How many episodes of Dear England are there?
If you've just discovered Joseph Fiennes doing an uncanny Gareth Southgate impression on BBC One, here's the good news and the bad news in one line: it's a complete story, and it's a short one.
The short answer
Four episodes. One series. Roughly 57 minutes each — call it just under four hours in total. Dear England premiered on BBC One and iPlayer on 24 May 2026 and wrapped on 1 June 2026.
How it was released
The BBC front-loaded it for streamers:
- Episodes 1 and 2 — available on BBC iPlayer from 9pm on Sunday 24 May 2026.
- Episodes 3 and 4 — added to iPlayer the following Sunday, 31 May 2026.
- BBC One broadcasts — Sunday and Monday nights at 9pm across the two weeks.
All four episodes are now on iPlayer, so it's a comfortable single-evening watch.
What's it based on?
James Graham's stage play of the same name, which premiered at the National Theatre in 2023, won the Olivier Award for Best New Play, and toured the country. Graham wrote the TV version himself, with the play's director Rupert Goold handling episode one and Paul Whittington directing episodes two to four. Fiennes reprises his Olivier-nominated stage role as Southgate, alongside Jodie Whittaker as psychologist Pippa Grange and Jason Watkins as FA chairman Greg Dyke.
Announcing the commission in February 2024, BBC drama chief Lindsay Salt called it "a back-of-the-net triumph on stage," adding that it would make must-see television.
The series dramatises Southgate's real tenure as England manager — from taking the job in 2016 through the penalty-shootout obsession, the waistcoat era, and on to the Euro 2024 final — built on extensive research and interviews, with invented scenes and dialogue throughout.
Will there be a series 2?
No plans. The story Graham set out to tell ends where Southgate's reign did. Four episodes, one arc, done — which, for a drama about English football, is a mercifully clean finish.