THE MIGHTY BEAN
Fightclub - A History of Violence
The four-part series narrated by Sean Bean tells the story of organised fighting, one of the oldest and most controversial forms of entertainment.
Throughout the centuries close physical combat has been used to entertain the public, make fortunes for gamblers, help people escape the bonds of slavery, aid diplomatic relations, settle scores and protect personal honour. Fight Club: A History of Violence looks at the realities of these ruthless one-on-one contests and how they affected the mind and body.
Four eras of fighting are covered in the series - Victorian, Georgian, Elizabethan and Tudor - with the dark and unforgiving reality of life in the ring revealed in each episode.
Hooligan
Sean Bean ( Game of Thrones, The Lord of the Rings series) presents Hooligan, the hardest-hitting football violence film ever. Directed byDonal Macintyre ( Macintyre Undercover), this shocking film gets into the world of the football ‘firms’ like never before!
Narrated by Bean, Hooligan is the real story of football violence with footage from some of the worst hooliganism ever seen and revealing stories from ex-hooligans, the police, football authorities and former Millwall hard-man Tamar Hassan ( Dead Man Running, City Rats).
Macintyre, who presented the renowned BBC programme Chelsea Headhunters which exposed the truth of football violence, shows how hooliganism has evolved in the UK and visits countries around the world, where football violence has reached terrifying levels. From Argentina where the Barra Bravas commit savage crimes, are tied to organised crime and have huge influence on the running of the clubs, to Germany and Eastern Europe where th football firms are connected to far right fascist groups – true football fans have seen their sport infiltrated by men hell-bent on violence.
We see that as the police and football authorities continue their struggle to manage hooliganism, technology and social media is now helping the hooligans share tactics and strategies , making the world of football violence more dangerous than ever.
This real story is shocking and violent, and Macintyre and Bean tackle the brutal reality of football hooliganism head on.
Voice that's earning a Bean or two Sheffield Today, 11 November 2003
Voice that's earning a Bean or two Sheffield Today, 11 November 2003
He's long been recognised for his rugged good looks.
But who'd have thought that Sean Bean's blunt Sheffield accent would go on to earn him further stardom? Leading roles in films like Goldeneye an d Lord of the Rings have made the city-born actor an internationally famous face. But today it's not just on the big screen that the former welder is making sparks fly.
Today his dulcet South Yorkshire tones, refined as he grew up in Handsworth now enter into our homes on TV ads for everything from cough medicine to mobile phones. It's true to say that the accent has made his voice one of the most recognisable in ad-land. The former Brook School pupil's appeal has seen him front recent ads for Morrison’s Supermarkets, For O2 mobile company and campaigns for Cancer Research and Barnardo’s. He is also encouraging us to give up a pint or two - blood that is - in a series of radio and television commercials for the National Blood Transfusion Service. “Do something amazing - give blood" he says.
But what is it about Sean's gravelly South Yorkshire tones that makes him such hot property for ad execs?
"Sean has provided the voice over for our previous TV adverts and the feedback from viewers was really good - there was a high level of recognition" says a National Blood Service spokesman. "When we were planning our current adverts we approached him, and were delighted when he agreed to provide the voice-over again."
Blades fan Bean was also chosen by M arks and Spencer to feature in their Christmas ads last year. Sue Sadler, corporate press manager for Marks and Spencer said "Sean was the perfect choice for us because he's a well respected and well-loved British celebrity. One the one hand he's a glamorous film star, but he also has an image as a man of the people which resonates with our customers".
Phone company 02 said it was the Sheffield sex-symbol's unique voice that persuaded them to pick him. A spokesperson said, "We wanted someone with a calming and different voice and Sean fitted the bill. It also helped that he's got a recognisable voice that people are familar with"
Marketing guru Shirley Harris, director of PR Company Diva Creative said, "A lot of thought goes into which celebrity is right to advertise a product. Sean Bean has a good voice for ads because people relate to it and trust it, and as well as that he has the star quality that people aspire to."
