Christmas '77 with the Sex Pistols

This programme contains strong language.

Oh, where am I?

Oh, Auntie, it's so nice to be back.

I think I must have fallen asleep -

and you'll never guess where I went in my dream.

This is BBC One.

# A ray of hope

# Flickers in the sky

# A tiny star

# Lights up way up high

# All across the land dawns a brand-new morn

# This comes to pass

# When a child is born

# A silent wish sails the seven seas

# The winds of change

# Whisper in the trees

# And the walls of doubt crumble tossed and torn

# This comes to pass when a child is born... #

Once upon a time, many, many Christmases ago,

in a small industrial town in Yorkshire,

during another winter of discontent, a kind of miracle took place.

The stars shone down on a frosty night

and the snow lay deep and even.

Summat strange happened that night that's still worth celebrating,

which sheds a lurid light on the Great British Christmas

as we still know it today.

Summat took place in Huddersfield,

summat that might still tickle your fancy on the Yuletide sofa,

this many, many years later.

Let's all now share a collective eruption,

and let the story commence.

Very happy Christmas, and it's nice to be all together once again.

Bootiful.

They're bootiful, really bootiful.

Welcome to Christmas Day festivities at Ivanhoe's in West Yorkshire,

and it's going to be a goody today,

my word, oh, yeah, it IS going to be a goody.

Sex Pistols is the name of the game,

they're the guys who are putting on this free party for you today.

We've got some terrific prizes for you, we've got some albums,

singles, skateboards to give away - fantastico.

# She's crazy like a fool

# What about it Daddy Cool

# I'm crazy like a fool

# What about it Daddy Cool

# Daddy Daddy Cool

# Daddy Daddy Cool

# Daddy Daddy Cool

# Daddy Daddy Cool... #

"Daddy Cool, Daddy..." I hated that fucking song.

That was a shithouse song.

Horrible.

# Daddy Daddy Cool... #

I loved Daddy Cool.

Yes, loved Boney M.

# Daddy Cool, Daddy... # It's fucking horrible.

Give us another one.

# And all the bells on earth shall ring

# On Christmas Day, on Christmas Day

# All the bells on earth shall ring

# On Christmas Day in the morning. #

Hello! Hello, hello!

And a very, very merry Christmas to you.

Welcome to the Christmas edition of Top Of The Pops,

we hope that you got the pressies you wanted, and the pudding

isn't lying too heavy, because, er, bit of dancing to do.

# Oh, yes, sir, I can boogie... #

They always had the traditional Top Of The Pops countdown

on Christmas Day, and they all had their silly hats on,

and tinsel everywhere, and, you know,

Dave Lee Travis with his big old beard,

and a bit of tinsel round his head, and it's like, "Ugh."

I hope you're enjoying the Boxing Day spirit, like we are.

That would be the highlight, actually, of the Christmas Day.

Hello, and welcome to my little series on Christmas know-how.

There you are, gentlemen.

This is how we country kids warm our drop of scrumpy up.

So you can drink more and more and more.

Ahh.

Christmas, to me, is not just one room. If you walk into a forest,

you've got trees everywhere.

I'd like anybody who walks through that front door to see - tree.

As they walk in, they see a tree.

They go through that door, they see another tree.

When they come in this room, they see four trees.

I want Christmas everywhere in the house.

No Christmas must be commercialised, in my opinion.

# ..we bring pa ra pa pum pum

# Ra pa pum pum

# Ra pa pum pum... #

We're supposed to be saving power at the moment,

but somebody coming into this room might think you're trying

to use as much as possible.

Well, shall I put it this way?

I love Christmas,

and I couldn't care less for any government at the present moment.

Let's have a look and see what it is.

Look at that! My word, she's going to do well, isn't she?

Over a hundred patients at Dudley Road Hospital in Birmingham

were led to safety tonight as troops fought a fire in the basement.

It took them just over an hour to put out the blaze.

Four hours' general training and 20-year-old equipment

isn't much use in tackling a fire where there's dense chemical smoke.

Two soldiers were overcome.

A writing competition,

now, what you have to do is write down what you would have most liked

for Christmas that you didn't get.

Did you have a nice Wombling Christmas?

-ALL: Yeah!

-Great!

MUSIC: Wombling Merry Christmas by The Wombles

# Open your eyes

# Look to the skies when you're lonely

# There will be stars shining for you... #

Ah, the Wombles of Wimbledon.

Oh, wasn't that fun, huh?

Blokes in furry kits with schnozzles.

I would have thought been a hell of a lot more scary

than Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious. But, you know.

# All day long

# We will be Wombling in the snow

# We wish you a Wombling Merry Christmas... #

We grew up having traditional Christmases, I guess,

at home, the family.

It's just like another Sunday lunch for us, really, Christmas.

