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''Marvellous'' is a 90-minute British drama
television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...
first broadcast on BBC Two on 25 September 2014. Directed by
Julian Farino Julian Farino (born 12 December 1965) is an English film and television producer and director. He was the sports editor of ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and directed much of the first three seasons of the HBO series '' Entourage''. Farino ...
and written by
Peter Bowker Peter Bowker (born 5 January 1959) is a British playwright and screenwriter. He is best known for the television serials '' Blackpool'' (2004), a musical drama about a shady casino owner; ''Occupation'' (2009), which follows three military servi ...
, it is about the life of Neil Baldwin from
Westlands Westlands is an affluent, mixed-use commercial and residential neighbourhood in Nairobi. Location Westlands is located approximately , by road, northwest of the central business district of Nairobi. The geographical coordinates of the neighb ...
, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. In the 1990s Baldwin, now an honorary graduate of
Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
, was appointed as Stoke City Football Club's kit-man by its manager
Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Ken ...
. Baldwin's autobiography, ''Marvellous: Neil Baldwin – My Story'', was published in hardback in 2015. In 2022 his story was told on stage, in a play, also called ''Marvellous'', performed at the
New Vic Theatre The New Vic Theatre is a purpose-built theatre in the round in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The theatre opened in 1986, replacing a converted cinema, the Victoria Theatre in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent. History In the early 1960s, Stephen J ...
in Newcastle-under-Lyme and at @sohoplace in London's West End.


Cast

*
Toby Jones Tobias Edward Heslewood Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 7 September 1966) is an English actor. Jones made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama '' Orlando'' in 1992. H ...
as Neil Baldwin *
Tony Curran Tony Curran is a Scottish actor who has appeared in '' Underworld: Evolution'', ''Doctor Who'', ''Roots'', and the Netflix historical epic '' Outlaw King''. He appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film '' Thor: The Dark World'' (2013) as Bo ...
as Lou Macari *
Gemma Jones Jennifer "Gemma" Jones (born 4 December 1942) is an English actress. Appearing on both stage and screen, her film appearances include ''Sense and Sensibility (film), Sense and Sensibility'' (1995), the Bridget Jones (film series), ''Bridget Jo ...
as Neil's mother, Mary Baldwin *
Greg McHugh Greg McHugh (born 5 January 1980) is a Scottish actor. He is the creator, writer and star of the BBC1 comedy series '' Gary: Tank Commander''. He also played Howard in the Channel 4 comedy '' Fresh Meat''. Early life and education Greg McHugh ...
as Neil's friend, Malcolm *
Nicholas Gleaves Nicholas Gleaves (born 2 January 1969) is an English actor and playwright. Career Gleaves's first theatre part was as an extra in '' Don Carlos'' at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. He did several plays there including the lead in '' ...
as Rev Mark Making cameo appearances as themselves: * Neil Baldwin *
Norman Barrett Norman Rupert Barrett (16 May 1903 – 8 January 1979) was an Australian-born British thoracic surgeon who is widely yet mistakenly remembered for describing what became known as Barrett's oesophagus. Early life Norman Barrett was born on 16 M ...
*
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 ...
*
Lou Macari Luigi Macari (born 7 June 1949) is a Scottish former footballer and manager. He began his playing career at Celtic where he was one of the Quality Street Gang, the outstanding reserve team that emerged in the late 1960s that also included Ken ...
*
Uriah Rennie Uriah Rennie (born 23 October 1959 in Sheffield, England) is a retired top level English football referee. He was the first black referee to officiate in games of the Premier League. Career Rennie began refereeing in 1979 in local leagues, then ...


Production

The programme was commissioned by
Janice Hadlow Janice Vivienne Hadlow (born November 1957) in Lewisham is a former BBC television executive. She was the controller of the BBC television channel BBC Two, taking over this position in November 2008 having previously been controller of BBC Four. A ...
and
Ben Stephenson Benjamin Stephenson is a television executive, formerly controller of drama at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and currently Head of Television at Bad Robot Productions in the United States. Personal life Stephenson attended The ...
. The executive producers were Patrick Spence and Peter Bowker for Fifty Fathoms and
Tiger Aspect Productions Tiger Aspect Productions (formerly known as Tiger Television from 1988 until 1993 and also known as Tiger Aspect Films for theatrical films) is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Fo ...
, and Lucy Richer for the BBC.


Filming locations

''Marvellous'' was filmed mostly in Staffordshire. Several of the scenes were set at and filmed at
Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
. Crewe Alexandra Football Club's Alexandra Stadium and the Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium in
Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...
, North Wales were used for the scenes set at Stoke City's football ground.


