Spiceworld the Movie is on Netflix

Spiceworld the Movie is now on Netflix.

Obviously, everyone knows that the 1997 caper stars the world’s first girl band as themselves, and that the plot runs that they are preparing for a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

Unlike most preparations for concerts at the Albert Hall, the run-up includes rattling around London on a very large, very camp bus, that is driven by Meatloaf, a sojourn at a boot camp, visitations by various figures from a parallel universe, almost being abducted by aliens, and Posh Spice performing an aerial stunt on aforementioned bus which is actually, very clearly, a toy bus.

It also stars Richard E. Grant as their arch, exhausted manager. Those who think Withnail was his best turn, should revisit Spiceworld.

It deserves more credit than it got for its experiments: in the closing credits, the girls break the fourth wall and address the audience.

Plus, the fact that the film was made is a reminder that modern Britain is po-faced. Once, we were a nation that laughed at itself, and didn’t care about making films which were later called “an entertainment-free dead zone”.

Re-watch it and remember how fun life was before we all took ourselves so seriously.