With a few presents thrown in.

We start with the most important of all, the turkey,

which is, after all, the British national bird.

Now, this curious pinching movement that I'm doing here

isn't just silly, but to loosen the skin

so that afterwards I can put my hand underneath

and begin the process of lubricating the dry bird.

Because it doesn't do much for the bird's figure, let's face it.

Nothing massive, like they are now.

Everyone goes way over the top, you know? Ridiculous.

Starts in early November and it just goes on and on and on,

with all the songs, the adverts, the gifts, and it's awful.

It's so over-commercialised,

and people just spend so much money, just seem to get themselves in debt.

45 seconds, starting from now.

On the conveyor belt tonight we have a food hamper.

Everything you remember you will take home with you tonight.

BRASS BAND PLAYS

Oxford Street is a thoroughfare of opportunity

for the dedicated shoplifter,

mingling with the crowds of Christmas shoppers.

Most stores have had to take on extra security men

to counter the shoplifting gangs.

By and large, toys are far too expensive,

and with today's salary standstill, one has to make do.

And, in fact, we make a good deal of the toys for the children.

I'm making them a fort at the moment,

my wife is making them a clown's outfit.

We were very poor.

Nothing in our house was traditional in the way.

-CHILDREN SHOUT:

-Don't cut back on the beans, Mum!

Xmas Meanz Beanz!

# We wish you a merry Christmas

# We wish you a merry Christmas... #

But then again, it really wasn't anywhere - I've never seen,

like, the advertisements you see on TV of the family all

gathered around the dead, baked bird.

So, now, I fill it into a nylon icing bag with no pipe affixed,

and then all I've got to do is just squeeze until the bird's full.

We had that, but not around a big table.

It'd be everyone to your own chair, and you eat off your lap.

I think Christmas time is actually my worst time of the year.

I still am not a fan of Christmas. It's my least favourite holiday.

Maybe it's to do with, like, when families get together,

and I had a shit family.

I got some shit toy.

My mum and dad went down the pub and left me by myself,

from a young age till I left home, basically.

So - not good.

Steve used to come round to us for Christmas.

So, it was a bit tricky for him.

Well, it's always that image of the grass is greener somewhere else.

But I think a lot of people,

if they're honest with themself, are not fans of Christmas.

I'd love the packaging of the toys more than the toys themselves.

I can play with a cardboard box, even to this day, and I love that.

I love the unwrapping of the gift more than the gift itself.

I can remember a train set - oh, I loved it. Hornby train set.

I had one from before, you know, an old steam engine,

but I knew those were old-fashioned.

I wanted a modern British Rail kit, and I got it!

WOMAN SINGS: This is the age...

..of the train. And it was fantastic.

I was just watching that thing turn round and round and round,

and then after, say, two hours you're back to playing with the box.

Cos you could build things out of the box,

you could build little houses,

and make little pretend stations for the train to stop at.

Much more fun.

# I'm dreaming

# Of a white Christmas

# Just like the ones

# I used to know... #

Oh, I'm dreaming of a white Christmas.

Well, the snow was always a problem, because in the very early years

we used to live in a place called Benwell Mansions.

That was two rooms, with an outside toilet.

When the snows were heavy, it meant that you couldn't go

and use the loo.

And if you did, you know, certain parts of you could freeze up,

quite seriously.

Tanks were set up in the street, but even they froze up,

and you needed hot water to thaw out the tap

before you could get cold water to make hot water with.

CHURCH BELLS RING

The church thing would be kind of all right at Christmas,

because I liked the old organs blaring away.

The hairs on the back of my head would stand up,

some of the tones and notes,

which actually led really beautifully into Public Image,

years later.

You know, trying to achieve those same horrific,

yet at the same time joyous tones

that would frighten you somewhat as a young kid,

but you never forgot the awe and the power of that as a musical force.

Were you ever in a nativity play, John?

There was one I did - and I really liked the outfit.

It was royal blue satin pants down to the knee with grey socks

and sandals, of course, working class stylee,

and a really nice orange jacket that the nuns made,

and I felt really good in that outfit.

I wasn't the camel or the donkey. I don't know what part I...

Maybe one of the three kings.

But when I came offstage, the nuns are going, "What happened to you?

"You were terrible!"

Kind of, you know, could have ruined my acting career.

# Oops a daisy

# Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba... #

-Steven, how old are you?

-Eight.

-Eight. Are you married?

-No.

-Have you got a girlfriend?

-No.

-Do you think girls are soppy?

-Yeah.

They are, aren't they, really?

-And how old are you, Sally?

-13.

-Have you got a boyfriend?

-No.

No. Right.

# Hands, hands, hands Knees, knees, knees

# Bump, bumps-a-daisy... #

I've got one young lady who wants Dad back at work,

which I think is a very good idea indeed.

