Matt Smith in Bert & Dickie

Matt Smith makes a return to the small screen tonight to star as 1948 Olympics gold medalist Bert Bushell in the one-off BBC drama Bert & Dickie.

Set three years after the end of the Second World War, Bert Bushnell and Dickie Burnell are two men who are thrown together just five weeks before the final of the 1948 London Olympics. Both men must compete to overcome not only their physical and emotional limits but they must also rise above distinctions of birth and class. 

Bert and Dickie’s personal battle reflects a much greater struggle as London prepares to host the Olympic Games. Set against the backdrop of a half-destroyed London, the British Olympic Committee refuse to “let the Games die” and convince the Prime Minister that the Olympics could help bring the country back together. With that, the Austerity Olympics are born and Bert and Dickie’s lives are forever changed.

Matt Smith is Bert Bushnell, Sam Hoare is Dickie Burnell, James Frain is Jack Beresford, Douglas Hodge is John Bushnell and Geoffrey Palmer is Charles Burnell.

The 90-minute drama will be broadcast tonight at 8.30pm on BBC One and at 8/7c on BBC America with the alternative title Going for Gold.

(Source: BBC Media Centre)