Take That Netflix Documentary Review: A Cheesy Yet Magical Romp
Netflix has delivered a fantastically enjoyable three-part documentary series chronicling the remarkable 35-year journey of British pop icons Take That. This weighty narrative camembert covers everything from the band's humble beginnings to their record-breaking success and unprecedented reunion.
The Cheesy Backstage Banter
The documentary opens with revealing backstage moments that showcase the band's enduring chemistry. During their 2024 stadium tour, Howard Donald (57) confesses his dislike for cauliflower cheese, prompting Gary Barlow OBE (55) to splutter in disbelief between mouthfuls of pie. "What's wrong with cheese?" gasps Barlow, his award-winning vowels slowing to a thunderstruck crawl.
This exchange perfectly encapsulates the series' tone - a refreshingly unembittered retelling of the band's story that asks, "What's wrong with cheese?" as a fitting subtitle for their entire career.
From Chainmail Codpieces to Stadium Tours
The documentary traces Take That's evolution from bewildered early performances in gay clubs to their current status as veteran stadium fillers. Barlow guffaws over punishing archive closeups of his chainmail codpiece, admitting "I absolutely hated the outfits."
Director David Soutar, known for "Bros: After the Screaming Stops," masterfully weaves together new off-screen interviews with the three remaining members - Barlow, Donald, and Mark Owen - alongside acres of brilliantly edited archive footage, much of it previously unseen.
The Early Years in Glorious Grey
The first episode captures that faintly depressing low-grade greyishness characteristic of pre-late-90s British footage. It's as if the entire nation had been washed with a pair of Jason Orange's pleather chaps and emerged the colour of a Crimewatch UK reconstruction.
Early excruciating gigs at school assemblies are interspersed with candid youthful hijinks, revealing a startling reliance on shoulder pads and Barlow's peculiar penchant for twiddling his bandmates' earlobes, described as resembling "a silverback relieving subordinates of fleas."
Missing Members and Middle-Age Perspective
Notably absent are contributions from former members Robbie Williams and Jason Orange, who left the band in 2014. The documentary instead focuses on the three remaining members, offering fleeting admissions of anxiety from Howard Donald, creaking knees from Mark Owen, and ongoing struggles with fame.
Unlike Williams' 2023 Netflix series where he grumbled about fame for four hours in his pants, this documentary offers a more straightforward perspective. "Fame, for me, is still a real struggle," sighs Donald off-camera, sounding as if he's phoning in from his Ford Mondeo's passenger seat.
The Pendulum of Pop Success
The series beautifully captures Take That's perpetual pendulum swings between pop magnificence (Pray) and po-faced naffery (Babe). From their Barry Manilow cover versions and crop-topped Lulu collaborations to their oiled thighs and be-jumpered ballads, the documentary covers it all.
Later episodes brighten in hue but maintain a pleasantly woozy wistfulness, with even recent concert footage heavy with the memory of Exclamation body spray.
A Circle of Life Celebration
Ultimately, the documentary offers a view of Take That that's only possible from a middle-age vantage point. The series concludes that we've all grown up together - the band and their audience - and can now appreciate how difficult and occasionally magical the entire journey has been.
This three-part celebration serves as a testament to the band's bogglingly successful "circle of life" reunion that has proven to be about far more than mere nostalgia. Three cheers for all of us, frankly, and pass the cauliflower cheese.
Take That is streaming on Netflix now, offering both longtime fans and newcomers a thoroughly enjoyable romp through British pop history.
