Footballers' Wives: Trailer, certificate and where to watch
Glitzy, trashy show about the scheming Earls Park FC WAGs
Year: 2002-2006
Certificate: 15
This glitzy guilty pleasure landed on our screens in a pre-social-media age in which the WAGs (wives and girlfriends of footballers) got more column inches than their player partners - think Victoria Beckham, Cheryl Tweedy and Louise Redknapp. The show follows three couples based at the fictional Earls Park football club, and there was a lot more action in the bedroom and boardroom than on the pitch.
The show really pushed boundaries for what was acceptable in that regard at the time, especially the scene in which scheming Tanya Turner (Zöe Lucker) actually bumped off her husband during intercourse by using his weak heart against him. 'I can't believe I did some of those sex scenes - I'd never do that now. I was semi-naked most of the time... Oh my word, there was a plane scene so explicit it was like porn,' Lucker reflected later. After leaving the show, she went to do theatre in New Zealand for a while to recover from it all.
Nowadays, shows such as Love Island fill the gap left by these soapily salacious dramas, and it's difficult to imagine this outrageous bonk-fest getting made today. Instead, it evolved into Ted Lasso, a show that is much sweeter and has a lot less sex and drugs - and absolutely zero murders. But if you're after a ludicrous guilty pleasure, filled with bad behaviour, this is the binge for you. Look out for Susie Amy as the wonderfully named Chardonnay. (Five series)
