Wham documentary on Netflix reveals endearing tale of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley 

The creator of the fascinating new documentary explains why he was so taken with the story of the hugely-successful pop act who eventually dissolved as George Michael moved on to a solo career 

George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley of Wham are the subjects of a new documentary on Netflix. 

There were lots of surprises when documentarian Chris Smith set about making a film about Eighties pop sensations Wham. He hadn’t appreciated the degree to which the duo of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley truly were a musical partnership rather than just Michael plus a random hanger-on. And he was struck by archive interviews in which Michael, composer of mega-hits such as 'Wake Me Up Before You Go Go' and 'Careless Whisper', was revealed to be humble and unsure of himself – and also slightly frightened of his growing pop star ego.

“One of the things that works really well in documentary is when you think it’s a story you know, but then you realise you don’t,” says Smith over Zoom. “This was a really good case. of, ‘I remember the band, but I didn’t really know the story’. I felt that if it was the case for me it might be the case for others.”