It looks at once realistic and contrived. You don’t quite believe you are visiting an archive, or watching Cave in his study, let alone seeing him rolling out of his own bed when the alarm rings – yet, whatever the provenance of these scenes (and it turns out that all are in staged locations) they feel as if they contain a grain of truth, a depiction of the self for which Cave is prepared to take responsibility.

All together: From left, Jane Pollard, Iain Forsyth, Nick Cave and his wife, Susie Bick, in 20,000 Days On Earth.

There’s not much in the way of context – it’s assumed that you know who the other people are, or what their relationship with Cave is. Warren Ellis, a continuing collaborator who has played with him in the Bad Seeds and beyond, is a strong presence, whether he’s sharing in recollections, serving up eels, accompanying Cave in the studio or teasing him about a song that reminds him of a Lionel Richie number.

Ellis is not an apparition like the passengers in Nick’s car, who come from earlier collaborations. Ray Winstone (star of The Proposition, written by Cave) talks about fame, and about playing Henry VIII and thinking that he really is the king. Kylie Minogue – oddly enough, there’s plenty of background detail about how they met, and why – recalls that she speed-read his biography before their first encounter. Blixa Bargeld speaks about why he suddenly quit the Bad Seeds (which as a revelation is not up to much).

There are invoked figures, too. Cave can sort through photos, or point to an image projected onto a wall, and fleetingly recall his late bandmates, Rowland S. Howard and Tracy Pew. Mick Harvey, his collaborator over decades, is briefly referred to this way.