Wham! are on this week's Radio Times cover
As a new Netflix film tells the Wham! story, Andrew Ridgeley recalls his schoolboy friend Yog, their journey to global fame – and why their bond could never be broken.
This week, two dramas separated by 40 years tangle with not only the same themes of belonging and betrayal, but also the same subject: the Cambridge spy ring, of which Guy Burgess and Kim Philby were the two best-known names of the infamous four.
It's a testament to the extent to which the Cold War story of the British spies who turned against their country gripped the nation’s imagination that fresh dramas are still being made about it.
An adaptation of Ben Macintyre's book, A Spy Among Friends, arrives on ITV this week, with Damian Lewis as the British agent charged with meeting Kim Philby in exile in Beirut and extracting a confession from his old friend.
Meanwhile, on BBC Four, Alan Bennett introduces a repeat of his 1983 classic, An Englishman Abroad.
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Another very different blast from the past reaches our screens this week with Netflix's much heralded Wham! documentary. Because at much the same time Bennett was writing about gentlemen in tweeds betraying their country, two young men from north London were changing the world of '80s pop.
In our interview in the latest issue of Radio Times magazine, Andrew Ridgeley recalls his childhood friend Yog, later known to his millions of fans as George Michael, and their journey to stardom as the founder members of Wham! It's a story as far removed from the double dealing of the Cambridge spies as the pair's oversized T-shirts were from bespoke tailoring.
Read more:
- George Michael sings Last Christmas in first look at Wham! documentary
- Wham! director on how Netflix film differs from other George Michael docs
Also in this week's Radio Times:
- In his last UK interview, late actor Julian Sands spoke candidly and presciently with Radio Times about the allure and dangers of climbing, the impact it had on his life as an actor, and why he increasingly went alone
- Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult reveal their unique bond as child actors, their on-screen chemistry and off-screen camaraderie
- After 25 years at Radio 3, Petroc Trelawny on why classical music still has to fight its corner and the urgent need to protect BBC orchestras and choirs
Wham! will be available to stream on Netflix from Wednesday 5th July. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out our lists of the best series on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or see what else is on with our TV Guide.
Take part in the Screen Test, a project from Radio Times and the Universities of Sussex and Brighton, to explore the role of television and audio in our lives.
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