THE History Channel's new documentary on Stevie Wonder will be of interest to those who like the music but know little of the man behind it, rather than the hardcore fans.
It's concise, informative but with one drawback.
Not long into the 45-minute programme, it becomes apparent that the documentary makers had very little access whatsoever to any moving footage of Stevie, relying almost entirely on photographs and padded out by talking heads of (with the exception of Smokey Robinson) mostly music journalists.
There are some interesting photographs of the younger Stevie, but the slow zooming and panning of the camera (a common technique in documentaries, known as the Ken Burns Effect) quickly becomes tiresome when employed so extensively and for that reason the whole programme seems far better suited to the radio.
A quick scan of You Tube reveals there's plenty of footage in existence of Stevie Wonder in the 60s and 70s and its absence here, coupled with the interviews of people really only on the fringe of Wonder's life, results in a disappointingly forgettable telling of the story of an incredible man.
At times, real emotion leaps off the screen - tantalisingly brief footage of Stevie being wheeled out of the hospital by his mother following his car accident, the moving accounts of his love for her and grief when she died - but largely this is TV best watched with your ears.
Stevie Wonder DVD (Biography Channel) is out now.
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