United!

{{Short description|British TV drama series (1965–1967)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}

{{Infobox television

| runtime = 30 minutes

| creator = Anthony Cornish

| producer =

| starring =

| company =

| country = United Kingdom

| language = English

| network = BBC1

| first_aired = {{start date|1965|10|4|df=yes}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1967|3|2|df=yes}}

| num_series = 2

| num_episodes = 147

| list_episodes =

}}

United! is a British television series which was produced by the BBC between 1965 and 1967, and was broadcast twice-weekly on BBC1. The theme tune was The Tops, a brass band march by Thomas J. Powell.Who knows the score?, Charles Legge, Daily Mail, 11/15/2010

The series followed the fortunes of a fictional second division football team, Brentwich United. The football scenes were filmed on the grounds of Stoke City with Jimmy Hill acting as a technical advisor, and the efforts to achieve authenticity saw the show being criticised by the then management of Wolverhampton Wanderers, who complained that the series was based on their team.

United! was not a success, and was cancelled after two series. The programme was generally considered to be too soft to appeal to male viewers, and too male-oriented for the female soap opera audience. As was common television practice at the time, the series' videotapes were wiped for reuse, and it is believed that none of its 147 episodes have survived.[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/bbc-archives--gone-but-not-forgotten-1778128.html BBC archives – Gone but not forgotten]. 28 AUGUST 2009. The Independent.

Martin Kelner. [https://www.theguardian.com/football/2003/jan/13/sport.comment3 Spot the intellectual – he's the one wearijng the glasses]. 13 January 2003. The Guardian.

Created by Anthony Cornish, from an idea by footballer Dudley Kernick,https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/stoke-city-bbc-brentwich-united-3654341 other writers on the programme included Gerry Davis, Brian Hayles, Malcolm Hulke and John Lucarotti. The directors included Innes Lloyd and Derek Martinus. Aside from Cornish, all of these individuals also worked on Doctor Who concurrent with their involvement in United!. Another Doctor Who connection was Derrick Sherwin, who featured briefly as a fiery Welsh striker and went on to write and produce extensively for the sci-fi series.