For other uses, see Dream Team

Dream Team is a British television series produced by Hewland International which aired on Sky1 and Sky3 from 1997 to 2007, that chronicled the on-field and off-field affairs of the fictional Harchester United Football Club. Events in the series have proved to be uncannily similar to those surrounding Newcastle United and Queens Park Rangers in recent seasons.

The club is based in the fictional town of Harchester (which is said to be close to Tamworth) in the West Midlands. Most fans consider Lynda Block, played by Alison King and Karl Fletcher, played by Terry Kiely to be the two most popular characters.

Beginning

The show began in 1997 and centred around the Harchester United youth team. The next series, series 2 transmitted in 1998 concluding in 1999 focused on the first team for the first time and on Ian Coates, the manager, Jerry and Linda Block the owners of Harchester United and Luis Amor Rodriguez, star striker and soon to be lover of Linda. The end of the series resulted in Harchester winning the FA Cup.

The series that followed have focused on the club fighting against relegation, qualifying for the highly acclaimed Champions League and being demoted to the Football League for financial irregularities and corruption after they were found guilty of match fixing (Source: Harchester.net).

Axe and final series

As the show developed, the storylines became more and more extravagant, with the character death toll rising significantly in the final seasons. With declining viewing figures and repetitive storylines, Sky decided not to renew the Dream Team contract, and in April 2006, the director of programmes at Sky One, Richard Woolfe, confirmed the show would not return after the tenthseries.

The tenth series began on 29 October 2006, the final episode being broadcast on 3 June 2007, with viewers left unaware of which characters survived an explosion that ripped through the Dragon’s Lair during the final Premier League game of the season. However it is hinted that Harchester United win the Premier League. The last ever song to be played on the programme was "Cast No Shadow" by Oasis.

The main storyline of series ten revolved around "Dragonslayer", a mysterious poster on the club’s fansite revealing the innermost secrets of the club. It was ultimately this storyline that resulted in the major explosion that ended the series.

Following the announcement of Dream Team being axed, many of the main cast members left the programme at the start of series ten. These included Alex Dempsey, Lynda Block and Ryan Naysmith.

The Kits

Harchester United team kits were created by real kit manufacturers and were also available to buy whilst the show was on the air. The manufacturers of these kits were PONY, Le Coq Sportif and Valsport.Series One (1997-1998) PONYSeries Two-Seven (1998-2003) Le Coq SportifSeries Eight-Ten (2004-2007) Valsport

Series 1 Home (PONY)Series 2 Home (Le Coq Sportif)Series 3 Home (Le Coq Sportif)Series 4 Home (Le Coq Sportif)Series 5 Home (Le Coq Sportif)Series 6 Home (Le Coq Sportif)Series 7 Home (Le Coq Sportif)Series 8 Home (Valsport)Series 9/10 Home (Valsport)

The most popular kits were the series 7 kits, which was most fan's favourite.

Current Kits

The current Harchester kits were designed by HarchesterUnited.co.cc, a fan site. The site will provide highlights of games by turning other kits purple as if Harchester are playing in the matches, similar to the way it was done when the series was first made. The kits have been designed to look like current kits in the Premier League.For example, the home kit is meant to look like Chelsea's home kit, the away is similar to Liverpool's and the third is like Fulham's.

Cast

Cast members who featured during the shows tenth and final season.

• Alison King
  as Lynda Block (1998–2002, 2003, 2005–2006, 2007)
  
• Daniel Lundh
  as Mustapha Karim (2005)
  
• Jamie Lomas
  as Alex Dempsey (2005–2006)
  
• Lucinda Kennard
  as Amy Kerrigan (2005–2007)
  
• Naomi Ryan
  as Ashleigh King (2005–2006)
  
• Julie Healy
  as Chloe Tyler (2005–2007)
  
• Jessica-Jane Clement
  as Cindi Marshall (2005–2007)
  
• Danny Husbands
  as Danny Sullivan (2001–2007)
  
• Junior Nunoo
  as Eugene Rose (2005–2006)
  
• Jonathan Howard
  as Gavin Moody (2005–2007)
  
• Duncan Pow
  as Liam Mackay (2005–2007)
  
• Sapphire Elia
  as Gemma Craig (2006–2007)
  
• Frankie Fitzgerald
  as Jason Porter (2006–2007)
  
• Danny Midwinter
  as Jimmy Craig (2006–2007)
  
• Amy Perfect
  as Katy Irwin (2006–2007)
  
• James Floyd
  as Miguel Lopez (2006–2007)
  
• David Ajala
  as Sean Campbell (2007)
  

For a list of characters that have appeared on Dream Team, see Dream Team characters

Karl Fletcher

Arguably the most famous character in Dream Team was Karl ‘Fletch’ Fletcher (played by Terry Kiely), who became the series' stalwart character, remaining a fixture in the cast from the beginning of season 1 through to the end of season 8. During his tenure with Harchester, Fletch was briefly promoted to manager, became a father, married (and divorced) physiotherapist Rachel Brady (aka Abi Fletcher, of Dream Team), and was briefly jailed. At the end of season 8, Fletch died after being impaled on a coat peg by deranged manager Don Barker.

The death of Fletch was seen by many as an attempt to boost falling ratings, but in truth lay Kiely wanted to pursue other projects, namely Channel 5 soap-opera Family Affairs”. Kiely had also grown tired with the character. Fletch remained one of the most popular characters throughout the entire show, topping the popularity ratings each year until the character's death.

After a fan's poll about former characters returning, producers introduced a ghost of Fletch on Easter Sunday 2007, when the Harchester legend returned to haunt Jason Porter, whose world has begun to fall apart. The move was popular as the character was used sparingly but effectively until the end of the series.

Acting Career Launches

Dream Team is credited with launching many successful acting careers, with many of the cast going on to star in more high profile soaps and dramas. These include Alison King (Lynda Block), who went on to star in BBC One's sitcom Help as one of the primary cast members, before progressing on to become a regular cast member of the UK's primetime soap drama, Coronation Street in December 2006, playing Carla Connor.

Other Dream Team actors of note include Nathan Constance (Leon Richards), who played Ian Walmsley on Footballers Wives; Robert Kazinsky (Casper Rose) and Kara Tointon (Gina Moliano), each appeared on EastEnders as (Sean Slater and Dawn Swann respectively); Ricky Whittle (Ryan Naysmith) and Jamie Lomas (Alex Dempsey/Rose), both of whom star in Hollyoaks and Duncan Pow who is currently in Holby City.

In the United States, Ed Sanders (Eddie Moliano) appears on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and will host the gameshow National Bingo Night. He was also went on to host the UK version of Fear Factor after leaving Dream Team.

Foreign Audience

In the United States, Fox Soccer Channel (like Sky, a part of News Corporation) airs ‘Dream Team’, albeit several series behind Sky One. The eighth series is currently being broadcast at 6pm ET on Thursdays. The series is also currently aired in Serbia, on Studio B television, in Montenegro on TV In, and in Estonia on TV4.

References

External links

• Harchester.tv - The story continues here
• Harchester United Official Website
• Harchester United.Org