Gothia Cup episode nominated for TV award

In the hit series about the young footballer Jamie Johnson, several episodes in the latest season takes place in the Gothia Cup. One episode has been nominated in the prestigious Broadcast Awards. “It feels fantastic, but the most important thing for us is that the series has had a big impact on those who have seen it”, says Sam Talbot, executive producer.

The British tv series, which recently finished the production of the fifth season, is about young Jamie Johnson who dreams of becoming a professional footballer. But it’s also a serie about relationships and life at large. That breadth has made the series reach wide in England and also exported abroad.

”It’s more than a children’s program. There are many children who watch together with their parents, it is as much about drama and relationships as it is about football. The kids can talk about what happens with their parents, that’s important to us”, says Sam Talbot.

The Broadcast Awards highlight the best English television programs and creators. “Jamie Johnson Phoenix Reunited,” the eleventh episode of the fourth season, has been nominated in the “Best Children’s Program” category. In the episode, Jamie and his team comes to Gothenburg to participate in the world’s largest youth tournament in football.

”The series is a fictional drama show but we recorded it during the real Gothia Cup, I don’t think that type of production has been done before. Everything went incredibly well, we felt welcome and the atmosphere was fantastic”, says Sam Talbot.

Jamie and his team lined up with a real team in the tournament. In order to portray the team’s journey while recording material for the series, the production team also made a documentary.

”It went well for them, so we documented what happened. The team went to the quarterfinals in the A-playoff, they did amazingly well”.

Already, six months before the start of the Gothia Cup 2020, the tournament has set a record of registered teams from United Kingdom. If the TV series is behind that increase is hard to know but given how popular the series is in England it isn’t unthinkable.

”I’m not surprised over that, there are very many people who know about the series and recognize those who are in it. We talk a lot about the Gothia Cup in the series and three episodes take place during the tournament”, says Sam Talbot.