Sex Pistols – The Panto

Punk director plans panto based on Pistols

07 Jan 08 - Julien Temple - director of legendary Sex Pistols documentaries The Great Rock & Roll Swindle and The Filth & The Fury has revealed that he's got a very special theatre project in mind for 2008.

Speaking exclusively to 6Music he explained, “I’m thinking of doing a pantomime of the Great Rock N Roll Swindle with John Lydon next year as well. I think he’d be great in a pantomime. You’d have to adapt something like Dick Whittington to the Great Rock N Roll Swindle.

“I don’t know whether we’d get Malcolm [McClaren – former Pistols manager] to play The Big Bad Witch of whatever, but it’s a funny idea anyway.”

Temple went on to say that he's just competed work on a new DVD based around the Pistols five night November residency at the Brixton Academy in London, and that he believes the band's live shows are still well worth documenting.

“It’s a bit embarrassing going back to do more stuff with The Pistols,” he said, “Particularly after I had them in silhouette in the last film I did [The Filth & the Fury] cos I though it wasn’t a good idea to see how they’d aged.

"They make a pantomime - a psycho-panto - out of the event."
- Julien Temple

“But I think they’re great, because unlike most bands they don’t preen around and pretend they’re spring chickens, or whatever, strutting around the stage. They make a pantomime - a psycho-panto - out of the event.

“They haven’t loss their knack for ‘titanic detonation’ or whatever you want to call it, but they are very funny and they have an incredible rapport with an audience. I think they’re a national treasure now, so I made the piece in that light really.”

Temple has clearly got his work cut of for himself in the next twelve months, as he has another classic band in his sights.

“I’m going to do a film hopefully about The Kinks at some point,” he admitted, “I used to go and watch them drink as a school kids. I’d bunk of school over the other side of Hampstead Heath. You’d learn a lot just by watching The Kinks drink actually.”


Matt Everitt