Page 7 - TalkTalk

Fisher Stevens, the director, was in the cast of “Succession”. There are echoes of that show in the trilling
music and home-video footage of David doing keepie-uppies in the garden. Along with access to the family
archive Mr Stevens secured big-name interviewees but few revelations, besides details of Mr Beckham’s

domestic neat-freakery and his love of beekeeping. A tragic note sounds in his split with Sir Alex Ferguson,
the coach who was his mentor until the Golden Balls glitz came between them.

And on the main take-home lesson of hard work, “Beckham” misses a trick.
The series opens on the career-defining day in 1996 when Mr Beckham,
then 21, scored a goal from the halfway line. “I looked up, and I thought,
‘Why not?’” he says, leaving the impression that a shot seen around the
world was an act of instinctive genius. In “The Class of ’92”, a previous
documentary, his pal told it differently. “He practised that in training”, said
Mr Neville, “every single day.”

Questions / Elaboration

1. Do you consider Beckham’s success story a result of luck or talent?
2. Do you enjoy watching series / documentaries about famous people?
3. Is looks the only factor which leads to success?
4. Footballers assume many roles nowadays such as becoming models or
even entrepreneurs. Does this affect their performance in sports?
5. Do you think it is easy to lead a normal life when a celebrity?

Unknown Words

1. Affable - friendly, easy to approach or talk to.
2. Obscenities - offensive or vulgar words or expressions.
3. Flighty - fickle, capricious, not reliable or steady.
4. Pomp - splendid display, ceremonial grandeur.
5. Yen - a strong desire or craving.
6. Perceptive - having or showing sensitive insight.
7. Lionised - to treat someone as a celebrity or hero.
8. Hobnobbing - socializing or associating on friendly terms.
9. Artefact - a product of human art or craft, typically an object of cultural or historical interest.
10. Windmilling - moving one's arm in a circular motion, resembling the motion of a windmill.
11. Domestic neat-freakery - an informal term for extreme tidiness or cleanliness within one's home.
12. Instinctive genius - natural talent or ability that is intuitive and inherent rather than learned or
acquired through study.