Take That; Clive Myrie’s African Adventure

“There is little here we don’t already know, and certainly nothing to rival the emotional emetic that was former band member and on/off frenemy Robbie Williams’ 2023 Netflix series, in which the Rudebox hitmaker grumbled about fame for four hours while sitting on a bed in his pants. (Tellingly, neither Williams nor Jason Orange, who left Take That in 2014, have contributed to this series, the spoilsports.) Instead, we get a straightforward and refreshingly unembittered retelling of the band’s story, from their bewildered early performances in gay clubs (“I absolutely hated the outfits,” guffaws Barlow over punishing archive closeups of his chainmail codpiece) to their unprecedented second coming, a decade after they imploded in a hail of double denim (“Fame, for me, is still a real struggle,” sighs poor old Howard, off-camera, who sounds as if he’s phoning in from the passenger seat of his Ford Mondeo). It’s hugely enjoyable stuff.”
Sarah Dempster, The Guardian

“This Netflix documentary series about our biggest and most turbulent boy band was directed by David Soutar, who did the hilarious Bros: After the Screaming Stops. Gary Barlow, Robbie Williams, Mark Owen, Howard Donald and Jason Orange come over better than the Goss brothers did, mainly on grounds of self-awareness. None of them, mercifully, appears on the list of producers and, in audio interviews here, they all talk about difficult stuff, although some are riper for the Netflix treatment than others. Owen, according to Williams, is “probably the nicest man in history”, which is lovely but doesn’t make for gripping revelations. The juice, of course, is the Barlow-Williams rivalry, with a side order of Orange-Donald marginalisation (this was when “Orange Donald” meant something different).”
Ed Potton, The Times

“This three-part series charts the highs, the lows and their continuation as a three-piece, middle-aged-man band. As an official history, it does a decent job. But there are no revelations, and if you’re a Take That fan you will be familiar with every beat. Fun as it is to see the band in archive performances and behind-the-scenes footage, overall the documentary is a Wikipedia entry brought to life. This is a shame, because the company that made it, Fulwell Productions, was behind Bros: When The Screaming Stops, an absolute masterpiece of the genre. But that wasn’t a Netflix production; the US streamer seems to prefer smoother celebrity biographies.”
Anita Singh, Telegraph

“Telly travelogues come in two main types. Some, like Michael Palin’s immersive plunges into far-flung cultures or Stanley Tucci’s foodie adventures, evoke the thrill of exploration. Others, mostly those presented by comedians, are shallow, heavily scripted sightseeing excursions. The worst of them feature toilet humour, and motorhomes driven by Gordon Ramsay or Bradley Walsh. Clive Myrie’s African Adventure isn’t quite as bad as that. But the first episode was traditional travel-by-numbers, and that’s a great shame because it missed an opportunity to do something less formulaic.”
Christopher Stevens, Daily Mail

“How many celebrities could have persuaded Ndileka Mandela, Nelson Mandela’s granddaughter, to meet them for lunch, as Myrie did? They ate Nelson’s favourite food, oxtail, and she talked fondly of him as a man of humility who treated everyone, whether the Queen of England or the ordinary man on the street, with equal respect. You could see how excited Myrie was to be back in South Africa in this first episode. He was in a playful mood — some might say positively giddy. When he went car spinning, a sport that originated in Soweto and involves driving a car at high speeds in circles, he whooped so loudly I considered turning the volume down.”
Carol Midgley, The Times

“The Morocco episodes feel most like a traditional travelogue, but they’re still a lot of fun – even if Goat Milking with Clive Myrie does have a touch of the Partridge about it, as an idea. Really, though, this is a wonderful series which shows that the much-maligned celebrity travel show can be educational, informative and really moving (and, crucially, that destinations other than Italy are available). And with so much more of Africa to see, here’s hoping they give him a few weeks off from the news again soon.”
Hannah J Davies, The Guardian