A philosophy, not just a pop group.

OR The Spice Girls Story, by any other name, in another of C4's gossipy showbiz documentaries in the style of previous programmes about Steptoe And Son, Patricia Phoenix and Benny Hill.

The makers take seven key moments in the rise and fall of The Spice Girls. It's a fascinating story, not least because the history of manufactured groups seems to follow the same pattern - discovery, success, the departure of one member after ego clashes, then the rest struggle on half-heartedly for a little while before the whole thing falls apart. From The Monkees to Take That, it's the same old story.

The Spice Girls saga has the added ingredient of girl power. Producer Andi Peters reckons that they came to believe their own publicity, viewing their career as a political crusade to promote that cause. They said as much, declaring that The Spice Girls was a philosophy, not just a pop group.

The trouble was the power battle going on inside the group, resulting in Geri leaving in June 1998. She reinvented herself as a UN ambassador, wore suits, put up her hair and asked people to take her seriously - at least until she'd had time to record a solo album. The others carried on, more because they were in the middle of a money-spinning world tour than anything else. But, as DJ Neil Fox says, "When Geri left, it was never the same" for the five performers chosen from 400 wannabes in the search for a female Take That.

Top Of The Pops magazine may have invented their Posh, Sporty, Ginger, Scary and Baby tags but it was manager Simon Fuller who marketed them as a recognisable brand. That didn't stop the girls ganging up to sack him at the height of their reign as mascots of Cool Britannia. Girl power didn't extend to telling him face-to-face. They sent him a fax firing him.

The split happened while they were filming ITV's An Audience With The Spice Girls. Andi Peters recalls lawyers at the side of the set conferring with the girls while he was trying to make the TV programme. Halfway through the show, the girls stopped and demanded food. And not just any old food. A limousine was sent to McDonalds for a Big Mac, while the studio canteen cooked boiled peas for the Spice Girl who wouldn't eat them any other way. Peters says it was "the most awful part of my TV career."

The Spice Girls went on to conquer America. "They're better than the Village People," says one fan, voicing a compliment most performers would be glad not to receive.