Series 2 of Ted Lasso looks like it is continuing the success of the first, plus with added Sarah Niles
“Jan Maas is not being rude, he’s just being Dutch”
The first series of Ted Lasso was a real lockdown boon, a perfectly bittersweet heart-warmer that showed the best way that American people can do shows about football is by making them about something else altogether – in this case, being a thoroughly decent human being.
This Apple TV show treads the line between being unbearably twee and really very touching with real skill, and this second series looks set to continue that trend as AFC Richmond deal with relegation, life in the Championship and the presence of a sports psychologist in their midst.
In these first two episodes, this is the one big change, the one substantive new character and it is rather joyful that they’ve plumped for the excellent Sarah Niles in the part. The scene seems set for an interesting relationship to develop with Jason Sudeikis’ Ted who, it turns out, is a natural sceptic of all things therapy-related.
Roy’s post-retirement plans, under the aegis of Keeley, also look to be another fruitful avenue, Brett Goldstein and Juno Temple resuming their adorable double act. And Phil Dunster also returns as the wonderfully awful Jamie Tartt, though it remains to be seen how successful that will be (both for the team and for the show…).
