I had a very loud thought while watching Jamali Maddix: Follow the Leader (Tuesday 17 September, 10pm), a new four-part series on U&Dave – which I am sorry to say is what they are calling it these days. The thought was this: “Hold on – when did I actually last watch a good documentary?”, and it did make me spool back a bit. When was it?
The problem, if you can call it that, possibly started with Netflix five years ago, when they figured (with Fyre then Tiger King then my beloved The Last Dance) that the key to documentary success was adding layers and layers of gloss: beautifully lit 4K to-camera interviews with everyone involved, editing upon editing upon editing, eight episodes of storytelling for four episodes’ worth of story. This works when the central engine has, say, Joe Exotic in it, but recent attempts to repeat the trick have resulted in some very overblown, overtold stories. Throw in the cultural obsession with true crime, whatever YouTube documentarians are doing, and BBC Three trying to find someone – anyone – to replace Stacey Dooley, and it feels as if the genre is in a weird spot. Channel 4 keep putting stuff out, but when was their last Dogging Tales?
