Making the Monkees

1 x 60' - Channel 4 (2007)

‘Making the Monkees’ follows the development of 1960’s pop phenomenon, The Monkees, who outsold Elvis and The Beatles to become the biggest pop band in the world.

With their anarchic TV show and contagious pop songs they attracted a cult following that survives to this day. ‘The Monkees’ are credited as being the industry’s first manufactured pop group. Behind the sugary smiles and bubblegum pop songs lay a cut-throat business enterprise fuelled by money, ego and the ambition of some of the biggest names in Hollywood. A business enterprise that, ultimately, was to end in tears.

Narrated by John Simm (Life on Mars), ‘Making The Monkees’ tells the story of how The Monkees - and the men who pulled their strings - created the blueprint for the boy-band phenomenon that is so prevalent today, from the prototype casting and marketing, to the inevitable tantrums over artistic control and the ensuing commercial failure.