How Ad Hoc kept Mission To Burnley fresh for series two

There was a point during Burnley’s disappointing 2023/24 Premier League season when Ad Hoc Films were worried that the club may restrict access for the filming of Misson To Burnley’s second series. 

Daniel Glynn, co-founder of Ad Hoc and executive producer of the show, told Broadcast Sport that he thought the good will built up during the first series’ production could be in danger - but thankfully he was wrong: “Relinquishing control is scary and you need to prove you don’t take that responsibility lightly and the reception and recognition the club got after series 1 was a game changing moment that helped pave the way for a second series.  People responded well to the raw honesty of it all and by allowing our cameras to bed in with the staff and players first time around meant the club felt more comfortable opening the doors further. This translated into more access to boardroom meetings, changing rooms and crucially Vincent Kompany.

“But that comfort gets strained to the maximum when you’re losing and morale is low. I’ll be honest, we were concerned a lockdown mentality may start to creep in around Christmas and the New Year with all the losses on the pitch mounting up, who wouldn’t be nervous about sharing to this level when the chips are down to a large external audience?  But the club, Alan Pace and the staff remained incredibly generous and crucially trusting of the process even at this precarious moment.  They knew without access we’d be making a puff piece, editorially and dramatically compromised, no one signed up for that.”

That desire to stop the series, which ended up documenting Burnley’s relegation from the Premier League the year after being promoted from the Championship, becoming a puff piece was felt from both sides: “That’s often when things really back fire. We’ve seen plenty of heavily compromised, limited access sports docs and audiences just know their being hoodwinked and not really getting the full story. It doesn’t do you, the partner broadcaster/platform or the club for that matter much good at all in terms of credibility. It’s pretty obvious when that’s happening.”

With access actually increased despite the team’s fortunes, Ad Hoc aimed to build on the themes of the first series - which Broadcast Sport spoke to Ad Hoc about last year - and get closer to manager Vincent Kompany, who has since become Bayern Munich head coach. Glynn reveals, “Individual player storylines and a more in-depth insight into Vincent Kompany’s Management style are key themes in series two, I think sports doc fans will find this emphasis genuinely insightful and pretty jaw dropping.

“We had more cameras and more shooting days scheduled over this season, which meant we had a lot more footage to play with. We get to drop in on training more, meet new characters, like the player analysts discussing the science, stats and motivation for buying and selling players, watch tensions in the boardroom build as the season unfolds and then of course there’s all the tense before and after moments captured behind the scenes on a match day.”

The series will be available through Sky Sports+, which launches on 8 August, from 9 August, before joining Sky Documentaries and Now from 1 September. Head of co-productions at Sky, Jack Oliver, notes, “We love the genuine authenticity of Mission to Burnley and the privileged access we’ve managed to secure. The series truly depicts the running of a football club and its epic journey – as they battle for Premiership survival - over the past two years.

“The series documents the passion of the team, both on and off the pitch, led by Vincent Kompany and delivers a unique insight into football and the business of the game.We greatly appreciate the partnership with Burnley Football Club and the production team at Ad Hoc and while no decision has yet been made regarding a return to Burnley for a third season, we are excited for football fans to catch Mission to Burnley when it launches on Sky Documentaries and Sky Sports +.”

The series was commissioned by Oliver and Sky director of programmes Jamie Morris, with Glynn, Jamie Munro, showrunner Mat Hodgson, and series director Tom Magnus as executive producers. Patrick Nathanson and Victoria Hepburn are producers.

Glynn is also happy with the distribution, adding, “The way a series is promoted is always important, but in this noisy space, it’s really crucial. You can have the greatest show in the world but without a strong marketing campaign and promotion you’re doomed. Sky have been brilliant at getting behind several of our projects already and promoting them well. They throw a lot of people and resource behind it.  Also because it’s a multi genre broadcaster, we get two bites at the promotional cherry so to speak, as we gain Sky Sports fans as well as the Sky Documentaries channel fans. We’re also excited to be launching the series as a premium content bonus on the Sky Sports+ app for a short window ahead of main channel transmission which should bring even more engaged fans to the show.”