The Olympic drama starring Smith alongside Sam Hoare airs in the UK and USA tonight!
It might have a different title depending on what side of the Atlantic you live (Bert & Dickie is its British title, while it will be called Going for Gold in the States), but both countries can catch the television movie later this evening. As part of the BBC’s Olympic coverage, the original drama tells the story of the titular Bert and Dickie, who find themselves representing Great Britain against all of the odds.
Check out the trailer and official synopsis for the show below!
Thrown together as double sculling partners just six weeks before the 1948 Summer Olympics, Bert Bushnell (Matt Smith, Doctor Who), a boatbuilder’s son, and Richard “Dickie” Burnell (Sam Hoare, Captain America: The First Avenger, Jane Eyre), the Oxford-educated son of an Olympic gold-medal winning champion rower, were an unlikely pair. Bert was strictly a single sculler, unused to working as a team, and Dickie was living in his father’s shadow – but with the help of legendary sculler Jack Beresford (James Frain, True Blood, The Tudors) these two men from very different backgrounds triumphed against the odds, capturing Olympic Gold and embodying the battling spirit of the 1948 London games. The fact that the games took place at all was astonishing in itself: Britain was still struggling with the after effects of World War II, and the 1948 Games were the first in 12 years due to the war. Perhaps even more astonishing was that, with Dickie’s Olympic win, he followed his father Charles Burnell to victory and became one of the few father-son pairs to both win Olympic gold medals.
We here at Hypable can’t wait to see Matt back on our screens again, it seems like such a long time since Doctor Who was last on!
Bert & Dickie airs on BBC ONE at 8:30 p.m. GMT in the UK, and Going for Gold debuts in the States at 8 p.m. EST on BBC America.
Are you looking forward to the Olympic-themed drama?
We want to hear your thoughts on this topic!
Write a comment below or submit an article to Hypable.