I finally got around to watching Boybands Forever, a three part documentary on the BBC that aired late last year. I had planned to watch it over Christmas but a few scenes into the first episode, I thought it might be a bit depressing - turns out these boybands haven’t all had the best of experiences. So I waited until January, when we’re all experiencing the blues anyway, so why not share the pain.

It was SO GOOD.

The first episode focused in on Take That and East 17, the rivalry that was generated and existed between them, and how they both seemed to fly so high and then the bubble burst and from the heights of such fame to the depths of dealing with life afterwards. The second episode features the stories of Five, 911 and Damage, how they were put together, riding the next wave of boyband hysteria. And the final episode showed the rise of Blue and Westlife, with the resurrection of Take That, and the impossibility of manufacturing a boy band outside of the X Factor bubble.

Within each story there were some serious revelations to be shared and witnessed. We all know by now the story of Robbie Williams leaving Take That, but I had no idea how close Five came to self-combusting, and that Brian from Westlife has some regrets around the manner of his departure from the band. And it’s so clear how awful the industry was to be in then - talking head Jayne Middlemiss mentions at one point that suddenly people started to wake up to mental health and actually looking after the artists rather than wringing them out for all they were worth. But for most of the bands featured, that was too little too late.

Additional contributors outside of the band members include newspaper journalists who don’t repent at all for what went before, managers who did the best they could despite being inexperienced themselves, and Simon Cowell who continues to show no mercy.

It’s telling, as well, that Richie from Five, says how they perform now - rocking up somewhere, playing some tunes, and then going back to the family - is how he thought it was going to be from the start. Of course, the luxury of how it is now is due to the hard work of the past, but there surely is a happy balance between the two.

I love boybands but I do feel a bit guilty about that having watched this, knowing how poorly some of them were treated, and how difficult it was for them. You sort of get the sense that none of them would trade it if they could do it over, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t hard to live through at the time. A really insightful and eye-opening docu-series, this, and definitely worth a watch.

Girlbands Forever, next, please.