Chronological list of Radio, TV and DVD narrations.
RSC in REPERTOIRE
Sean reads from RSC's Romeo and Juliet.
Recorded 06 September 1987 (30 seconds)
BBC Radio, UK
30 September 1987
THE CONTENDERS
Narrated by Sean Bean
BBC1, UK
8 July 1994 (5 episodes)
Documentary series about athletes preparing for that year's Commonwealth Games.
Part 1 The Human Machine
Part 2 The Future in the Fridge
Part 3 The Tools of the Trade
Part 4 Mind Games
Part 5 Chariots of Fire
Trouble on the Terraces
Sean narrates this documentary about soccer violence in the UK. 1994 More info here
The True Story of Martin Guerre
BBC Radio Four, UK, June 1996
Dramatised in two parts by Guy Meredith from the trial notes of the 16th-century French judge Jean de Coras.
Part One: Martin Guerre, an inhabitant of the Pyrenean village of Artigat, is charged with being an impostor when he returns after an eight-year absence. But his trial leaves many questions unanswered.
Part Two: Martin Guerre's wife Bertrande accepts him on his return after an eight-year absence, bears him two further children and then accuses him of being an impostor.
ITV SURVIVAL SPECIAL: CREATURES OF THE MAGIC WATER
Narrated by Sean Bean
A colourful look at the wildlife thriving in the rainforest north of Brazil.
ITV, UK (60 mins)
Wednesday 10 July 1996
Over the Hills and Far Away, the music of Sharpe 1996
Sean provides a narrative during the Overture on this CD (available from Virgin). More info here
Decisive Weapons series One 1996
Narrated by Sean Bean
A series that chronicles the impact of technology on war. BBC2 (UK)
The History Channel (US)
There's Only One Barry Fry
The noisy, hard-swearing Fry is a man made for television documentary. We met him previously when he was the manager of Birmingham City. That ended in his sacking, and he moved to Peterborough. This film charts his first year in charge. Putting his money into the club, as well as his non-stop mouth, Fry starts with high ambitions. Three wins in the first 17 matches scupper both - and as the team slides farther towards relegation, the dressing-room dressing downs get fiercer and Fry's language descends from bad to appalling. But his stoic wife ("my best signing") and six children provide a domestic respite.
Broadcast ITV (UK) Saturday 24 May 1997
Decisive Weapons series Two 1997
WOMAN'S HOUR (50th Anniversary Special)
May or June 1996
Listeners were asked to vote for their 50 Best Men and Women. During the program,
Sean read from RSC's Romeo and Juliet (originally recorded 06 September 1987) (30 seconds)
Originally broadcast on BBC Radio, UK, 30 September 1987
THE REAL MONTY
Narrated by Sean Bean
A look at the lives and work of a group of male strippers from Yorkshire. Dave Bacon is a former stripper
who runs Prime Cuts Agency in Sheffield. Cameras follow him as he trains new recruits and reveals what
really goes on - and comes off - in the world of men who undress for a living.
Directed by Phillip Jones; Produced by Aileen McCracken.
Channel 5, UK
Thursday, March 19, 1998
A KIND OF LOVING
Read by Sean Bean
Set in south west Yorkshire during the Fifties, A Kind of Loving, by Stan Barstow, was John Schlesinger's first
feature film and starred Alan Bates, June Ritchie and Thora Hird.
Book at Bedtime
BBC Radio 4, UK. 11-22 May, 1998 More info here
WORLD CUP ROCK 'N' GOAL YEARS
ITV, UK
12 July 1998
SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING
Read by Sean Bean
An 8-part dramatization of Alan Sillitoe's ground-breaking portrait of working-class life and love in a factory town.
BBC Radio 2, UK. August 7 - September 25, 1998 More info here
LYRICAL BALLADS
Sean Bean reads from the work of Wordsworth and Coleridge, first published two hundred years ago.