Don't we all, ducky?

# Woo!

# Black is black

# I want my baby back

# It's grey, it's grey,

# Since he went away, oh oh

# What can I do?

# Cos I...

# I'm feeling blue

# Woo!

# If I had my way

# He'd be back today

# But he'd go in time... #

Our industrial correspondent says it's unlikely

Mr Callaghan will have anything new to offer the firemen,

but he will be prepared to listen.

The strike is still solid. There's no doubt it.

# I'm feeling blue... #

The strike had been going on for nine long weeks,

and many firemen had relied on hand-outs

to get them through Christmas.

Firemen's rates of pay are a longstanding grievance.

£170 a month. What's that? Nothing.

The firemen began their strike

expecting a rapid erosion of public support as fires got out of hand.

But the men on picket duty claim they've been inundated with

street corner donations and gifts of food.

This fish shop owner, for instance,

is offering the firemen four free meals a day.

# Woo!

# Black is black

# Ooh... #

I was the first punk in the school.

A friend of mine, his dad was a fireman.

With Christmas coming up,

he was saying things were really difficult for them, they weren't

going to be getting the presents they'd hoped for,

that they normally got every year. It was really awkward for him,

he didn't like to talk about it too much.

At that time, up and down the country, were riots, strikes.

Striking miners...

Anybody who was striking, really, which in them days was everybody.

They were serious times.

Serious change in the way the British culture was viewing itself.

# Leave me in peace

# If he would come back to me then I can't go wrong. #

Over the last 12 months,

punk rock has become almost a battle cry in British society.

For many people, it's a bigger threat to our way of life

than Russian communism or hyperinflation.

Before the Huddersfield show,

we were still banned in many places round the UK.

We'd come off the back of the Spots tour.

Sex Pistols on tour, secretly.

I thought it was dreadful that we had to not be ourselves,

and go under secret monikers.

Places like Cromer, and little towns along the way. Newport, I think.

So, we was working our way up.

# I was born

# Under a wandering star... #

There was an alleged tour that was going to happen,

and I think all 27 gigs got cancelled.

Every town we'd roll into, up would be the local MP or whatever.

Imagine that, now. Where anyone would listen to a local MP!

So, there's improvement on the domestic front.

Can you get me a rope?

LAUGHTER

Get me a rope, OK?

MUSIC: Did You No Wrong by Sex Pistols

The bannings and the local council wars against us

was pretty damn outrageous, really, and stupid.

We have had punk rock in Birmingham, unfortunately.

And now they're bringing out the freak punk rock groups.

I've been, I know what I'm talking about. They do so much damage.

# Hey, I did you no wrong. #

The average adult can protest with his feet.

The average adult can go and see a strip show or a blue film,

but after the TV performance of the Sex Pistols,

when foul language was used,

the decision made when we discovered it was mere children

that would be watching the performance.

Well, Scotland was the most ridiculous banning of the lot,

with the Lord Provost of Scotland declaring

that they had enough hooligans in Scotland without importing them

from south of the border.

"I refuse to tell you what's under ma kilt,

"but as a special New Year's treat, I'll tell you what's in ma sporran.

"Ma underpants."

I feel that this is the pay-off of a punk society.

I feel that we have punk parents,

we have punk politicians,

we have punk clergymen,

and we have punk sportsmen.

I feel the situation is punk,

but I feel that it's not their fault.

Well, we're going to have a look at some of the great, great sounds

that we've been treated to over the last year,

and right now here's a fabulous one.

From Rod Stewart, The First Cut Is The Deepest.

It was number one in the summer, May and June,

for five consecutive weeks.

What can I tell you about being banned by the BBC?

Along with the Rupert Murdoch empire

proclaiming that we were the moral fault.

You talk about Rupert Murdoch now -

that was the beginnings of his nonsense,

and that man and his approach to the truth

was really damn difficult to skirt around.

# ..tell me why tell me why

# Why d'you have to lie? #

We know ultimately that what we did, it would be transferred into a lie,

and ridiculed and rubbished.

Rupert Murdoch and his clones were making it worse and worse and worse,

and they carried on, and nobody did nothing about them.

Just wanted to smear us.

It's sad that we had to go through that,

and suffer the way we did, for what is basically an honest message.

Truth. You can't beat the truth, Vicar.

-The truth shall make you free.

-Mm.

-Eh?

-Mm.

Poor vicar, every time he comes in

-he gets into trouble, don't you?

-I do, yes.

We were just travelling.

There was nothing to do,

we were really kind of desperate to just do gigs as the Sex Pistols.

Barred from Little Chefs

and Happy Eaters at each service station along the road,

turned away from every Holiday Inn across the land,

the four Pistols wandered the motorways of the North

in search of a gig.

Then, lo and behold,

a call came in from the striking firemen of Huddersfield.

