Grand Slammers review – can prisoners help turn things round for dejected England rugby legends?

09/27/2023 04:30 PM

ITV's new series is supposedly an inspirational sports show about prison inmates being trained by the 2003 World Cup winners. But the celebs seem almost as in need of support

The Rugby World Cup is on, so it is natural for telly to look back to 2003, when England won the trophy. What sort of light-factual series would be a good commemoration? Fortunately, a relevant bandwagon is already rolling.

Recently, Andrew Flintoff has taught underprivileged kids cricket on the BBC, and David Beckham has rescued a youth football team for Disney. So here comes Grand Slammers on ITV1, a two-parter in which a gang of World Cup winners teach rugby to prison inmates. An easy commission – but ITV may not have ended up with quite the show it expected.