Steven Knight has called his upcoming Oasis documentary “phenomenal”, revealing that he and his team have managed to whittle it down to a mere four hours.
The Peaky Blinders creator is behind the new project, which will include footage from the long-awaited Oasis reunion tour in 2025.
The anticipated shows took place 15 years after the notorious backstage brawl between brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher, leading to the band’s split in 2009.
The film has been created and produced by Knight, with Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, the directors behind 2023 documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom.
“It’s phenomenal,” Knight told the Project Big Screen podcast, while promoting his Peaky Blinders film The Immortal Man with lead actor Cillian Murphy.
“It’s a documentary with a plot – do you know what I mean? It’s actually got a story… it’s been great, [the band have] been great, they’re fantastic to work with.”
“I interviewed them [and] they’re just one quote after another, they’re just so funny,” he said of the Gallagher brothers, who were once notorious for their swipes at one another in interviews and on social media.
Oasis shared a moment of reflection in November last year after their record-breaking tour came to an end in São Paulo, Brazil.
“And so it came to pass,” the band said on Instagram. “’The most damaging pop cultural force in recent British history’ found its way into the hearts and minds of a new generation.
“From Gallagher Hill to the River Plate, from Croke Park on the banks of the Royal Canal to the City Of Angels, the love, joy, tears and euphoria will never be forgotten.”
They concluded: “There will now be a pause for a period of reflection.”
Rumours were swirling at the end of last year that the band would play more shows in 2026. However, The Independent understands that Noel and Liam are having a year out from live gigs, as the two siblings and their respective teams “all need a break”.
In the summer, sources spoke of the chaotic but jubilant scenes backstage after each show, where football stars such as Jack Grealish and Phil Foden rubbed shoulders with Noel and his longtime friend Richard Ashcroft, who has been opening for the band each night.
“It’s been a proper love-in backstage,” one source told The Independent. “There’s a friends and family bar which is basically free booze – Guinness on draft (of course), beer, wine and champagne. It’s like going to a wedding every night.”
They continued: “Cast and Richard Ashcroft are having the time of their lives – it’s been so nice to see Noel and Liam’s guests vibing off each other. Everyone’s been making new friends.”
Some of this will surely make its way into Knight’s documentary, along with insights from Noel and Liam themselves on how they finally patched things up enough to perform together again onstage. Knight and his team were also granted access to the meetings and rehearsals that preceded the live shows.
Appearing backstage at the Brit Awards last month after collecting the Songwriter of the Year award, Noel said that anyone who had seen clips of the documentary said it was “amazing” and that he was looking forward to seeing it in full.
He added that the shows themselves were “10 out of 10” and “better than the Nineties”, admitting that it was “overwhelming in places to see the love for the band after all these years”.
A release date for the documentary has yet to be announced.
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