Stars: Graham McPherson, Mark Bedford, Lee Thompson, Carl Smyth, Dan Woodgate, Chris Foreman, Mike Barson

Time has been very kind to this 1981 mock-dramatised rockumentary, if you will, of the Nutty Boys’ formative years as Camden-dwelling wannabes, Madness’s formation, and rapid ascent. Directed by Stiff Records label founder Dave Robinson and now restored by the BFI, this is an amiably ramshackle, freewheeling affair with the band playing themselves, a bunch of perennially skint working-class lads trying to get a band together. Their early incarnation is a pretty rough covers band, and receptions are unsurprisingly either muted or outright aggressive until they bring their ska influences to the fore, enlist frontman Graham ‘Suggs’ McPherson, and hit paydirt. Part biopic, part North London hangout film about the joys of messing about with mates, this is a charming time capsule look at life in the early 80s, and a still fairly squalid pre-Britpop Camden. Working from an evidently semi-improvised script, the band members exude a natural likeability, and the full band concert performances, recorded at legendary Camden venue The Dublin Castle—which includes songs such as ‘Night Boat to Cairo’ and ‘One Stop Beyond’—are thrilling.

David Willoughby

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