There are more than a few recognizable characters--the foreign manager, the glamour-model wife, the smoldering Italian mid-fielder--whose presence only adds to the (intended) impression that this just might be fact thinly disguised as fiction (though it's unlikely that any real footballer's wife would almost kill the chairman of the club in a fit of rage, as Tanya does in the first episode). Unsurprisingly Footballers' Wives was created by the same team that produced the UK TV trash-fest that was Bad Girls and despite never being a contender for best drama it offers a perfect opportunity to become a voyeur in a world with more glitz and leg action than most. . --Nikki Disney