When Eagles Dare docuseries review: Fascinating insight as Palace go from the brink of extinction to the Premier League

The footage, which Crystal Palace fans have waited eight years for, does not disappoint. The documentary is a blend of present-day interviews, used alongside the much-anticipated original footage of the 2012-13 season.

The Amazon Prime five-part docuseries kicks off with the famous day at Hillsborough. But the realisation quickly dawns on those involved that Puff Daddy wasn’t really interested, and no angel investor was going to pump hundreds of millions into saving Palace. If the South Londoners were going to have a future, it would be through the fans – step forward, Steve Parish, Steven Browett, Martin Long and Jeremy Hosking.

The first episode depicts the club, the ownership and the management team learning together – discovering the ruthless business of football.

In a parallel universe, it could have been Eddie Howe taking over from George Burley. After being shown around Copers Cope one evening, Steve Parish says, “I agreed everything with Eddie, and then woke up the next morning, and he had gone to Burnley.”

But as we all know, Dougie Freedman would replace Burley, keep Palace in the Championship and begin to build his legacy.

The documentary uses a jigsaw to portray the key characters of the season – which seamlessly began to fall into place. The structure – built around the new ownership, Dougie Freedman, Wilfried Zaha and Julian Speroni – was strengthened by Glenn Murray, Joel Ward, Mile Jedinak and Peter Ramage.

After the first two games of the 2012-13 season, where the Eagles had conceded seven goals in two games, the documentary explains how a candid conversation in the car park of Ashton Gate changed Palace’s campaign – the crunch talks would be about Freedman’s future.

Stephen Browett, Mark Bright and Neil Ashton joined Parish after the 4-1 thrashing to discuss whether Freedman was the right man to take the club forward. The discussions resulted in the board backing the manager – Yannick Bolasie, Danny Gabbidon, Damien Delaney and Andre Mortiz came in to complete Freedman’s masterpiece.

What makes this docuseries different from most is that it offers a fascinating perspective on that season by combining new interviews with the hindsight of eight years, alongside the original footage.

The documentary also explains why Freedman abandoned his project midway through completion – heading to Bolton when Palace were pushing for promotion. It’s the first time fans will receive a detailed explanation from Freedman about why he chose to leave the club when the future looked so bright.

Perhaps the most awkward piece, which had to be moulded into place, was Ian Holloway. The players didn’t want to play to Holloway’s style – one of the main reasons behind the dip in form – and the fans and the chairman were still confused by the way Freedman left the club.

During the tough run towards the end of the season, we learn that it got so bad for Holloway – with meetings between Parish and some of the senior players taking place without the manager – that he says in the third episode: “I would have liked a pound for every time he (Parish) mentioned Dougie. In the end, I had to say: ‘For Christ’s sake, he left you – shut up talking about Dougie.’

But once the Eagles reached the play-offs, the documentary shows that Holloway was the only manager who had the experience and the character to guide the club through the three games, which would test the squad’s concentration, nerve and mental strength to the limit.

Kevin Phillips, who finished off the puzzle, symbolises the journey of ups and downs that the squad had been on. The key figures of the documentary all have endearing qualities, which makes you want to watch on.

While there are no earth-shattering revelations or shocking scandals, there are scenes of euphoria, tears of joy and a fascinating insight into how CPFC 2010 took Crystal Palace from the brink of extinction to the Premier League.

When Eagles Dare will launch worldwide on Amazon Prime Video on June 4.^.