Pistol

I almost didn't watch this. I was born in 1969 so I was a little kid during these years. But the music and punk movement endured into the 1980s so I was aware of it tho I didn't follow it. I just wasn't an angry teenager (tho I had reason to be) so it just didn't resonate with me, yet even then I knew something groundbreaking and important had happened. I learned so much watching this series. For starters I had no idea of the intersection of so many enduring greats that started out together at this time. Also? I learned a greater appreciation of punk than I've ever had before. The casting is perfect. The acting and directing and writing and production value are about as good and authentic as it gets. I was hooked early on and binge-watched it in one day. Now I'm sad it's over.

Overall I think this tv series is pretty great. While many people have been disappointed with the casting, I feel that the casting was pretty good and particularly think the actor who played Malcolm mclaren and John Lydon did a good job. It's very much a glamorised version of the sex pistols story with some fictional narrative but nonetheless I think it's pretty decent. One thing I would argue that isn't great is the ending. It's just kinda goofy and very much a romanticised ending which definitely didn't happen. I think I a deeper dive into character development would have also been good like with John lydon and Sid, I feel like they didn't get much of a back story. The soundtrack was also excellent.

But loved it.

As a punk aged 14 in 1976 this should have been cringeworthy, but , regardless, it is most definitely not.

I read Steve Jones' autobiography "Lonely Boy ", and this series is basically a televised version.

The acting and artistic license were great.

What's not to like.

I hope John Lydon changes his opinion when he sees the six episodes for what they are, a celebration of what was, and is to my generation, a life changing attitude.

John Lydon is angry with Danny Boyle and the show's existence, so it is doing something right! The story is intoxicating, some of it true, some of it Apocryphal and some of it whole cloth fabricated.

It is well cast with a young ensemble blending unknowns with some more established actors. The raw anti-establishment energy shines through and there is some good chemistry albeit some of it brilliantly contrarian and negative.

The soundtrack is superb, naturally a lot is Pistols, but there is a liberal scattering of other classic music from the era. Costume and location are up to scratch and some of the dialogue is exceptional, with many memorable lines.

Stranger than fiction, nonetheless enjoyable, engaging and entertaining, though it is difficult to disentangle nostalgia from the show itself.

Have been looking forward to watching this. I was 16 in '77 and The Pistols were a major force in forming the musical tastes that i still have today. 'Pistol' was not quite what i had expected, a mixture of fact and fiction and some mis cast actors let it down a little. However, if you weren't around when punk smashed its way into mid 70's youth culture, i would imagine you would enjoy this more than us that were around at the time and can find holes in the storyline. That said, it was fun to watch, was nice to see original news footage from the time mixed in and had a great soundtrack of assorted genres. A great little series that is worth a watch.