The Rise and Fall of ... - 4. Cancelled
In the aftermath of the Bill Grundy interview, the Sex Pistols became Britain’s most notorious band, not for their music, but for the chaos that followed. To some, they were a threat to society itself, and instead of ignoring them, middle England lost its collective mind.
Episode 4 of the Rise and Fall of Sex Pistols plunges into the wreckage of that moment: a UK tour collapsing date by date, sackings from two major labels in just six months, and how manager Malcolm McLaren spun outrage into art.
From smashed toilets to moral panic, from Caerphilly to Buckingham Palace, this is the story of how doing nothing made the Pistols more famous than ever.
Episode 4 features archive interviews from: Johnny Rotten, Steve Jones, Paul Cook, Malcolm McLaren and Sid Vicious alongside a brand-new interview with punk author and historian Chris Sullivan.
Presented by Gina Birch and Steve Lamacq
A BBC Audio Production
Published on Monday, 27th October 2025.
Available Podcasts from The Rise and Fall of ...
Subscribe to The Rise and Fall of ...
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the The Rise and Fall of ... webpage.