“A drama about the Sex Pistols should be a riot,” said Anita Singh in The Daily Telegraph. But Danny Boyle’s new six-part series (starring Anson Boon, Louis Partridge, Toby Wallace and Jacob Slater as the band’s classic line-up) is “so lacking in anarchic spirit that it may as well be a Coldplay biopic”.
Based on the memoir of guitarist Steve Jones, it ticks off “all the staging posts in the Sex Pistols story – first meeting with Malcolm McLaren, first gig, the infamous Bill Grundy interview, the jubilee boat trip”. And as a “visual accompaniment to a Wikipedia entry”, it would be “passable”, but it’s simply too “Disney-fied” to have the impact the Pistols’ story deserves.
It’s true that the famously unwashed punks are often shown “bathed in a soft, ethereal glow”, said Dan Einav in the FT. Good job then that the acting is “pitch-perfect”. Boon, in particular, brings “an electrifying volatility” to the role of John Lydon, while imbuing him with vulnerability. It’s in reframing the “self-proclaimed ‘fucked four’” as “lost children” that the series is subversive.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
I spent the first ten minutes thinking Pistol was “dreadful”, said Hugo Rifkind in The Times. Mainly that was due to the dialogue. “It’s no good being like other bands, we gotta be like us!” says one of the Pistols. “Wot, four broke working-class kids who can’t play for shit?” comes the reply. My God, I thought, “Could this really be Danny Boyle?”
Still, something must have gone right, as I only planned on watching the first episode, yet “I was still on my sofa four hours later”.
-
What is ‘Arctic Sentry’ and will it deter Russia and China?Today’s Big Question Nato considers joint operation and intelligence sharing in Arctic region, in face of Trump’s threats to seize Greenland for ‘protection’
-
Do audiobooks count as reading?Talking Point Queen Camilla insists listening is legitimate but a snobbery remains that’s hard to shift
-
The end for central bank independence?The Explainer Trump’s war on the US Federal Reserve comes at a moment of global weakening in central bank authority
-
6 inviting homes with event spacesFeature Featuring a Vermont compound with an airstrip and Virginia farm with a party barn
-
Film review: ‘The Choral’Feature Ralph Fiennes plays a demanding aesthete
-
Exploring ancient forests on three continentsThe Week Recommends Reconnecting with historic nature across the world
-
Ultimate pasta alla NormaThe Week Recommends White miso enriches the flavour of this classic pasta dish
-
Woman in Mind: a ‘triumphant’ revival of Alan Ayckbourn’s dark comedyThe Week Recommends Sheridan Smith and Romesh Ranganathan dazzle in ‘bitterly funny farce’
-
Properties of the week: impressive ski chaletsThe Week Recommends Featuring stunning properties in France and Austria
-
The Curious Case of Mike Lynch: an ‘excellent, meticulously researched’ biographyThe Week Recommends Katie Prescott’s book examines Lynch’s life and business dealings, along with his ‘terrible’ end
-
Can You Keep a Secret? Dawn French’s new comedy is a ‘surprising treat’The Week Recommends Warm, funny show about an insurance scam is ‘beautifully performed’