Reception

Writing in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', Sam Wollaston praised Jones's "lovely, very human, performance". Andrew Anthony, for ''
The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...
'', said "Jones realised its potential with such poignant insight into character that it’s impossible to imagine anyone else playing the part.
aldwin Aldwin may refer to: * Aldwin (bishop) (died between 1015 and 1018), medieval Bishop of London * Aldwin (prior), 11th century Anglo-Saxon prior, first prior of Durham monastery * Aldwin Ferguson (1935–2008), Trinidad and Tobago footballer * Aldwi ...
s life has been a triumph of unselfconsciousness, which is easier read about than captured. But in a story fraught with the danger of sentimentality, Bowker located a sort of comic truth about an innocent at home and Jones made that truth both funny and movingly real." Ellen E Jones, reviewing the film in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'', said: "The triumph of ''Marvellous'' is that it's a feel good film that feels good, not through any Hollywood schmaltz, but through the sheer force of Baldwin’s own optimistic personality". Sarah Crompton, for ''
The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...
'', described ''Marvellous'' as "sweet and sharp... on the whole a great number of people emerge well from this film, including Stoke City’s former manager Lou Macari (played by Tony Curran but also popping in as himself) and many long suffering clergy. It might have been too cute in different hands, but both Toby and Gemma Jones gave performances that were almost as miraculous as the story itself." Jim White, writing in ''
The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'', described it as "a wonderful, uplifting, life affirming 90 minutes of television. And the most compelling argument yet that – despite all the evidence presented by previous filmic depictions of the beautiful game – it is possible to extract telling fiction from football." Julie McDowall for Scotland's '' The Herald'', described it as 2014's best television programme.
Rachel Cooke Rachel Cooke (born 1969) is a British journalist and writer. Early life Cooke was born in Sheffield, and is the daughter of a university lecturer. She went to school in Jaffa, Israel, until she was 11, before returning to Sheffield, and atten ...
in the ''
New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British Political magazine, political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney Webb, Sidney and Beatrice ...
'' said of Toby Jones' portrayal of Baldwin that he "played him brilliantly, turning in an understated performance that combined innocence and wryness to powerful effect". She praised Bowker’s "pitch perfect script, which was as natural sounding as a conversation overheard on the top deck of a bus", and Farino’s direction – "so deft, quirky, witty and attentive to important details (buildings as well as moods; rooms as well as body language)". Reviewing the programme for the ''
Stoke Sentinel ''The Sentinel'' is a daily regional newspaper circulating in the North Staffordshire and South Cheshire areas of England. It is owned by Reach plc and based at Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. It is the only newspaper delivering daily news and featur ...
'', John Woodhouse said "It says everything for Neil that Marvellous was ever made. For in times when television is seduced by vacuity and celebrity, it doesn't sound that promising a pitch. A drama, set in Newcastle nder Lyme about a man saddled with the tag of 'learning difficulties' who reveals himself to be so much more? Good luck with that one. And yet here it is – primetime BBC2." ''Stoke Sentinel'' columnist Simon Lowe described it as "the most human of stories: a truly stirring, laugh-out-loud tearjerker of a drama. Part biopic, part musical (has there ever been a better use of the ukulele in a piece of television – and I’m including George Formby’s contribution to the instrument’s status in that?) and part incredible journey, Marvellous was life-affirming and inspirational." Lou Macari was quoted in the ''Stoke Sentinel'' as saying: "The film really captures Nello eil Baldwinas he was and for those who didn't know him I can assure them everything in the film is true. There are many moving moments, and it must be the best 90 minutes viewing Stoke-on-Trent has had for a long time."


Awards

At the 2015 British Academy Television Awards, ''Marvellous'' won the Single Drama award and Gemma Jones received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Baldwin's mother. Baldwin collected the former award and made an acceptance speech.


DVD

The DVD and a digital download of ''Marvellous'' were released on 1 December 2016.


''Marvellous'' book

Baldwin's autobiography, ''Marvellous: Neil Baldwin – My Story'', written with the help of Keele University alumnus Malcolm Clarke, was published in hardback by
John Blake Publishing John Blake (born 6 November 1948) is an English publisher and former journalist. ''John Blake Publishing'' was acquired by Bonnier Publishing in May 2016. Blake joined ''Soho Friday'', launched in November 2018, a venture with Richard Johnson a ...
in August 2015.


''Marvellous'' play

Baldwin's story was adapted for the stage, in a play by Baldwin, Clarke and Theresa Heskins, also called ''Marvellous'', performed at the
New Vic Theatre The New Vic Theatre is a purpose-built theatre in the round in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire. The theatre opened in 1986, replacing a converted cinema, the Victoria Theatre in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent. History In the early 1960s, Stephen J ...
in Newcastle-under-Lyme and at @sohoplace in London's West End, in 2022.


References


External links

*
Bowker, Peter: Writing the "Marvellous" life story of Neil Baldwin
BBC, 22 September 2014
Marvellous: Q&A with Lou Macari
BBC, 23 September 2014
''Neil Baldwin's Marvellous Interview''
Keele University Keele University, officially known as the University of Keele, is a public research university in Keele, approximately from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, Keele ...
, 22 September 2014 * {{IMDb title, tt3659786, Marvellous (2014) 2010s British films 2010s English-language films 2014 films 2014 television films 2015 non-fiction books 2022 plays BAFTA winners (television series) British autobiographies British biographical films British television films Films directed by Julian Farino Keele University Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke City F.C. Wrexham Glyndŵr University Books adapted into plays