BBC Radio 4, UK
September 7-13, 1998
Q.E.D. ("Call of the Deep" - The World Free Diving Championships)
Narrated by Sean Bean
BBC 1, UK November 10, 1998 More info here
WHERE WERE YOU: PASSION, PRIDE & PENALTIES
Narrated by Sean Bean
BBC1, UK. 02 December 1998
The Canterbury Tales
Animated TV Series
Character Voice: The Nun's Priest
Episode: The Nun's Priest's Tale
BBC2, UK December 1998 More info here
PARADISE BLUES
TV Documentary
Narrated by Sean Bean
Channel 4, UK 13 June 1999
Documentary about a young woman going to Zanzibar to be a VSO volunteer. Produced by IBT.
Treacherous Places
3-part documentary series
Narrated by Sean Bean
Channel 5, UK March 19 & 26, April 2, 2001 More info here
Treacherous Places is a 3-part documentary series examining the natural phenomena that make certain locations the most dangerous places in the natural world.
Reputations - Marie Antoinette
Wed 11 Dec 2002
50mins BBC2, UK
Reputations reveals how the Austrian-born queen was hated by the French from the start, and how her unconsummated marriage to the undersexed Louis XVI led her to seek comfort in frivolity.
England's World Cup Glorymen (DVD 2002)
This tribute features all the best highlights from England's 20th century
exploits in The World Cup finals from 1954 to 1998. The documentary focuses
on the key games and players such as Bobby Moore, Gary Lineker, Paul
Gascoigne, and Alan Shearer. The highlight is the 1966 triumph at Wembley.
Sean narrates the 1998 France match.
RUGBY WORLD CUP: ENGLAND'S STORY [2003]
DVD and VHS (PAL) Release Date 23 Feb 2004Action from all England's matches from the 2003 Rugby World Cup. Plus footage of thereception at Heathrow airport, the celebratory scenes from the trophy parade, interviewswith head coach Sir Clive Woodward plus extended interviews with Martin Johnson andother members of the team. DVD extras: The Unseen Final (10 mins of the World Cup finalusing new camera angles).
As It Happened - D-Day to Berlin
3-part series (60min x 3) SBS (Australia)
July 3, 10 and 17, 2004
DEAD OR ALIVE: THE HUNT FOR BIN LADEN
90 minutes, CBC Newsworld (Canada)
March 6, 2005 (repeated March 12, 2005)
RADIO 2's CHRISTMAS CHILLOUT (December 25, 2005)
Radio 2's Christmas Chillout with Sean Bean was the perfect Christmas Daylisten; a contemporary Christmas tale backed by two hours of relaxing music.From his roles in TV's Sharpe to Lord of the Rings, Sean is one of our most popular and celebrated actors, and on Christmas Day he read a speciallycommissioned Christmas tale. A gently entertaining take on traditionalChristmas themes, the story unfolded over a two hour mix of both seasonal and relaxing music from the likes of Eva Cassidy, Groove Armada, Dean Martin, Damien Rice and many more. Radio 2's Christmas Chillout is the perfect present, combining great music, an intriguing seasonal tale, and the voice of Sean Bean. More info here
HOW ENGLAND WON THE WORLD CUP
2 disc DVD
Released 05 June 2006
Originally broadcast on UK television
MEDICAL DVD
Sean narrated a medical DVD for use by hospital patients in Sheffield.
January 2007
ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAN
Documentary
Originally broadcast on Channel 4 (UK) February 22, 2007
Drumhead
We’re back in the studio writing a piece of music for a short film by London filmmaker Alan Coltman featuring the voice of Sheffield’s favourite son Sean Bean. The film is called Drumhead and will debut at the London Independent Film Festival on the 23rd April 2009.
Wild in the Streets -2010
The Sean Bean narrated documentary is about an ancient game called Shrovetide Football that is the grandfather of rugby, soccer and American football.
Thanks to The Compleat Sean Bean for a part of the information listed here