This much is TRUE...
Spandau Ballet’s Martin and Gary Kemp send themselves up in a new mockumentary
Eighties icons Martin and Gary Kemp have never taken themselves too seriously, even at the height of their fame when their band Spandau Ballet had a string of top-10 hits.
Now the brothers are sending themselves up in mockumentary The Kemps: All True, in which they play fictionalised versions of themselves, with comedian Rhys Thomas interviewing them as they record their anniversary album, Spandau Rekemped. Cameras follow Gary at the disastrous launch of his vegan meat substitute, Wonge, and Martin as he tries to drum up investors for a sci-fi film he’s written.
‘The show’s made to make you belly-laugh, which is perfect at the moment!’ explains Martin, who also starred as Steve Owen in Eastenders. ‘What you see on screen are heightened versions of both of us, or at least I hope so!’
The brothers are seen bickering over everything from who has the most life experience to who came up with the name Spandau Ballet. We also see them trying to manage their projects from a hot-desking space in London and hijacking the Radio 2 studios to play the latest release of their hit song True.
Family feeling
There’s even a spoof Who Do You Think You Are? moment, when Gary and Martin learn that their hated cousin Ross Kemp (not that one!), who was horrible to them when they were younger, is actually their brother. The guest cast is top-notch and includes Christopher Eccleston, Daniel Mays and Anna Maxwell Martin as Gary’s fictional wife Lorna.
‘We have known Perry Benson, who plays Ross, since we were kids,’ says Martin. ‘But the cast were pulled together by Rhys, and they were all huge fans of his work!’