First it was Céline, then Shania, and now Don Cherry. Production on a two-part miniseries, based on the life of the popular and sometimes controversial hockey personality, is underway in Winnipeg for E1 Entertainment, Frantic Films and CBC.

Keep Your Head Up Kid: The Don Cherry Story will shoot for eight weeks from a script by Cherry’s son, Tim Cherry, who says it was a five-year journey to get the ‘challenging’ story on the small screen.

‘One thing dad was adamant about is he didn’t want the movie to be a glorification of [himself]. He said ‘I put mom and the family through a lot of stuff,’ and we wanted to show the hero with a lot of flaws. That made it easier… when he said you have to show what really happened,’ says Cherry, who exec produces alongside Laszlo Barna, Jamie Brown and Wayne Thompson of 5 for Fighting, a company shared by Thompson and Cherry.

The mini chronicles the life of Cherry from his playing career in the professional minor leagues to his coaching days for the Boston Bruins and television career as a commentator on Hockey Night in Canada‘s Coach’s Corner. It stars Jared Keeso (The Guard, Monster Warriors) as Cherry, and Sarah Manninen (The Line, Naked Josh) as his wife Rose. Jeff Woolnough (CSI, Céline) is directing.

Cherry says the biopic was initially meant to be an MOW, but CBC and the producers decided to turn it into a two-night event to include more of Cherry’s 30-year career.

‘[It would be] tough to do in one night,’ Cherry says of the ‘monumental task,’ which includes stock footage from the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s National Hockey League.

The mini, slated to air on CBC in 2010, is the latest biopic for the pubcaster — which enjoyed ratings success with the MOWs Shania: A Life in Eight Albums (2005) and Céline (2008), with 1.2 million and 761,000 viewers (2+), respectively.