BOYZONE: NO MATTER WHAT
However few documentaries have been as raw in the way they expose the damage done as Sky Documentaries' 'Boyzone: No Matter What'.
As boy bands go, Dublin five piece Boyzone were nothing special - filling a gap in the 1990s as an alternative to Take That with mostly bland cover versions of pop standards.
However Sophie Oliver's documentary is anything but bland, revealing a group that was cynically media managed by Louis Walsh with little care for the damage it was doing to his charges.
The four surviving members of the group - Ronan Keating, Shane Lynch, Keith Duffy and Mikey Graham - speak with refreshing honesty about the highs and lows of being in Boyzone, the snubs, the desperate ambition, the jealousies, the media exploitation and the heartache of losing fellow member Stephen Gately to a heart condition at the age of 33.
It would take a granite heart not to be moved by tales of how Gately was cruelly outed in the media for being gay.
Lynch, Duffy and Graham's reflections on struggling with the sudden absence of fame when Boyzone initially quit at the height of their popularity are painfully honest.
The villain of the piece is undoubtedly Walsh whose callous pursuit of profit and publicity is best summed up in a moment where he marvels at the news coverage of Gately's outing while Keating, Duffy, Lynch and Graham fume at the treatment of their bandmate's personal life.
'Boyzone: No Matter What' should be a cautionary tale for young people desperate to ride the fame train in manufactured pop groups at the expense of their own health and wellbeing.
However it won't be the last time it happens.
All you can hope is that they won't be as emotionally scarred as Boyzone.
('Boyzone: No Matter What' was broadcast on Sky Documentaries and made available on NowTV from February 2, 2025)
AMERICAN MANHUNT: O.J. SIMPSON
There have been countless miniseries, TV movies and documentaries about the O.J. Simpson trial as well as spoofs on shows like 'Seinfeld,' 'Family Guy' and 'South Park'.
So does the world really need another docuseries?
Netflix certainly thinks so, with director Floyd Russ revisiting the case and talking to police investigators, prosecutors, witnesses and the grieving family of Ron Goldman who was murdered alongside O.J.'s ex wife, Nicole Brown Simpson in a frenzied attack outside her LA condominium in June 1994.
To be fair to Russ, he makes a convincing case over four episodes for re-examining the "trial of the century" which resulted in the acquittal of the American Football star turned Hollywood actor.
What emerges in 'American Manhunt: O.J. Simpson' is a tale that reminds audiences of the botched police investigation while unearthing testimonies that never made it to court from people who saw the superstar behaving erratically in the aftermath of the murders.
Former friends of O.J. Simpson voice their suspicion about his culpability while others, including his infamous houseguest Kato Kaelin, shed light on what may have become of the murder weapon, the knife whose absence caused consternation at the trial.
For younger generations, the docuseries provides a gripping introduction to a case that split America and exposed racial fault lines.
Detective Mark Furman, whose history of derogatory comments came back to haunt him at the trial, admits his folly.
But it's the tragic loss of two lives that Russ is determined to ensure isn't forgotten as Ron Goldman's sister Kim reminds viewers the restaurant worker was unfortunate to be at the wrong place at the wrong time
The docuseries is also a withering indictment of an American legal system where critical information can be withheld from jurors and justice thwarted if you have the right financial clout.
('American Manhunt: O J. Simpson's was released on Netflix on January 29, 2025)
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