stage play and 1994 television film both written by Arthur Smith and

Chris England Chris England (born 20 January 1961) is an English writer and actor. He is best known for the comedy play ''An Evening with Gary Lineker'', which he wrote with Arthur Smith (comedian), Arthur Smith, and the book ''Balham to Bollywood''. Early l ...

. The action takes place against the backdrop of the 1990 Football World Cup

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, between

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

, which is taking place in Italy while Monica and Bill are on holiday in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

. Bill desperately wants to watch the match; Monica wants to talk about their relationship. The play was nominated for an

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

.Trish Lee
"An evening wiv arfur"
, Newbury Today, 4 March 2014. A 90-minute television drama, adapted by Smith and England from their playscript, was produced by

Andy Harries Andrew Harries''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. Volume 15, page 1493, reg # 792. (born 7 April 1954) is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, a UK based production company formed in 2007. ...

for Granada Television and aired on 14 June 1994 on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

just before the start of the 1994 World Cup and was repeated 4 years later during France 98. It starred Caroline Quentin as Monica and Clive Owen as Bill, with the supporting cast including Quentin's then real-life husband

Paul Merton Paul James Martin (born 9 July 1957), known under the stage name Paul Merton, is an English writer, actor, comedian and radio and television presenter. Known for his improvisation skill, Merton's humour is rooted in deadpan, surreal and somet ...

as Bill's wet, annoying best friend Ian, who has accompanied them on the holiday to Monica's consternation. Lizzy McInnerny plays Birgitta, a German whom Ian has met in Ibiza, and

Martin Clunes Alexander Martin Clunes OBE DL (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor, comedian, director and television presenter. He is best known for portraying Martin Ellingham in the ITV comedy-drama series ''Doc Martin'' and Gary Strang in ''Men Be ...

plays Dan, a client of Bill's publishing company who is coincidentally in Ibiza too.

Gary Lineker Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...

makes a cameo appearance and the voice of

John Motson John Walker Motson (10 July 1945 – 23 February 2023) was an English football commentator. Beginning as a television commentator with the BBC in 1971, he commentated on over 2000 games on television and radio. From the late 1970s to 2008, Mo ...

is provided by impressionist Alistair McGowan.

Cast (Television Film)

* Clive Owen as Bill Desbackos * Caroline Quentin as Monica Desbackos *

as Dan Hudson *

as Ian Marshall *Lizzy McInnerny as Birgitta * Arthur Smith as Taxi Driver *

as Man in toilet *

as Himself (Cameo)

References

External links

* 1991 plays British plays England at the 1990 FIFA World Cup Plays set in Spain {{1990s-play-stub

Cast (Television Film)

See also

References

External links