CHOICE With

This time 25 years ago, England’s national football team stood on the brink of greatness. Or at least on the brink of the brink.

It had stood there before, of course, and had once even gone the whole way, but this time felt kind of special.

The semi-final of Euro 96 was just 48 hours away. All that stood between this team and a place in the final was... oh, b*%@*&^s, it was Germany, wasn’t it? Oh, well, it was nice to dream.

The man who’d got England that far that year, or at least played a fairly big role, was manager Terry Venables, a character who’d felt like a significant departure from England bosses of old.

On Sky Documentaries tonight we have TERRY VENABLES: A MAN CAN DREAM (9pm), a fascinating feature-length profile of this charismatic figure.

Venables, the film’s narrator, had made his name as a player with Chelsea, Spurs, QPR and Crystal Palace, three of which he’d then gone on to manage.

He’d also spent three years as boss at Barcelona. His tactical awareness won him huge praise from players and pundits alike.

But as we’re reminded here, there’d already been so much more to his life than just football. He’d run several businesses from a tailor’s to a dining club he’d sung, co-written several novels, helped devise a board game, and was even joint creator of an TV detective show (Hazell).

Elsewhere tonight, ITV’S documentary DIANA (9pm) looks back on the life of Princess Diana just a few days away from what would have been her 60th birthday.