Sunderland 'Til I Die producers lift lid on second series and reveal why it will make 'unique' and compulsive viewing

Much has changed since those dark days at the Stadium of Light, with Ellis Short and the majority of the squad having moved on and the club's new owners, management team and squad have helped breathe new life into the club.

Sunderland are now battling at the right end of the table this season, gunning for automatic promotion from League One at the first time of asking.

The Netflix series, produced by Fulwell73, was released in December to widespread praise and the producers have been talking about the filming process, access and also giving an insight into what viewers can expect from series two, which is currently being filmed.

Two of the key men at the centre of the story will be owner Stewart Donald and executive director Charlie Methven - and the second series promises to be compulsive viewing with unique behind-the-scenes access.

David Soutar, director and series producer, and Ben Turner, executive producer and Sunderland AFC supporter, spoke to BBC Sport about the filming process.

When asked how the second series is shaping up, Turner said: "You're always at the mercy of following the story but what's particularly unique about the second series is the access we get to Stewart [Donald] and Charlie [Methven], the new owners, and how they're overhauling the club.

"They are interesting and special characters and it's been amazing.

"I think we're more embedded there than we could ever have imagined and it's utterly fascinating watching them work."

Former Sunderland skipper John O'Shea, who has since moved to Reading, had spoken openly about the filming process, revealing '99 per cent of the squad' didn't want the documentary to happen.

Soutar added: "That was definitely the group mentality. But the idea that 99% of them were against it doesn't really work because most of them would be doing stuff with us individually and talking to us about what was going on, although some players made it very clear that they didn't want to be part of it.

"But as John said in that interview, he understood the bigger picture and it was never a personal thing against the crew or the team.

"I think that some of them just worked out pretty quickly that they didn't want that year documented and they didn't want to be associated with it, because it's a tough enough thing for them to have on their footballing CV, let alone to have it attached to them on a wider platform."