Jamie Johnson (TV series)
British children's drama about a talented schoolboy footballer.
Jamie Johnson is a British children's drama television series broadcast on CBBC from 8 June 2016 to 17 November 2021. Created by Dan Freedman based on his novel series of the same name, the series follows the self-titled character, portrayed by Louis Dunn, as he negotiates secondary school, issues at home, and his talent as a footballer. A spin-off series, Jamie Johnson FC, set in the world of elite academy football, was released in 2022.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Children's drama
- Creator
- Dan Freedman
- Based On
- Jamie Johnson · Dan Freedman
- Writer
- Shaun Duggan
- Director
- Joe Talbot
- Starring
- Louis Dunn / Jonnie Kimmins / Patrick Ward / Emma Stansfield / Tim Dantay
- Composer
- Rob Manning
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Num Series
- 7
- Num Episodes
- 66 (+ 10 special episodes)
- Executive Producer
- Sue Nott
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The series was created by Dan Freedman based on his novel series of the same name. The plot is loosely based on the storyline in the book series, using some of the characters from the books. The show follows Jamie Johnson, a seriously gifted footballer, who after his dad walks out, is forced to move in with his grandfather and start at a new school. He makes friends with Jack and Boggy but makes an enemy of Dillon and struggles to impress football coach Mr Hansard. The series has had many very special episodes covering topics such as bullying, sexism, cheating, blackmail, relationships, diabetes, homelessness, multiple sclerosis, racism, crime and homophobia.
Reader's Guide
Jamie Johnson is significant as a long-running CBBC drama that addressed serious social issues through the lens of a young footballer's life. The show featured cameo appearances from numerous professional footballers past and present, including Gary Lineker, Steph Houghton, Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling, Luis Suárez and Vincent Kompany. For the fourth series, the cast competed in the real Gothia Cup, an international youth football tournament, with matches filmed for the show being mostly real contests. Phoenix FC won six matches in four days, scored 25 goals, conceded just seven, and reached the quarter-finals out of 195 teams with a squad of just twelve. The series also spawned a spin-off, Jamie Johnson FC, released in 2023. Production moved to Wales from series four onward.
More in CBBC original programming 1-24
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