James Delingpole James Delingpole

Surprisingly addictive and heartwarming: Netflix’s Beckham reviewed

This four-part doc on the life of the footballer and his family makes for a jolly enjoyable fairy story

David Beckham signing his first contract with his scary new boss/surrogate father figure Alex Ferguson  
issue 28 October 2023

If you’re not remotely interested in football or celebrity, I recommend Netflix’s four-part documentary series Beckham. Yes, I know it’s about a famous footballer who happens also to be a celebrity and who, furthermore, is married to the famous model/celebrity/whatever who used to be in the world’s most famous girl band, the Spice Girls. But trust me, you’re going to be hooked.

One of the things that hooked me was the way it enables you to play catch-up on all the David and Victoria Beckham stories you pointedly ignored during the past three decades because, damn it, that pair were quite overexposed enough already without needing any of your attention wasted on whatever nonsense they’d got up to lately – Beckham’s goal, for example.

Beckham retires to his lovely home in the Cotswolds, smooching with his adoring wife to Dolly Parton

Previously my inexpert opinion on Beckham was that while he was probably a decent-ish footballer, he wasn’t nearly as good as the best foreign ones (Zidane, Ronaldo, etc).

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