Review of Just Call Me Bobby

Introduction

Can you remember what you were doing on the evenings of 26th June 1990, 1st July 1990 and 4th July 1990? I certainly can. I was on holiday in Camber Sands, enjoying a rollercoaster ride with the rest of the English nation. That rollercoaster was England playing in the World Cup in Italy, under the guidance of Bobby (now Sir Bobby) Robson. For the record, this is what happened on those nights:-

26th June 1990 - Round 2 - England 1-0 Belgium (aet)
1st July 1990 - Quarter final - Cameroon 2-3 England (aet)
4th July 1990 - Semi final - West Germany 1-1 England (aet) - West Germany won 4-3 on penalties.

How we jumped for joy when David Platt volleyed in the 120th minute winner against Belgium, how we breathed a sigh of relief with a dubious penalty dispatched by Gary Lineker against Cameroon, and how we hurled abuse at and then cried with Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle in the penalty shoot out against the Germans.

All these moments were thanks to Sir Bobby Robson, who probably doesn`t always get the recognition he deserves for what he did with the England football team. He received some horrific abuse by the press, probably worse than Turnip Taylor ever got, but at the end of the day he took us so close.

This then is a DVD which celebrates Sir Bobby Robson, containing a programme made in early 2003 to celebrate his 70th birthday. There are interviews with members of his teams over the years, footage of some of those great World Cup moments, and Gary Lineker shadowing Robson through a typical day in his current job, managing Newcastle United.

Video

A 1.78:1 anamorphic transfer is on offer here, just as it was shown on BBC One this year. The quality is pretty much perfect as the image is untarnished. The only tiny niggle (and this is something that is now standard BBC practice) is that archive footage (before 1998/1999) is almost all zoomed and cropped top and bottom to make it look widescreen. And there`s quite a bit of archive footage on this one!

Audio

Only a DD2.0 stereo soundtrack, which is unsurprising given that this is a documentary. The sound appears just as it was on first broadcast. No complaints about the quality.

Features

The extras here are unseen bits from the main documentary including more interview footage and footage from one of Robson`s legendary team talks, given to Newcastle United before a match against Manchester City.

The thing that you notice most from the footage is the sad state that "Daft as a brush" Gazza now seems to be in. He really looks a broken man, and when recalling Robson and the time when his own star shone so brightly (that World Cup in 1990) he seems to show visual signs of regret over what has become of him.

Conclusion

I enjoyed watching this DVD, but I doubt that it will get watched again. And therein lies the problem. What is the market for a documentary about Sir Bobby Robson? If you`re an England fan or a Newcastle fan, or a fan of any of the clubs that Robson has managed, then there`s not a great deal here that`s new to you. You know that Robson works hard, is totally committed to football and has won loads of honours with loads of different clubs.

After you`ve watched it once, I can`t see much point in watching it again. It`s nice to reminisce about Italia 90 and look back on Robson`s achievements with Ipswich Town, as well as all of the things he`s done since quitting England after the World Cup. But there`s not much that warrants repeat viewings.

Excellent picture, fine sound and extra footage not seen on TV make this a good DVD. But who will buy it?