They finally made a monkey out of him.
This time the boys go ape for Robbie's first biopic, Better Man (2024), directed by Michael Gracey of The Greatest Showman fame. You may have heard, but there's a bit of a twist in that Robbie Williams is portrayed by a CGI monkey for the entire film. The fellas start off by gibbon the movie a rating out of 10 before diving into a spoileriffic discussion about the movie, its historical accuracy, and the astonishing events behind-the-scenes that brought this $111,000,000 primate passion project to life.
Is the movie a howler (monkey) or did it turn out great (ape)? Why did Gary Barlow turn down the original script? Who is the mysterious Nate? Which death cost the film millions of dollars? Why is Adam Tucker credited on so much of the soundtrack? Are we entering a Year Of Robbie?
Chimpanzee for yourself in an episode that's Goodall (i.e. Jane) round!
(Recorded in 2024)
--------
3:14:11
17 - Greatest Days. Visions Volume 1, And Netflix's Robbie Williams
We're back with a triple threat!
This time the boys tackle the 2023 Take That musical film Greatest Days, the first album from Robbie's dance side project: Visions Volume 1 by Lufthaus, and Netflix's four-part documentary series simply called Robbie Williams. You wait two years for one and three come along at once, typical. The movie sees childhood friends reunite over their love of Take That's music, the album contains roughly one hundred and twenty beats per minute, and the documentary sees Robbie Williams reflect on his career, watching decades of archival footage from his bed.
Who are The Boys and what have they done with Take That? What exactly are the lyrics of "Ringo"? Is there anything from the documentary that we haven't covered yet? Find out all this and more in a real bumper of an episode.
This episode's good! But the next one's better, man.
(Recorded in 2023)
--------
2:20:37
16 - XXV
We've got one more in us, and so does Robbie.
To celebrate 25 years (give or take) in the music industry, Robbie Williams returns with his 2022 album XXV, a compilation album with a twist, all of his old songs have been newly re-recorded with an orchestra, offering some radical new takes on classic tracks and plenty of surprises. Just as Robbie has been looking at his career with 25 years of hindsight, the boys have had plenty of time to mull over the podcast, this being the first episode recorded since 2020, and get into the Robbie Hole's three-year gestation period now that they're older and wiser. Prepare for a bumper episode with over double the Robbie antics of any other, find out which re-recordings improve on the originals via our handy rating system, and discover tantalising details about the upcoming Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, directed by The Greatest Showman's Michael Gracey. This is one of the deepest dives into the Robbie Hole yet. What horrifying thing did Robbie do to his own hand? Why did he tweet an advertisement for an animal? Does he have a semi-secret dance music project with two Australian men? What does Iron Man 3 have to do with any of this? Find out all of this and more in the last venture Down The Robbie Hole for a while (we promise this time), as this is the current endpoint of Robbie's discography, episodes will be more sporadic from here on out. Join us next time whenever there is more Robbie to be Holed.
(Recorded in 2023)
--------
3:45:53
15 - Final Rankings And Conclusion
Our journey Down The Robbie Hole comes to an end. The boys rank Robbie Williams's albums and provide their own top 10 personal favourite tracks, reflecting on the experience of deep-diving into Robbie Williams's discography and examine how their own relationship to Robbie has changed in the process. There are some truly shocking choices in the rankings that you won't want to miss. From outside the Robbie Hole, looking in, we bid you adieu.
--------
1:07:28
14 - The Christmas Present
Deck the halls with Holes of Robbie!
This time the gang unwrap Robbie Williams's 2019 Christmas album, The Christmas Present, a two-disc collection of classic Christmas covers and new seasonal originals. Featuring Bryan Adams, Rod Stewart, and for some reason Tyson Fury, this album has much to discuss. The boys get into their personal relationships with Christmas songs, which are their favourites, which are their least favourites, and how retail jobs can eradicate your tolerance for them. How did Robbie use his fame to sell carrots for Christmas dinners? What song was Robbie originally going to perform as a duet with Britney Spears? Who is the mysterious Poppa Pete? Find out all this and more in a truly bell-jingling episode of Down The Robbie Hole.
(Down The Robbie Hole was recorded from 2019-2020)
Australia