Actor David Tennant has said that he thinks the Munich air disaster in 1958 contributed to how Manchester United are today. The former Doctor Who star - who plays legendary Man Utd coach Jimmy Murphy in United, a new TV drama about the disaster - believes it had a profound effect on the team, who now have millions of fans worldwide. Seven players were killed in the crash, which occurred at Munich-Riem airport in Germany on February 6 1958. "I get the sense that what happened in Munich in 1958, how the team coped with it and how they came back from the brink, was possibly the beginning of Manchester United as the kind of world football team they are today. "The way they conducted themselves and struggled back with such dignity and fight has inspired an international love for the team, and that is due in no small part to what Jimmy Murphy did." The 40-year-old added that he was "bowled over" by the story. "On a very basic level, it's a true story but it also looks at the arbitrary nature of fate, the capriciousness of life and the triumph of the human spirit," he said. United, which will be screened on BBC2 on Easter Sunday, also stars Skins actor Jack O'Connell as a young Bobby Charlton.
