Freddie Flintoff confirms return to BBC show after Top Gear crash

The BBC has confirmed that Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff is returning to the broadcaster for a second series of his cricket documentary, Field of Dreams.

The follow-up will mark his first project since the horrific car crash he was involved in while filming BBC One’s Top Gear in December 2022.

Field of Dreams sees Flintoff take a group of teenagers from his home town of Preston and attempt to turn them into a competitive cricket team.

The news, announced in the BBC’s annual plan on Thursday (28 March), will see Flintoff taking the group from series one on an international tour. It’s not yet known when the new series will air.

The first series aired in July 2022.

In the original press release about the second series, the BBC said: “Freddie is setting himself an even bigger challenge as he takes some of his team and a handful of fresh recruits on a new adventure.” It added that there would be four episodes.

Flintoff reached a reported £9m settlement with the BBC last year. The payout will not be funded by licence fee payers, as BBC Studios is a commercial arm of the broadcaster.

“We have sincerely apologised to Freddie and will continue to support him with his recovery,” a BBC Studios spokesperson said at the time.

The BBC said in March last year that it would be inappropriate to resume making the series at that time following an internal investigation into what happened.

It is understood that the decisions on future episodes of Top Gear will be made “in due course in conjunction with BBC Content”.

The former cricketer and TV star, 45, was airlifted to hospital and suffered significant facial injuries after flipping over in a Morgan Super 3 car at the Top Gear test track.

In September, Flintoff made his first public appearance since the crash at the England cricket team’s opening one-day international against New Zealand, and could be seen with facial injuries.

Speaking on Good Morning Britain last month, Flintoff’s Top Gear co-star Paddy McGuinness described the former cricketer as a “resilient character” who will be “right as rain”.

“I’ve not spoken to him for a while, but, you know, he is getting on with it,” McGuinness added.

Flintoff began presenting Top Gear in 2019. Previously, he appeared on Sky’s A League Of Their Own and won the first series of the Australian version of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!