Leaving a soap can sometimes be the bravest decision an actor can make. They risk leaving a safe job that brings in regular money for a world of uncertainty along with the real possibility of never working again. But one person who didn’t need to worry is Michelle Keegan who is back on our screens at the start of 2017 in Tina and Bobby.
She’s already proved herself in Ordinary Lies and Our Girl and now Michelle is hoping for rave reviews again playing original WAG Tina Moore, in a new drama for ITV about the life of footballer Bobby Moore. The new three-part drama tells the story of the England and West Ham legend’s life with his childhood sweetheart, Tina Dean, from their humble beginnings to the dizzy heights of superstardom.
When England won the World Cup in July 1966 Bobby Moore became a national hero. Swept up by the media frenzy and the nation’s adoration, he and wife Tina were the original ‘golden’ couple.
The drama based on Tina Moore’s memoir, Bobby Moore: By The Person Who Knew Him Best, is an epic love story about an ordinary girl from Essex who fell head over heels in love with an ordinary boy, who just happened to be an extraordinarily talented footballer.
A typist for the Prudential, Tina first met Bobby aged 15 when she ‘played hookey from school to go to the Ilford Palais with her cousin Jenny’. Film star handsome and coolness personified, Bobby was only 17 himself and, though an exciting emerging talent, had yet to make a first team appearance.
Unpretentious Tina had a loving upbringing in the modest semi-detached home of her resilient mother Betty. Typically down to earth, Bobby had experienced the same nurturing relationship with his parents Big Bob and Doss, who were always to feature prominently in his life.
Tina was to marry Bobby on 30 June 1962 with former West Ham and Manchester United full back Noel Cantwell as Bobby’s Best Man and flamboyant football manager Malcolm Allison and the West Ham team in the congregation.
Here’s a first look at the new series with photos from the first episode...