Trainspotting/Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle charts the rise of the Sex Pistols in new TV series Pistol

Danny Boyle, the award-winning director of Trainspotting, Slumdog Millionaire, 28 Days Later and Shallow Grave, is turning his attention to the rise and fall of punk rock icons the Sex Pistols for a forthcoming six part TV series.

Filming has already begun in London on Pistol, which is based upon Sex Pistols’ guitarist Steve Jones’ acclaimed 2018 memoir Lonely Boy. The book has been adapted for television by writers Craig Pearce (Strictly Ballroom, The Great Gatsby) and Frank Cottrell Boyce (24 Hour Party People), who also worked with Boyle on the staging of the theatrical opening ceremony for the London 2012 Olympics.

“Imagine breaking into the world of The Crown and Downtown Abbey with your mates and screaming your songs and your fury at all they represent,” says Boyle. “This is the moment that British society and culture changed for ever.  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. The Sex Pistols.

“At its centre was a young charming illiterate kleptomaniac, a hero for the times, Steve Jones, who became in his own words, the 94th greatest guitarist of all time. This is how he got there.”

Upon its publication, Lonely Boy was described as “the story of an unlikely guitar hero… who transformed 20th century culture and kick-started a social revolution.”

Set to air on FX, Pistol stars Toby Wallace (Babyteeth) as Steve Jones, Anson Boon (Crawl, 1917) as vocalist John Lydon, Louis Partridge (Enola Homes, Medici) as bassist Sid Vicious, and Jacob Slater as drummer Paul Cook, as well as Fabien Frankel (The Serpent) as Glen Matlock, Dylan Llewellyn (Derry Girls) as Wally Nightingale, Sydney Chandler (Don’t Worry Darling) as Chrissie Hynde, Emma Appleton (The Witcher, Traitors) as Nancy Spungen, and Game Of Thrones star Maisie Williams as punk icon Jordan.