Where is this place?

It is called Huddersfield.

Do you realise what this means, gentlemen?

What does it mean?

It means that there is intelligent life on Earth.

The firemen were on strike for a long time,

and I think it was put in at the last minute.

"Let's do a benefit for the firemen and their kids."

It just seemed like a great idea to play on Christmas Day,

in the afternoon for the kids

and then in the evening for the regular punters.

Whose idea was this gig?

Oh, it must have been mine.

I had a vision in a dream that we should play Huddersfield for kids.

Particularly the children of the striking firemen,

cos they were all just really broke, and nobody giving a damn about them.

# Well, I wish it could be Christmas every day... #

My friend, Dean, with his dad being out,

he rang me up and told me he was going to it,

and I was absolutely beside myself with jealousy.

A couple of days later he rang me again and said,

did I want to pretend to be his brother? Did I?!

I had to talk to my parents about it.

They weren't very keen - it was Christmas Day.

I had to plead and beg. I worked on my mum, and in the end it worked.

So, what would you have been doing otherwise, at Christmas?

Oh, I would have been buried in beaver, somewhere.

-What would you have been doing, John?

-Sod all.

You know, travelling up and down the M1.

You know, looking for something to do.

# 2-4-6-8 never too late... #

I remember it being just really grey and dark.

There was no sun around at the time.

Frost will be widespread tonight, and there will be thick fog,

particularly in Northern England, all day tomorrow.

Julien, as you well know,

at the time, we didn't actually even have a bloody hotel

on Christmas Day, did we?

I remember getting to Huddersfield.

It just seemed such a desolate place.

When it's dark and grey, it just magnifies it even more.

Grim. Very grim.

# Hallelujah

# Hallelujah hallelujah

# Hallelujah

# Hallelujah... #

Cradle of the Industrial Revolution, birthplace of rugby league,

and famous from the Cadbury's Smash ads of the time.

# For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth... #

Huddersfield Town in West Yorkshire

was the first English football team

to win the league three times in succession.

# Hallelujah... #

-TO ANARCHY IN THE UK:

-# I am a Yorkshireman

# I am a Yorkshireman

# I know what I want and I know where to get it

-# I wanna destroy...

-Bradford and Leeds

-# Cos I...

-..wanna be...

# HTFC. #

There might be a copyright infringement!

Amongst its famous sons,

Huddersfield can proudly lay claim to James Mason,

Harold Wilson,

and Patrick Stewart, OBE.

# Hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah

# Hallelujah. #

Our place at Huddersfield was pure hell.

If you were working class, you just felt doomed and trapped

and disenfranchised.

And those were all the emotions that were running through me

in my own culture, from London.

Having to endure an absolutely arsehole government

in an arsehole country in an arsehole situation.

It was grim down south, let alone grim up north.

Just thought, "Oh, gawd," you know?

There was a lot of warmth there when we got there, from everyone.

The firemen were there waiting for us,

everyone was really pleased to see us.

Which made a change.

It was like, "Oh, thank God," you know?

"Someone wants us to play, at last."

# Baby love

# My baby love I need you... #

We spent a lot of time in the club in the daytime.

Everyone was in such a great mood.

Sid was there with Nancy, so he was happy.

John was great around the kids, as he always is.

I didn't really know rock stars,

but I thought they might turn up and disappear.

But it was stunning.

John came out with his hat on, his hat was passed around.

This lovely sort of straw hat.

Sid was outstanding, he came up to me and asked me a couple of questions.

One of the things, he wanted a handkerchief -

there were these handkerchiefs that were being dished out.

Anarchy hankies, I've still got mine.

I had a couple, and he said, "Can I have one of these hankies?

"Do you know where I can get one? Cos they won't give me one."

So I gave him a handkerchief.

They were all talking to people,

and really getting involved in the whole thing.

You could tell they really loved being around the kids.

There was a lot of food laid out for all the kids.

There was a lot of stuff there, and flags,

and Pistols memorabilia, and T-shits.

Presents, because obviously they were struggling, the firemen,

and their kids, at the time.

No Christmas, nothing, so we put all of that on.

Flooded the place with cake.

Oh, cake!

The cake was something I'll never forget. It was massive.

John came out and cut it, and was dishing out plates to people.

# Ooh, ooh

# Need to hold you

# Once again, my love

# Feel your warm embrace, my love

# Don't throw our love away... #

After he'd dished out, and the kids were wandering around,

I was standing there with a fork just eating bits off the side of the cake.

And I turned around and there was a chap with a camera,

filming straight at me.

It was you!

Who was it who wanted a skateboard for Christmas?

Hang on, did anyone get a skateboard this Christmas?

We will give you an album, as well, to go with the skateboard,

cos it's all giveaway today.

I was just buzzing.

