Sex Pistols are getting their own TV show, directed by Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle
Subscribe
X

Get the latest from Beat

12.01.2021

Sex Pistols are getting their own TV show, directed by Trainspotting’s Danny Boyle

Words by Tom parker

Based on guitarist Steve Jones’ 2016 memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol.

Legendary British punks Sex Pistols are about to get their own TV show. Based off guitarist Steve Jones’ 2018 memoir, Lonely Boy: Tales From A Sex Pistol, the show will be screened through FX, with production set to begin on March 7.

Danny Boyle (Trainspotting, Sunshine, The Beach) will be taking the reigns on this one – both directing and executive producing the new series. Pistol, as it’s called, will see Australian actor Toby Wallace play the lead role of Jones, with Anson Boon playing lead vocalist John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon and Jacob Slater playing drummer Paul Cook. You’ll also see Fabien Frankel as original bassist Glen Matlock with Louis Partridge playing the late Sid Vicious.

Pistol will span six episodes and shine a light on Jones’ fascinating story. For Jones, music was an escape from his troubled personal life – one that saw him abandoned by his father, Don Jarvis, at the age of two and sexually abused by his stepfather, Ron Dambagella.

Without the Sex Pistols, Jones wouldn’t be the same person he is today.

Boyle says the TV series will be suitably unbridled and tenacious. “Imagine breaking into the world of The Crown and Downton Abbey with your mates and screaming your songs and your fury at all they represent,” he said in a statement.

“This is the moment that British society and culture changed forever. It is the detonation point for British street culture, where ordinary young people had the stage and vented their fury and their fashion — and everyone had to watch and listen, and everyone feared them or followed them.”

Pistol doesn’t have an official release date as yet but will begin production in March. 

Never miss a story. Sign up to Beat’s newsletter and you’ll be served fresh music, arts, food and culture stories three times a week.