It’s been three years since the hit mockumentary The Kemps: All True, which told the story of Gary and Martin Kemp’s early years, their rise to fame as part of 1980s band Spandau Ballet and their careers in music, film and television. But this being a spoof, none of it was true, despite what the title says!
Now the brothers are back with a follow-up film, The Kemps: All Gold, which once again sees the pair sending themselves up something rotten as they get into all kinds of silly scrapes and ridiculous situations.
It’s written by Rhys Thomas, who wrote the original film, and is also the creator of CBBC’s Oliver Twist prequel Dodger, in which he stars as dim-witted policeman PC Duff. His previous writing credits include the spoof documentaries about fictional rock star Brian Pern (Simon Day), including the 2014 series The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.
After appearing as a comedy version of himself in The Kemps: All True, Rhys returns as award-winning documentary filmmaker Rhys Thomas OBE in The Kemps: All Gold to follow the brothers over a whole year as they make a biopic, get divorced and form a supergroup.
Of course, not everything goes to plan!
“This is bigger, better and funnier than the first one,” says Martin. “If you thought The Kemps: All True was funny then you have to check this one out because it will make you laugh your head off!”
Here’s everything you need to know about The Kemps: All Gold!
The Kemps: All Gold release date
The Kemps: All Gold airs at 10pm on BBC2 on Thursday, December 29. It will be available on BBC iPlayer after it has aired.
The Kemps: All Gold plot
“This one begins a few years after the first show,” explains Gary. “My character, Gary has moved out to the countryside to get his head together and to write Spandau the Ballet. He has split from his wife, has been in a lot of trouble with his [vegan meat-substitute business] Wonge but is still trying to keep that going. Then suddenly much to my annoyance, out of the blue my brother turns up because he’s been kicked out by [his wives] Pepsi and Shirlie! And that’s kind of how the whole thing kicks off.”
As the shenanigans continue, Martin and Gary begin filming Spandau Ballet biopic Gold, form a supergroup with Status Quo’s Francis Rossi and manage to get themselves arrested along the way, too!
The Kemps: All Gold returning cast
Among the returning cast are Foyle’s War actor Michael Kitchen as the Kemps’ long-suffering manager Harvey Stickles and former Benidorm star Perry Benson as Martin and Gary’s brother Ross, who’s referred to throughout as ‘Ross Kemp, Not That One’! Also making a return appearance is Martin’s real-life wife, Shirlie, who, in the world of The Kemps, is one of Martin’s two wives, the other being her singing pal Pepsi!
The Kemps: All Gold guest stars
Martin’s former EastEnders co-star Tamzin Outhwaite stars as herself, and appears when the brothers are making their biopic as she is playing their mum in the film.
Directing the biopic is Dexter Fletcher, former star of kids’ drama Press Gang and director of films such as 2019’s Rocket Man and 2018's Bohemian Rhapsody.
Also appearing in a cameo role is Citizen Khan star and Good Morning Britain presenter Adil Ray, who has been cast in the biopic as Spandau Ballet singer Tony Hadley!
Other famous faces to look our for include Red Dwarf’s Danny John-Jules, Dodger actors Lenny Rush, Ellie May Sheridan and Lucy Montgomery, former Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston, composer David Arnold and Status Quo’s Francis Rossi!
The Kemps: All Gold interview with Gary and Martin Kemp
When The Kemps: All True aired in 2020, did you expect it to be such a big hit with viewers?
GARY: “I didn’t expect it to be quite so loved, but I was pleased to see that it was loved on such a wide scale. It’s been repeated a few times on the BBC and always gets great social media every time it’s shown. We wanted to follow it up and see what we could do with it. The first one was more interview-based based but this one has more of a storyline.”
MARTIN: “To be honest with you, I wasn’t surprised. When we shot All True, the laughter factor was off the scale. It was the funniest thing I had ever worked on. It was the same with the second one. I never laugh as much as when Rhys sends me an idea or a script. That’s not just me saying that. That’s everyone Rhys works with and every script he writes. He’s an absolute genius when it comes to comedy. It’s a real pleasure working on the scripts with him.”
GARY: “I thought it was really funny but I thought people might misunderstand it. I think what happened was people were shocked and surprised that we were willing to go as far as we did in taking the mickey out of ourselves and the stupidity of the show in a way, that was quite a surprise to people. The reaction was really good, I don’t really look at social media for reaction but I was pointed in that direction.”
MARTIN: “It’ll be really interesting when this one comes out because people who saw the first one straight away will understand where we’re at, what sort of comedy this is and how ridiculous the situations are. So they will know what to expect which is why we had to change the film from being documentary led where it was talking heads like the last one was to much more of a movie so we are giving people something that’s really different.”
Has there been anything that Rhys has come up with that you have refused to do? Or do you go along with everything he puts in the script?
MARTIN: “Absolutely. The more you can take the mickey out of yourself, the better it is. The characters that Gary and I play are so heightened and that’s the joy of it really. People are so used to seeing celebrities and pop stars taking themselves seriously in documentaries, but this is Gary and me completely sending ourselves up. This is the other end of the scale.”
GARY: “When we first met Rhys, I don’t think he was sure how far we would take it but then he realised we were willing to go the whole way. And we encourage that. He knows who the Kemps are in that world and he knows what we are willing to do and who are characters are.
MARTIN: “What we’re trying to do is make people belly laugh. Laugh out loud. There’s nothing better than that!”
Tell us about some of the amazing guest stars who appear in The Kemps: All Gold…
GARY: “We had a list of people we wanted.”
MARTIN: “Dexter Fletcher, Tamzin Outhwaite, Francis Rossi, Lenny Rush…”
GARY: “We filmed this earlier in the year and since then Lenny Rush has become a total superstar. He won a Bafta [for his role in BBC Three comedy Am I Being Unreasonable?] and he’s just a beautiful kid. I absolutely love him. He made me laugh so much.”
MARTIN: “When we asked Francis Rossi, I’m not sure he got the whole idea of it but then he just sank into it. As soon as he realised how heightened it was and how ridiculous the whole situations were, he just threw himself into it.”
Martin, what was it like being reunited with Tamzin Outhwaite, who played your on-screen wife in EastEnders?
MARTIN: “It was brilliant. Tamzin and I had three great years at EastEnders where we did some really good work. I’ve cried, laughed and been all over the shop with emotions on different scenes with Tamzin so coming back to together with her was so great.”
GARY: “And she’s playing our mum!”
MARTIN: “It was the funniest thing sitting there with her slippers on smoking, it could have been our mum back in the day!”
Tell us about the return of Perry Benson as Ross Kemp, not that one…
GARY: “We went to the same drama club run by Anna Scher, who passed away recently so we’ve been thinking about her a lot. My generation there also included Pauline Quirke,Linda Robson and Phil Daniels. Perry was there at the same time as Martin. So we have a real history with him going back to childhood. He’s so funny and it’s really hard to keep a straight face when he’s acting.”
After The Kemps: All True aired in 2020, did people think some of it was true?
GARY: “There were some fans out there who were confused by it. I kept trying to explain to them that I was taking the mickey out of myself!”
As well as being in the same band, you’ve also acted together, most famously in the 1990 film The Krays. You must like working together…
GARY: “It’s great! Martin and I have worked together for so long, we did our first TV project in around 1970/71, we were both playing two kids coming back from a Arsenal football match and we bumped into someone in the street & had to talk about the match. It was for Jackanory on the BBC so working together is what we’ve done for fifty years.”
Finally, how would you best describe The Kemps: All Gold?
GARY: “Chaotic comedy and a lot of fun!”
MARTIN: “A real belly laugh!”
