Louis Theroux and Take That split photo

Louis Theroux has new BBC documentary about boybands with Robbie Williams - and we can't wait

Robbie Williams is set to feature in Louis Theroux's new documentary Boybands Forever

TV & Film Editor
August 29, 2024

If you love a Louis Theroux documentary, then we have a big treat for you! The popular documentarian will be releasing a new show focusing on the boyband craze of the 1990s and 2000s - and it sounds seriously good.

The beloved documentarian, 54, is set to air on BBC Two, and sees Louis interview former boyband stars including Robbie Williams, Brian McFadden, and Keith Duffy, alongside members of the bands East 17, Blue, Damage, and Five.

WATCH: Louis sits down with the likes of Anthony Joshua and Joan Collins

Speaking about the show, Louis said: "I couldn’t be more thrilled about this series. An epic story featuring a cast of stars and star-makers, spanning three decades, it involves some of the icons of modern British pop.

"We see them through their highs and lows, hearing from the key players, as we chart the golden years of boybands: how they came together, the experience of sudden fame, the opportunities and temptations that came their way, conflicts within the groups, between the groups, and between the boys and their managers.

© Gus Stewart

Robbie is set to be interviewed in the show

"It’s a gripping fable about getting everything you dreamed of, and it not being what you imagined, centred on a generation of young men, and their managers, who were wildly successful and also immensely vulnerable, having the times of their lives and, in some cases, cracking up. Those boys we all watched singing and dancing in tight formation – Take That, East 17, Westlife, Blue, Five, Damage, 911, and so many others – are now middle-aged men who have the time and the maturity to look back and reflect on what they went through."

He concluded: "It’s taken us more than a year to make the series. Now I’m just excited for people to see it."

The show will also hear from industry figures during the golden age of boybands, including Simon Cowell, Take That creator Nigel Martin-Smith, and Westlife manager Louis Walsh.

Speaking about the upcoming show, which is set to be released in autumn 2024, head of BBC popular music TV Jonathan Rothery said: "It feels like yesterday, but the Brit boyband era began 35 years ago, and what a fascinating moment in time and pop culture it was.

© Ryan McNamara

Louis is looking at the golden age of boy bands

"The series will take us on a trip down memory lane but will also enlighten us that behind the singing, dancing, double denim, and bright smiles were a heck of a lot of blood, sweat and tears."

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