David Bowie: Five Years is a 2013 British documentary produced and directed by Francis Whately The film explores five years in David Bowie's career which saw him redefine himself as an artist in 1971, 1975, 1977, 1980 and 1983. The documentary made its premiere on BBC Two in May 2013. The film received mixed reviews.

The film shows five key years in David Bowie's career, featuring interviews with collaborators, band members, journalists and commentary from music critics It also features an abundance of previously unseen archive material of Bowie, which the director of the film uses to narrate the film. It is evident from the five years highlighted in the documentary; Bowie continually evolves, from Ziggy Stardust to the Soul Star of Young Americans, to the Thin White Duke.

Cast in order of appearance

Director Francis Whately said the documentary came about when the V&A approached him and told him they were doing a David Bowie exhibition, which became the museum's fastest-selling display of all time. Whately says that he "wanted to do something that was complementary to their show, but that was new and very different". Another reason he chose to do the film at the time was because of Bowie's absence for ten years from releasing any new music, "I think there was an appetite that's been, extraordinarily, only partly sated by the V&A exhibition and the new album, The Next Day, he's just released".

He says that he chose the title "Five Years", because in his opinion those years he highlights in the 1970s and early 1980s, are "where he’s changing direction pretty radically". Whately used his team to scour through hours of material and transcripts from Bowie's various appearances on radio and television, journalist interviews he gave, promotional material from the record labels, and unseen outtakes.

When asked about Bowie's involvement with the project, Whately says Bowie "knew what was going on behind the scenes", and they stayed in touch, but it was never "really about the film". He also says that when the film was nearing completion, Bowie contacted him, asking to preview the film before it was released. Whately's response to Bowie's request was "absolutely not". What he ended up doing was sending a copy of the film to him in New York, to coincide with the release of the documentary on BBC Two. He said Bowie sent him an email afterwards, declaring ; "I'm very proud of you, Francis". Whately went on to note that "Bowie never, ever wanted an authorised film made about him. He made that very clear". Additionally, he said that every person he contacted to appear in the film, "whether it was Carlos Alomar or Earl Slick, they all checked with David that I was okay".

I've always found that I collect, I'm a collector, and I've always just seemed to collect personalities ... ideas.

Two of the things Whately wanted to illustrate through the five pivotal years in Bowie's career, was what Bowie has always been best at, his music and his image. He started with: 1971 to 1972, the year of his breakthrough with Ziggy Stardust; then moved on to 1975, the year of Young Americans; both Low and Heroes in 1977; Scary Monsters in 1980; and ending with 1983, the year of Let's Dance. These selected years show how Bowie has always been able to redefine himself. In interviews shown in the film, Bowie confirms his different stages of rebranding, stating, "I think I wanted to re-evaluate what I did musically, and producer Brian Eno helped open up new doors of perception as well". British music critic Sam Wollaston remarked about his stylistic changes over the years; "I loved every one of him – from fedora-wearing hippy through various aliens, insects, ghosts, etc to the tanned blond yuppie pop star of the Serious Moonlight Tour".