I had all this stuff, everything from badges to a skateboard.

How I got a skateboard at a Sex Pistols gig I will never know,

but I came back with a skateboard!

# So here it is Merry Christmas

# Everybody's having fun

# Look to the future now

# It's only just begun... #

-And what would you like?

-A skateboard.

-A skateboard?

That's the most popular thing of all.

# Are you sure you got the room to spare inside?

# Does your granny always tell you...? #

If you deny any child the right to believe in Santa Claus,

then you're one nasty, evil, spiteful, twisted adult.

I don't exist!

# ..merry Christmas

# Everybody's having fun

# Look to the future now

# It's only just... #

The ultimate Christmas song is Slade.

Every year it's the same old songs,

so you've got to listen to them all again every year, you know?

I'm glad we didn't do one.

MUSIC: Happy Xmas (War Is Over) by John Lennon and Yoko Ono

I don't even know how it fucking goes. Fucking horrible.

I've been asked, from the day I joined the Pistols onwards,

to write a Christmas song.

And every year somebody comes up with, like,

"I've got a good idea, why don't you?"

Never.

MUSIC: Submission by Sex Pistols

We started to get fired up, and we were down the front, dancing around.

There was a big build-up.

You could sense it was getting towards the time

the band was going to play.

There we were, the alleged most toughest band

in the world at that point, and we'd have to play to seven-year-olds.

There's an awful lot you have to leave at the door.

OK, gang, this party is given to you absolutely free,

and at the expense of the Sex Pistols,

so let's have a big cheer for the Sex Pistols, come on, let's hear it.

Cos they are giving you your Christmas party.

CHILDREN CHEER

Those dirty, horrible people you keep hearing about

would like to do a couple of their songs.

One, two, three, four...

MUSIC: God Save The Queen by Sex Pistols

# God save the Queen

# The fascist regime

# They made you a moron

# Potential H-bomb

# God save the Queen

# She ain't no human being

# There is no future

# In England's dreaming

# Don't be told what you want

# Don't be told what you need

# There's no future, no future

# No future for you... #

It's so weird playing to all these young kids,

with their scarves and flags waving about.

It was such a great feeling.

When we started the gig, I thought, "This is a bit risky.

"How on earth am I going to be jumping up and down

"screaming anarchy, here, with any sense of realism?"

Well, kids totally knock you into place with that.

You could see it on their faces,

they just thought this was the best fun they'd ever had.

And there you go, there's our audience going, "Well done, John.

"You're one of us. A big stupid kid."

I mean, there were no parents going,

"Oh, I can't have my children seeing this beastly thing."

There was none of that at all,

it was like, "Thank God somebody cares about us."

All through the whole day you could hear the parents saying,

"What a wonderful idea it is," and, "Well, we never really liked

"this punk rock thing, but what these people are doing for us

"is fantastic." And how it changed their view,

what they read about, what they heard about,

was these dreadful people who were going to wreck the country

and destroy our children, but they were really impressed.

If you're playing front of kids, you're not going to be out of order.

You're not going to start kicking 'em in the head, are you?

And gobbing at 'em.

# God save the Queen... #

There's some geezer on stage with a big green thing on his head.

That's John.

Oh.

# No future, no future

# No future for you

# No future, no future

# No future for me

# No future, no future for you. #

CHILDREN CHEER

Turn these fucking lights down a bit.

Sid found this such a challenge.

He really had to have a serious talking to beforehand.

He wanted to be the hardcore, tough rocker bloke,

and it's kind of like,

"No, that ain't the right way to get the message across, Sidney."

That's the problem with music in the past, people posturing.

OK, ready to rock.

A child will know when you're faking it,

so you can't go on and be your worst Johnny Rotten.

You're actually going to have to be your best Johnny Rotten.

# They're staring all day

# I had no reason to be here at all

# But now I gotta reason it's no real reason

# And I'm waiting at the Berlin Wall

# I'm waiting... #

-What's your name?

-Kelly!

John was passing the mic around to all the kids,

and all the kids were shouting their names out, which was lovely.

# Claustrophobia there's too much paranoia

# There's too many closets so when will we fall

# And now I gotta reason

# It's no real reason to be waiting... #

It is quite great how kids pick up the words very, very quickly,

and then getting them to sing the song with me.

# Now I got a reason Now I got a reason... #

I think young kids got the Pistols more than the grown-ups, really...

..and saw the comedy aspect of it all, vaudeville, a theatre show.

It's just looked like pantomime.

It was, it was Carry On Sex Pistols.

With Steve as Sid James or something.

HE GROWLS

Oh, there you are.

HE ROARS

-And who are you, John?

-I don't know.

-Charles Hawtrey?

Something really awkward, right?

I thought you'd like to know, there's another strike on.

-Who is it this time?

-The eunuchs.

