At first, a little unkindly, I wonder how much drama there could be in Boyzone: No Matter What. I blame my Smash Hits-influenced recollections of a more wholesome boyband than most – but still, I question what this documentary could possibly have to expose about them. The pain of performing shirtless, even though you’re still wearing a waistcoat and tie?
Very quickly, any scepticism disappears. This three-parter is another addition to the increasingly popular “bad tabloids” genre of film-making, in which celebrities of the recent past reveal how much behind-the-scenes manipulation they had to deal with and the extent to which it ruined their lives. Like many showbiz-pages fixtures of the time, Boyzone’s members were put through the public wringer. Here, they tell all about their rise to success and their inevitable spectacular implosion, while discussing how the strings were being pulled – and who they think was pulling them.
