edgepedia

Arts and culture / Screen and stage / Film and television / Series and fictional screen worlds / Unscripted, reality, and web-native series / Documentary, docudrama, and lifestyle series / Factual entertainment and specialist-interest formats

General · Edgepedia5 min read

All or Nothing: Manchester City

All or Nothing: Manchester City is an eight-part behind-the-scenes documentary series that follows the English football club Manchester City through its record-breaking 2017-18 Premier League season. Produced as an Amazon Prime Original and narrated by Sir Ben Kingsley, it was released exclusively on Prime Video on 17 August 2018 in more than 200 countries and territories.1 • 2

Key factDetail
FormatEight-part Prime Original docuseries, all episodes released at once on 17 August 20181
Subject seasonManchester City's 2017-18 campaign, in which the club set new Premier League records for points, goals and wins, finishing 32-2 with four ties and a record 100 points3 • 4
NarratorSir Ben Kingsley1
ProductionMediaPro in association with F45 and IMG; reported cost £10 million3 • 5
AccessAmazon's cameras attended every training session, team meeting and match, filming in the dressing room, training ground and manager's office6
Reception4.5 stars on Amazon Prime, 8.4/10 on IMDb, and a Sports Emmy nomination6
FranchisePart of Amazon's All or Nothing banner, which previously covered NFL teams, the Michigan Wolverines, and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby side7

Spoilers

The season it documents

The series covers the 2017-18 season, in which Pep Guardiola's Manchester City won the Premier League with records for points, goals and wins in a single Premier League season, finishing with 100 points.8 • 4 The club's match record that season was 32 wins, 2 losses and 4 draws.3 Amazon and the club announced the project in November 2017, while City led the Premier League, with the series to follow the team through the entire 2017/18 season.9

Production and access

Amazon described the access as unprecedented: cameras were present at every training session, team meeting and match, in the dressing room, and in the manager's office, alongside exclusive interviews with players and staff.6 • 8 The footage ranges from the City Football Academy training facilities to boardroom meetings and the players' personal lives.1 The series was produced by MediaPro in association with F45 and IMG, and the BBC reported its cost as £10 million.3 • 5

The club said it did not have editorial say on the final cut, although it could veto legally or commercially sensitive scenes.4 The access was reportedly extensive enough to anger Sky, which in its years broadcasting the Premier League had never been allowed to film half-time team talks or tunnel confrontations.4

Release

All eight episodes were released simultaneously on Prime Video on Friday 17 August 2018, available in over 200 countries.1 • 8 A blue-carpet premiere was held in Manchester two days before launch, attended by the full men's squad and backroom staff, women's players, and club representatives.2 • 6

Reception and criticism

The club's own annual report calls the series a benchmark for fly-on-the-wall sports documentaries, citing its 4.5-star Amazon rating, 8.4/10 IMDb score, and Sports Emmy nomination.6 In a 2023 analysis of IMDb user votes compiled by JeffBet, it ranked eighth among the most popular sports docuseries of all time, with 7,470 votes, behind The Last Dance, Formula 1: Drive to Survive, and Sunderland 'Til I Die among others.10

Critics were more reserved. The Guardian's Simon Hattenstone, a City supporter, wrote that the series pulls its punches, fails to probe and turns the camera off at vital moments, calling it a gloriously glossy club commercial; he noted that the crew reportedly captured a City player throwing a milk carton at José Mourinho after a match at Old Trafford, an incident the series never mentions.11 The same review credited the series with genuinely moving and funny moments, including Sergio Agüero showing his son's bedroom and captain Vincent Kompany watching City win the league at his United-supporting father-in-law's home.11 A companion Guardian piece observed that the title was a procession, leaving little dramatic tension, while praising the access to scenes such as Benjamin Mendy learning the extent of his season-ending cruciate ligament injury and David Silva discussing the premature birth of his son.4

Place in the All or Nothing franchise

The series was the first football installment of Amazon's All or Nothing banner, announced in March 2018 after the Emmy-winning NFL series, and following seasons on the Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Michigan Wolverines, Dallas Cowboys, and the New Zealand All Blacks.7 Later football seasons covered Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, and a 2024 industry feature named All or Nothing, alongside Drive to Survive, as having set the model for succeeding sports docuseries.10 • 12 The franchise format follows one team through an entire season, in contrast to in-season division editions such as HBO's Hard Knocks.13

References

  1. Get behind the scenes of Manchester City with Prime Video, About Amazon UK
  2. All or Nothing to launch in 200 countries, mancity.com
  3. 'All or Nothing: Manchester City' Premieres on Amazon Aug. 17, Next TV / Broadcasting+Cable
  4. Can Manchester City avoid the football documentary curse?, The Guardian
  5. All or Nothing: Five things we've learned from Man City documentary, BBC Sport
  6. Manchester City FC 2019 Annual Report
  7. Prime Video Announces All or Nothing Banner for Upcoming Global Sports Docuseries, Amazon Press Center
  8. All or Nothing: Coming soon..., mancity.com
  9. Amazon announces ground-breaking new Prime Video series with Manchester City FC, Amazon Press Center
  10. The Most Popular Sports Docuseries of All Time, 24/7 Wall St.
  11. All or Nothing leaves City fans with more questions than answers, The Guardian
  12. Why do sports from football to F1 to golf love a docuseries?, Insider Sport
  13. Buffalo Bills Hard Knocks: What NFL Documentary to Watch Next, DocumentaryTube

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

© 2026 Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Embed a reference card.

Report an error

All or Nothing: Manchester City

Pick at least one reason.