Winona Ryder’s career may have been revived and even restored by her role as Joyce Byers in Stranger Things. But for a generation of new fans who weren’t born when she first made a splash in Mermaids, Heathers and the original Beetlejuice, Ryder remains a figurehead of outsider teen cool as much as she is the embodiment of Will’s mum. This largely seems to be the thesis put forward by Famously… Winona, a new six-part podcast on BBC Sounds, with a starry-eyed script somewhat blankly recited by fellow child star Maisie Williams.

She only really comes to life during the moments when she identifies with the pressures from studios and terrible tabloid treatment which dogged Ryder, particularly through her early career when the Minnesota-born teenager was swiftly elevated to Gen-X icon and primo press fodder thanks to her relationship with Johnny Depp.

The Famously… strand trades in gushy celebrity analysis, and the talking heads in this edition are largely drawn from the media, with some fan interaction and mere soundbites from Heathers director Michael Lehmann. Ryder’s quotes are voiced by an actress while snippets from an archive interview with Terry Wogan give the impression that the show’s insights are wholly cobbled together.

Predictable themes emerge, circling repeatedly around Ryder’s ineffable cool, her shunning of fame and a precocious talent. The narrative is driven by embellishment and speculation along the lines of ‘Winona must have been…’, much like any cheaply-made celebrity bio show without access to the artist or those closest to them. Attempts to drum up the drama of her first meeting with Depp sound like innocent sensationalism but at least Ryder’s subsequent mental-health struggles are viewed through a kinder lens, now that duty of care is better understood if not always implemented.

All episodes of Famously… Winona are available now.