Robbie Rocks Again. The Netflix Series that is sure to ‘Entertain You’.

NETFLIX seems to be enjoying the national icons of England at the moment, as it presents its latest docuseries, ‘Robbie Williams’.

Robbie has performed in Spain recently, where he wowed the crowd in a packed concert. Now viewers see him sitting in his Hollywood home, surrounded by his children in a vest and boxer shorts in the opening scene of his top rated docuseries. 

After 25 years of his record breaking solo career, this four part series follows national treasure Robbie as he looks back on his younger self through never before seen video footage, and reflects on a lifetime spent in the spotlight. 

As the first episode begins with ‘the roots of Robbie’, viewers are presented with the cheeky chappy from the noble north of England, who dreams of being a popstar. Classic footage of ‘Top Of The Pops’ is shown and warning, if you are over the age of 30 and British you may feel quite overwhelmed with nostalgia at this point and wonder ‘where did the time go!’

From the success of his first band ‘Take That’ to his record breaking start to his solo career, the series continues on with Mr Williams the ‘ladies man’ enjoying his tremendous triumphs. However, as the scene flicks from past to present, viewers are thrown right into the deep end of Robbies addiction, as he narrates over seemingly happy videos with the true tales of his drug consumption at the time. 

It serves as an inspiration to anybody struggling, as, in true British form, Robbie is honest and direct about what he was going through. A ‘no frills’ approach to this is your life. 

“I want to entertain, that’s what I want to do”, he tells the cameras, as he explains what it all comes down to. Viewers then witness the musical bomb that is ‘Angels’ being released and exploding onto the British music scene. Robbie calls the song the “secret he had in his back pocket” and as a live performance comes on to the screen, it feels so powerful that one may find themselves singing along and with swaying arms in the air from the sofa in the living room. Is this what it means to be British? Maybe. 

The artist then appropriately states that “something just connected” with that song, before the series moves on, to his complete fall into the abyss. 

From the bullying of the British media to his insatiable appetite for an array of drugs, viewers watch along with Robbie as he spirals further and further down, at one point the music star walks away from the footage as he cannot bear to watch it. 

Watching a now 50 year old Robbie Williams tear up at the memory, may give a second thought to how the best selling but oh-so-cruel newspaper headlines can affect even the biggest of superstars. As the series follows him into rehab it feels quite ironic that the media at the time reported the reason for it being his drug addiction, without acknowledging their huge part in the play. 

As a new ‘clean’ Robbie appears, perhaps something that viewers did not expect to witness is the superstar fall in love on camera with his now wife, who he explains “saved him, body and soul”. It may be described as incredibly heartwarming, and a glimmer of hope to those in even the darkest of tunnels. 

As the artist “tentatively steps back into music life”, sober and now in “safe waters”, viewers can begin to recognise the Robbie on the past footage to the current man who is watching it all back. 

As he is shown to come onto the stage in 2010 for his comeback performance after three years, Dermot O’Leary sums it up perfectly when he introduces him as “one of the greatest entertainers this country has ever known. We love him. This is Mr Robbie Williams”. 

Cue the monumental, and eternal, British applause.