Those films, when I was very young, they were very important to me.

They were hilarious,

and everybody grew up with that sense of wit and humour.

Oh! Ooh!

We had all bases covered, as far as the pantomime thing was concerned.

We had Sid, the villain, John, the Dickensian character out front,

and Steve with the comedy.

And me sitting at the back holding it all together.

The straight man, if you like.

Malcolm was usually the Scrooge character in the pantomime,

but even he changed for Christmas day.

For me, the Sex Pistols is absolutely about the humour.

HE WHISTLES

I open up in pantomime in East Ham tomorrow, and that's a song

I shall be ruining twice daily, so I hope you'll come along and see me.

Terry Duggan is getting dressed for the job.

He's one of the most experienced pantomime cats in the business.

This year, Terry shall claw up his 2,000th appearance as Cat,

with the latest in a long and distinguished line

of Dick Whittingtons.

-Meow!

-Hello, Puss. Where did you spring from?

Well, I think that the secret is knowing that you are playing a cat,

and doing things that a cat would do...

When you're playing with a man, you can be more boisterous, like,

I can jump up onto him, whereas with a girl, you can't.

You've got to be careful where you put your paws.

So, off he goes to the Wimbledon Theatre.

# What's new, pussycat?

# Whoa-whoa-whoa-oh

# What's new, pussycat?

# Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-oh

# Pussycat, Pussycat

# I've got flowers

# And lots of hours... #

There's always pantomime on every Christmas,

all the shows on TV was all pantomime based.

Comedy, Eric and Ernie and all that stuff,

traditional British Christmas.

# Tradition, tradition

# The pantomime tradition

# To be believed it really must be seen... #

-ALL:

-We're off to see the Wizard.

Hello, Mother!

Clear off.

I wonder if you lot could give us a contribution to the IMF.

-ALL:

-The IMF?

Christmas TV, let it babble on infinitely.

Sometimes it can be fun.

LAUGHTER

Listen, Christmas is fine. It's always been boring.

You know that.

If you rely on the TV for entertainment

you're a fool to yourself and everybody else.

# I got no reason and it's all too much

# You'll always find me

# Out to lunch... #

We were having a great time, as well, along with the kids.

And John smashed his head right into the cake,

and all the kids were just throwing cake.

# We're so pretty

# Oh, so pretty

# Vacant

# We're so pretty

# Oh, so pretty... #

Cake started flying, and then it just went insane, mental, brilliant.

Absolute slapstick.

Just added to the flavour

of a pretty near-terrifying Sex Pistols song.

# And we don't care... #

Showed the lighter side of it.

John's got pie all over him.

He's, like, happier than a pig in shit.

# We're so pretty

# Oh, so pretty

# We're so pretty

# Oh, so pretty

# Now

# And we don't care... #

Kids can be such a bounce back to reality.

Don't forget the fun, cos it all got a little bit too serious.

# We don't care. #

Astonishing - I'll never forget, they played Bodies,

which was quite a surprise.

To me - knowing the song, was a little bit shocked

that they were playing that in front of a load if kids.

But - fine, I loved it.

MUSIC: Bodies by Sex Pistols

# She was a girl from Birmingham

# She just had an abortion

# She was a case of insanity

# Her name was Pauline

# She lived in a tree

# She was a no-one who killed her baby

# She sent her letters from the country

# She was an animal

# She was a bloody disgrace

# Body, I'm not an animal

# Mummy, I'm not an animal

# Animal... #

Hold on... Shush, hold it. Hold it.

# I'm not a body

# I'm not an animal, an animal... #

He's not saying "fucking", that's good.

What do you mean?

Well, you know on the "fuck this, fuck that" bit,

I don't think he was doing that bit, for the kids.

That was good, right?

# I'm not an animal... #

Wonderful, brilliant vibe, atmosphere. Loved it.

And it knocked the stuffing out of Sid, I've got to say,

too, for his - trying to be tough, you know?

How can you be tough with a Christmas cake in your face?

That's when he realised that he's a kid, after all.

CHILDREN: # I'm not an animal!

# I'm not an animal I ain't an animal... #

# I'm not an animal! #

What better present? I wish I was a kid in the audience watching that.

# I'm not an animal I ain't an animal... #

We've finally achieved our Christmas.

It was the best cake fight I've ever been in.

Utterly brilliant.

I've still yet to find out who I send my dry-cleaning bill to!

It is one of the things in my life I will never forget. It was wonderful.

It was the talk of the school.

I was the only one there from the school that had done it.

Not long after that, did the classic thing, formed a band.

And I worked in sales, I joined the police, I did that for a long time.

But always happy to talk about seeing the Pistols.

