Ingham Infiltrates: Robbie Williams

Well-known undercover investigator Perry Ingham decides to expose Robbie Williams for who he really is. Getting his hands on the song Good Doctor, Ingham uses his military background to uncover a world of drug abuse and identity fraud.

Screened separately and together on television and widely available on the internet, this short film was one of several that were commissioned by Robbie Williams to help promote his new album Rudebox. None of the shorts were videos but they were all standalone short films "inspired" by a song off the album but always intended to exist in their own right. I was surprised to find this film among the shorts because Ingham is a character I have seen in other short films as Campbell and Wilson have done this spoof of Macintyre before. I'm not sure if they fell back on this character because they weren't sure what else to do with the terrible song of the title; however the idea works and Williams deserves credit for being a good sport considering its theme.

As with the previous Ingham films, the jokes about the military background are all at Macintyre's expense and are mostly funny. The "investigation" tires a little at the end but more or less has enough to get through it and be entertaining. As ever Campbell does a good job in this character – not ever having to do more than the one joke he has with it. Williams makes an "archive footage" appearance but his look-alike doesn't fool anyone, which is a shame.

Overall though, an amusing spoof of Macintyre that uses Robbie Williams well within the story despite Campbell and Wilson having had a weak song dumped on them to work with.