With big reveals from All Saints, Sugababes, Eternal and more, this funny and sometimes horrifically frank documentary is super juicy … especially when they slate Spice Girls
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s a pop-cultural moment, the turn-of-the-millennium girl group boom hasn’t exactly been flooded with solemn appraisal and analysis. Wisely, this fantastically entertaining three-part documentary doesn’t attempt to rectify that. Instead, Girlbands Forever reminisces in a manner that is equal parts meaty and frothy. And, yes, often about as stomach-churning as that combination sounds.
At the heart of this series – the female-focused follow-up to 2024’s Boybands Forever – is a lot of old ground. Viewers of a certain age will know the trajectories retraced here (the head-spinning arrival of Spice Girls, the scrappy ascent of Atomic Kitten, the existentially challenging lineup rotation of Sugababes, the talent-show conception of Little Mix) and the dominant themes (tabloid hell, merciless management, relentless touring, intraband resentments) like the backs of their faintly wrinkled hands.
Yet via a combination of telling details, ancient-yet-still-juicy gossip, offbeat archive footage, gratifyingly frank interviewees and hearteningly little narrative hand-holding – a style recalling James Bluemel’s far more profound but similarly zingy Once Upon a Time documentary strand – Girlbands Forever offers the angles that can transform familiar subject matter into must-watch TV.