# Bring out the bottle

# Bring on the cheer

# Mr Bartender I'll have another beer

# Tomorrow I'll be hurting when that ulcer pain begins

# The wheels fell off the wagon

# And I'm getting wild again. #

I remember, like, watching the adults get completely paralytic,

which was fun for me,

cos that meant I could put the records on the old Dansette.

"No-one else is capable of putting the records on? I'll take over."

And I'm in my own universe,

I'm looking at the labels, like, "Oh! It's the Kinks! Ha-ha!"

MUSIC: You Really Got Me by The Kinks

You Really Got Me.

The concert, tonight, from The Kinks, ladies and gentlemen.

And I've had such a love of music ever since.

# Oh, oh, oh! #

Christmas meant, "Yippee!"

They'd give us a Babycham and maybe a Warninks Advocaat,

mixed with lemonade and called a snowball.

Girly drinks, but when you're five years old,

ooh, that knocks your socks, you know?

And then later, when the party's over,

and you can creep back in and talk to you mum and dad,

and all their friends have left,

you can have a little tipple of Guinness.

Ahh! That's Christmas.

I wouldn't be drinking today if it wasn't for my parents!

Kids need to be introduced slowly, subtly,

but definitely into the adult world.

Don't deny that these things go on, and don't say,

"That's not for you," because when you do that to a young kid,

that young kid is going to make damn well sure it's for him...

her, or them.

As darkness fell that Christmas day, young punks and Luddites

from Wakefield, Bradford and Leeds

began the long march across the moors of West Yorkshire.

Get off my land!

That's where you go.

And you, you get on that road, there!

-I'm going here...

-Over my dead body, Madame.

There's a road there.

-Don't touch me.

-Come on, get up that road!

Down through the dark, Satanic mills of Horbury and Halifax,

to the sanctuary of Ivanhoe's, in Huddersfield itself.

Just another normal, boring nothing day, like every other Christmas Day.

Then the Queen's speech came on, and we just thought,

"Oh, no, not this again."

Her message was no longer relevant.

It was the Sex Pistols' message that was more important.

So, we just set off walking to Huddersfield to see t'Sex Pistols.

I remember it being 16 mile, but it's only nine mile now,

but it took us three hours.

-No trains.

-Couldn't afford a taxi.

-Couldn't afford a taxi.

Nobody had any cars - we were too young.

He was only 15, I was just turned 17, so walking was the only option.

We broke so many laws that day,

because it was illegal to play on Christmas.

It was illegal to buy a beer. Can you imagine that?

As we got to the gig, there was about five or six punks, maybe ten,

and it were them that told us the gig had sold out.

So we just sat on the floor, cos we were tired from walking,

and then somebody brought some sandwiches out that were left

over from the party in the afternoon.

Malcolm got us in the gig, he said the Pistols wouldn't play

unless you let these half a dozen punks in the gig.

Do you want a drink?

-Got ya.

-We're all fucking drunk, just like you should be.

-Let's get

-BLEEP

-up here.

CROWD CHEERS

Are we going to have a good time, or what?

Yes!

How else can you avoid Christmas, but throw a bottle of fucking booze?

Can you think of a better way to spend Christmas?

ALL: No!

MUSIC: I Wanna Be Me by Sex Pistols

# Turn the page and it's

# The scoop of the century

# Don't wanna be L7 I had enough of this

# This is brainwash and this is a clue

# To the stars who fooled you

# Tell me why you can't explain

# You're only looking for vinyl

# Yeah

# Didn't they fool you?

# They wanna be you

# Gimme World War III we can live again

# You didn't fool me but I fooled you

# You wanna be me, yeah

# You wanna be me

# You wanna be someone, yeah ruin someone

# Yeah, didn't I fool you?

# I ruined you, yeah

# Didn't I fool you I sussed you out... #

John was still in a good mood.

Sid's focused.

I think I'm Johnny Thunders.

It's good footage, this.

MUSIC: New York by Sex Pistols

# An imitation from New York

# You're made in Japan

# From cheese and chalk

# You're hippy tarts hero cos you put on a bad show

# Oh, don't it show

# Still out on those pills

# Do you remember?

# You think it's swell playing Max's Kansas

# Looking bored and acting flash... #

When, as the Pistols, we first went up north,

it was unbelievable, the hatred

for, like, "Oh, you Southern softies, you cockney bastards,"

and it'd be just the four of us dealing with, you know, up to 300,

like, full-on firms turning up to gigs wanting to smash our heads in.

But, you know, we piled through that.

# Four years on you still look the same

# I think about time

# You changed your brain

# You're just a pile of shit

# You're coming to this

# Ya poor little faggot

# Sealed with a kiss... #

A lot of good things came out of the Pistols for me.

I was going to football, and the only time

I ever met anybody from another city

it was just a big punch-up, you know?

And I'd rather get on with people.

What I loved about the old punk scene

was it didn't matter where you'd come from.

