From the opening touches, it is obvious this is no ordinary documentary – not just because it tackles an iconic global brand in a candid and often unexpected manner but because of the gorgeous filmic touches. The Story of Playboy is a rebadge; the original documentary film, by Andre Schafer and Ingmar Trost, was titled Let’s Play, Boy. It chronicles the rise of the Playboy empire and is threaded together by an interview with the man who started it all, Hugh Hefner.

This is a magnificent piece of television for a variety of reasons. It covers every base: the magazine itself, including an intriguing anecdote about how Hefner struggled to get the launch issue off the ground; his personal life, including his luxurious private plane and the iconic Playboy Mansion; the clubs and the transformative decades of the 1980s and 1990s, in which much of it changed, notably the closure of the clubs and the rise of its new media businesses.

There are amusing touches, such as an examination of the magazine’s various international editions: Japan’s frequently features clothed men on its cover, Indonesia’s contains articles and no nudity and Bulgaria’s makes the claim that 45 per cent of its buyers are women.

The filmmakers speak to Hefner’s daughter Christie as well as actress Kathryn Leigh Scott, who recalls her younger days as a Playboy bunny. But the winning moments belong to archival film from the 1960s and 1970s, particularly film of celebrities hanging out at the clubs, including Candice Bergen, Sammy Davis jnr and Joan Collins. There is also a delightful touch for the everyman: Playboy collector Wayne McDonald and his sometimes-bemused wife Loanne invite the cameras in to film his collection and embark on a trip to the last surviving Playboy club and casino in Las Vegas.

A warning for viewers: the documentary is presented in 16:9 booberama and is not for either the ethically inflexible or faint-hearted.

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