As Apple TV announces a shock fourth season of Ted Lasso... JANE FRYER reveals she loved every moment of the global hit show - which is why shes devastated theyre bringing it back
Ted Lasso was a phenomenon.
Ted Lasso was a phenomenon. The small-town American football coach-turned-AFC Richmond soccer manager brought joy, laughter, tears and a cuddly feel-good happiness to even the most hardened TV viewer.
He made us all suddenly interested in footy – or at least in what happened off the pitch: in the dressing room, pub and even bedroom.
He turned the borough of Richmond, in south-west London, into one of the top tourist destinations in the UK, with fans earnestly hunting for Ted’s flat and his local, the Crown & Anchor pub.
He made mental health issues something alpha men could discuss over a pint.
And he brought thick, lustrous, porn star-style moustaches back in vogue.
Millions worldwide watched all three series of Apple TV’s monster hit starring Jason Sudeikis in the title role, with Hannah Waddingham, Phil Dunster, Brett Goldstein, Nick Mohammed and Juno Temple. It was as much a part of lockdown as sourdough, banana bread and yoga with Adriene.
And now, two years after we thought it was all over, the network has announced that a fourth series beckons, in which Ted boomerangs back to our shores. This time, apparently, to coach a women’s football team. And, oddly, it isn’t filling fans’ hearts with joy.
Jason Sudeikis and Apple TV+ confirmed Ted Lasso would return for season 4
A release date for the fourth season has not yet been announced
First things first – for those few who haven’t watched, here’s a quick recap.
The show follows an American football coach who knows nothing about ‘soccer’, but finds himself in charge of a struggling London football team owned by the wondrous Rebecca (Waddingham). She is a tough-talking but fragile divorcee who wears fabulously tight dresses and sky-high heels and, surely some day, will get together with Ted, who brings her a pink box of homemade shortbread every morning.
AFC Richmond are rubbish and Ted is an emotional wreck, having just split from his wife and son who are thousands of miles away in Kansas. But, somehow, he inspires the players with his whimsical positivity to, if not quite win the league, be better players, better people and, most importantly, ‘Believe!’
Along the way, there’s plenty of humour, swearing (mostly from Goldstein’s Roy Kent, inspired by Roy Keane but even swearier and hairier), sex (all sorts, much of it involving the gorgeous Keeley, played by Temple), mental health issues (pretty much everyone), drama, tears and seemingly endless therapy (everyone).
But all you really need to know is if you haven’t seen it, you should, regardless of whether you’re remotely interested in football.
Because the first series, which aired in August 2020, was Apple’s most successful original TV show and, during its three seasons, picked up 13 Emmys and endless other awards.
Its unclear how many actors from the series will reprise their roles
It became a cultural sensation. A TV juggernaut. A global success story. The cast were invited to the White House to meet Joe Biden. Waddingham and Dunster (who played vain and vulnerable striker Jamie Tartt, a character based on David Beckham, Jack Grealish and Cristiano Ronaldo, apparently) became huge stars. The genius creators – Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt (who plays Beard), Bill Lawrence and Joe Kelly – became very rich men.
So, given all that, you’d think that the news of a fourth series would be greeted with cheers and jubilation from viewers.
But no. Not quite.
Even the most cursory glance at Ted Lasso fan sites reveal most devotees are opposed to the idea. ‘Love, love the show but it ended perfectly. No need for another season,’ writes one.
Some are more forthright: ‘Of course it’s a bloody women’s team. How very 2025!’
Let’s be clear. No one is against a fourth series because they didn’t love it. No, they adored it. Even though – whisper it – after the sublime first series, the show wasn’t perfect.
In series two, there were a few weird, overly long episodes – the cringe, sentimental ‘Carol of the Bells’ Christmas episode and Coach Beard’s self-indulgent (and never-ending) night out – that didn’t quite fit. Towards the end everyone seemed to be going therapy mad.
Millions worldwide watched all three series of Apple TV’s monster hit starring Jason Sudeikis (pictured) in the title role
Hannah Waddingham and Nick Mohammed (pictured) also star in the show which was as much a part of lockdown as sourdough, banana bread and yoga with Adriene
And let’s not forget series three was lumpy and bumpy and often downright daft in places. Annoying Sassy popping up too often in Ted’s bed, Keeley suddenly going ‘bi’ with a woman called Jack and all that tosh about a super league.
But it didn’t matter. It was still warm and kind, if not as funny. And perhaps, most importantly, the characters were still the most likeable you’ll find in any TV show.
In any event, the tear-soaked, joyous finale that aired in May 2023 made up for any blips. It was pretty darn unbeatable.
Spoiler alert! In it, Ted heads back to Kansas to be with his son. Roy is installed as head coach of AFC Richmond, Keeley comes up with the idea of a women’s team. Rebecca is finally happy in love. And Beard stays in the UK with his dominatrix wife.
With pretty much every plotline neatly tied down, the final whistle, it seemed, had been blown.
So the writers will have a big job pulling something new out of the bag. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first show to be miraculously brought back to life, with money the inevitable motivator.
Naturally, studios want to milk a hit. Or at least give themselves the option with an often clumsy signpost in the last five minutes of a ten-part series, indicating, after all that, it might not be over.
Think of BBC1’s Line Of Duty. One of the best TV police series ever that went off a cliff after the fourth season, but is now being given a seventh outing according to reports this weekend.
Ted Lasso turned the borough of Richmond, in south-west London, into one of the top tourist destinations in the UK
Perhaps we’re being a bunch of (very un-Ted like) curmudgeons, series four will turn out to be brilliant and we’ll have to eat our words
This means TV series that are brilliant, but not flogged to death, are rare and precious.
Take Fawlty Towers. Its creators John Cleese and then wife Connie Booth refused to write any more because, as Cleese put it: ‘The expectation of what you will do is so high.’ According to him, they had ‘done their best’ and any follow-up would be ‘good but not very good’.
Wise words indeed, and quoted by comedy duo Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant when they declined to make a third series of The Office or Extras. But it is not, it seems, a concern for Sudeikis & Co.
Now, though, as they start sharpening their pencils, the million-dollar question is: who will be back in Richmond with Ted?
Insiders say Temple, Waddingham, Goldstein and most of the supporting cast will return. There’ll be no handsome Phil Dunster’s Jamie Tartt, now that his career’s taken off and he’s too busy. But there will, presumably, be 11 female characters limbering up on the sidelines.
Perhaps we’re being a bunch of (very un-Ted like) curmudgeons, series four will turn out to be brilliant and we’ll have to eat our words.
And maybe, just maybe, this time he and Rebecca will finally get it together.