Robbie Williams

The first time I saw Robbie Williams on my television, it was on MTV, I was six years old and my mother didn't allow me to watch that video of him taking his skin off. Any time I would see that music video happening on my television, I would lower the volume so my mother wouldn't hear that I was listening to Rock DJ and imitating Williams dancing. At that young age, both the video and the song caught my attention too much. For my birthday that same year, I asked my parents if they could give me as a gift the album where I could listen to Rock DJ, so that way I wouldn't need to wait for MTV to play it every time.

Sing When You're Winning was my very first album. Robbie Williams was my very first favorite musician.

I'm telling this story because here I am, watching this documentary. I am almost thirty years old, and I'm seeing not only how they made one of my favorite songs, but I am seeing how it was made, and a version of Robbie Williams that I never saw before.

We as his fans were given the opportunity to have a look at a much private and never seen before footage of what Robbie went through. Robbie opens the door to the memories of his youth, his early career, his fears and anxiety, his addictions and his journey until today, and it feels as if he was taking off his skin, once again.

I did not know that this documentary was coming out, but I'm grateful for it. And I think my mother will now allow me to watch it.

I just finished and have truly enjoyed it. It is extremely rare for people in the spotlight to be this real, this authentic. And it is a reminder to never judge books by their cover - however shiny they seem. This is footage and tellings of someone young - too young perhaps - that experienced the dark side to the dream. British media bullying. Anxiety. Depression. It's honest and human. We see footage collected over the years, unseen and raw. With the purpose of building a documentary one day. And Robbie watching it for the first time, guiding us through it. A born entertainer yes, but one that has felt alone and fighting addiction throughout. I often found myself wondering how I'd respond to 'younger me' archives. It must be incredibly hard, therapeutic, strange and beautiful all at the same time. Watch it. Worth the time.

The peak of Robbie William's career, according to the artist himself, was 2003 in Knebworth. After seeing this documentary, I'd agree. Three nights in August of 2003. The peak wasn't that long and the road up and down and around the peak is portrayed in just the right length in this 4-part documentary. Any longer and I would have probably stopped watching . I didn't follow his career, I wasn't at Knebworth or any of his concerts, but I can appreciate the story and arc of his career from age 16 to present day. The life of a pop star is a roller coaster ride just higher highs and lower lows than the rest of us. But Peak Robbie Williams as a human being is not on stage but came much later, in finding purpose.

I grew up in the 'Take that' and the 'Robbie Williams' era and although not their biggest fans I secretly admit to having enjoyed most of the music they dished out. And I have always had a passing interest in Robbie's life, not being able to understand why he seems so troubled.

And the problem with this series is I haven't learned anything new about him. He suffers from depression and he certainly wants us to remember that in this series Money and fame are not the cure to this, at least for Robbie. Having the normality of a family does not seem to have helped him to heal him either.

I don't want to be too hard on him for the above reasons, but he has released this series, and just like he is a musician, I am somebody who has spent 20 years writing honest reviews on here.

The series I'd basically Robbie looking back through his career. For starters, he could have done this in an office somewhere, dressed in appropriate clothing, but no. The whole series was with him sat on his bed in his underwear. Now, I'm a man so don't have a woman's perspective, but it's not a good look. It's a deliberately pretentious way of him 'showing himself off', as he would see it, and maybe it might have worked 30 years ago. But talk about growing old disgracefully.

And the rest of the series is basically old unseen footage of Robbie being miserable about how he has been treated by the press, him being full of nerves before his concert and how he us both comfortable in the UK. In many ways the same type of character as Prince Harry. The main difference is that Harry has had little control in his life until recently whereas Robbie has made all his own choices.

At the end we do get a bit of respite with him talking for all of 2 minutes that his life now is so much better as he now has his wife and four kids. But I don't think that's why he did this documentary. I don't even think he did it for his fans whom he doesn't seem at all grateful for. I doubt he even needed the money. What he did need was to feed his ego, to get us all to understand how hard he had it. The main problem is that it is hard to understand somebody who is unhappy at having the type of life that to many would seem the dream.

Depression is very real and destroys lives. I don't want people thinking I don't understand that, I certainly do. But for so many years now, Robbie has had full autonomy of his life. He has the means for the best of help whilst others have no support whatsoever. Despite his recent happiness with his family and situation, he still has the need to continuously tell us how hard he has had it.

I am genuinely disappointed how tainted some people are in their view of this piece. Disgruntled Take That fans that seemingly still haven't grown beyond that petty fight of the past. Whereas all the band members are way past that.

This journey that Robbie has allowed us to embark on with him seemed quite surreal to me. I've grown up listening to his music, and seeing each song on a timeline of his life was quite touching.

Do you have to get every emotion or sentiment he was having? No, this isn't an entertainment show-piece. It's a very raw look into Robbie Williams, his demons, his successes and his failures. What else should he talk about in a documentary about his life?

I really loved the part about him and Guy Chambers. How their relationship developed and created some fantastic music that we still remember today. Also how Rude Box failed, and how after Leeds Robbie had climbed his way back steadily into stardom.

I was glad I saw him live twice this year. He seemed very happy with where he ended up in his life and seeing the final moments of the documentary it was clear that he had found the happy ending to his story.

Overall, this was a very touching and real documentary about an extraordinary star, that is an exceptional singer, a real showman and a genuine person.