Freddie Flintoff has teamed up with Disney+ for an original documentary film about his cricket career and recovery from his near-fatal “Top Gear” crash in 2022.
The 90-minute untitled doc is being produced by South Shore and promises exclusive access to the former cricket star and presenter. According to a provided synopsis, the film will “look back at Flintoff’s incredible life and cricketing career that saw him win two Ashes series with England and become a national sporting hero, whilst charting his life today and return to cricket following his life-altering car crash in 2022.” John Dower is directing the doc, and has been filming with Flintoff over the past year.
In September, it was announced that Flintoff had been named head coach of the England Lions cricket team.
Flintoff was a presenter on the automotive series “Top Gear” alongside Chris Harris and Paddy McGuinness from 2019 to 2022. While filming in Surrey in December 2022, Flintoff was involved in a crash that resulted in serious facial injuries and broken ribs. Following the accident, “Top Gear” was put on pause “for the foreseeable future” by the BBC.
“Given the exceptional circumstances, the BBC has decided to rest the U.K. show for the foreseeable future,” a November 2023 statement read. “The BBC remains committed to Freddie, Chris and Paddy who have been at the heart of the show’s renaissance since 2019, and we’re excited about new projects being developed with each of them. We will have more to say in the near future on this. We know resting the show will be disappointing news for fans, but it is the right thing to do. All other ‘Top Gear’ activity remains unaffected by this hiatus including international formats, digital, magazines and licensing.”
The doc is executive produced by Flintoff, Andrew Mackenzie and Naomi Templeton for South Shore and Sean Doyle, executive director of unscripted at Disney+.
