Shattered dreams as BBC shelves life-affirming show

The BBC has sadly confirmed there are no plans for a fourth season of Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, one of the best, most uplifting documentary series to hit our screens in recent years.

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In an age where reality commissioning either leans towards perma-tanned castmates having rows fuelled by producers, or PR-managed, glossy docuseries (David and Victoria Beckham, I’m looking at you), Field of Dreams was a shining light. Its premise was simple: former all-rounder Flintoff - one of the few England cricketers to reach household name status - would return to his home city of Preston, and inspire teenagers in the former mill town to give the notoriously posh sport a go. But, as the Ashes winner soon found out, convincing a lively crew of working-class kids to don their cricket whites would not be easy.

The first season, which arrived like a breath of fresh air in 2022, began with Flintoff organising tryouts in his home city, where the poverty rate is above the national average and more than 21 per cent of children are in low-income families. While the ex-England player was too modest to say it on camera, he had clearly quietly - and understandably - assumed his celebrity status would result in a decent turnout. He was left dismayed then, when his desperate appeals resulted in just a handful of nonchalant teenagers turning up at trials.

Nevertheless, with the help of his former Lancashire teammate Kyle Hogg, Flintoff scraped (and I mean