Punks started to merge together from different parts of the country,

and they became "us",

not "us and them" any more, just "us".

Places like Huddersfield, there's an absolute proof of that.

# Pills

# Under my pillow... #

I hitchhiked all over t'country watching loads of other bands,

and whatever city I landed in, as soon as you met punks,

they'd put you up for t'weekend.

It just felt like there was summat special.

The people were coming together with some kind of union going on,

things were changing.

We all realised we were all going through the same nonsense here.

Why are we fighting each other? We find out who the real enemy is.

Turned our weapons onto those who need to be turned onto.

MUSIC: Belsen Was A Gas by Sex Pistols

# Sergeant majors on the march

# Wash the bodies in the starch

# See them all die one by one

# Guess it's dead, guess it's glad

# So bad... #

I think the Pistols broke a lot of taboos.

Gender is another one that they burnt down, and racial issues.

It was about being inclusive, not exclusive.

It didn't matter what your sexual orientation was,

what nationality you are, where you lived or anything.

They were the first band that made that happen.

All we had in mind was to view each other as equals.

Creativity and equalness for everyone and everything.

Bring Babylon down.

One, two, three, four!

MUSIC: EMI by Sex Pistols

# There's unlimited supply

# And there is no reason why

# I tell you it was all a frame

# They only did it cos of fame

# Who?

# EMI

# EMI

# EMI

# Too many people had the suss... #

We spoke to Lydon afterwards,

and he seemed really relaxed and friendly and that.

We spoke to him for about half an hour, I think

he came up to Chris and he tried to tap a fag off you, didn't he?

# Unlimited edition

# With an unlimited supply... #

For him to just walk up and start talking to us,

and talking to you like you were his best mate -

there was there was no, "I'm in a band,

"you're a little pleb who's come to see us."

There was like a respect for common bond, type thing.

He said to us, "If we play any gigs in London, come along.

"We'll try and get you in," and that.

That struck a massive chord with me, personally.

Who's the star?

Me or you?

How many Maggie Thatchers are there?

Anarchy!

MUSIC: No Feelings by Sex Pistols

# I've seen you in the mirror

# When the story began

# And I fell in love with you

# I love your mortal sin... #

I know I don't remember a lot,

but I was totally aware we were doing a show for the firemen

who'd been on strike, and they were skint.

And I was happy I was doing it,

and it got me out of my own head for a few hours.

Saying that, I was still...miserable.

To be honest with you, I was kind of depressed most of the time,

and just used to drown it with booze.

I was just trying to escape.

I don't know where I was trying to escape to,

but I really didn't like being in me own skin.

# No feelings

# No feelings

# No feelings

# For anybody else

# No feelings... #

It doesn't matter what band you're in,

or what you've going on the outside,

if you're a lonely soul inside and you try to cover it with booze

and sex and drugs, that's not a solution.

# OK?

# Show me the way

# No feelings

# No feelings

# No feelings

# For anybody else

# Except for myself

# No feelings... #

It might have looked like I was having a good time,

people think you're having the best time of your life,

you're in a big band and it's all going on,

but I'm sure when I used to watch Top Of The Pops

and watch Sweet performing a song, I bet one of them was miserable too.

-You're not like that now, though.

-No, I'm not.

I'm happy as a clam right now, that's why I whistle so good.

I get glimpses of what it was like back then, and how unhappy I was

as a 21, 22-year-old guy who had no tools on how to live,

no education - from my parents or at school.

# Problem

# Problem - the problem is you

# What you gonna do

# Problem - the problem is you... #

Huddersfield is the very last gig the Sex Pistols played in England.

Then we went off to America and murdered each other.

# Bet you thought you had it all worked out

# Bet you thought you knew what I was about

# Bet you thought you'd solved all your problems

# But you are the problem

# Problem... #

As a band, that's the closest we've probably ever been.

You'd never think we were going to split up, you know,

a month later at the end of the US tour,

if you saw us that day in Huddersfield.

I didn't think it was going to be over in three weeks.

# Problem

# Problem

# Problem

# Problem

# Problem

# Problem

# Problem. #

The tensions was there in us, because we couldn't get the gigs,

and then Malcolm was a false prophet,

he was all mouth and no trousers.

He never gave us anything to get to grips with as a group.

So we could never really be solid with each other.

And because of that, we began to hate each other.

Cos there was nothing else to do but hate each other.

I think we were resigned to it not lasting much longer,

which is why everyone was very chilled out about it all,

and we knew we were going to split up, in a funny sort of way, I think.

And kind of knew this might be our last show.

Save us going off and coming back on,

we'll do another one, right?

But after this one, it's all over.

MUSIC: Anarchy In The UK by Sex Pistols

# I am an anti-Christ

# I am an anarchist

# I know what I want

# And I know how to get it

# I wanna destroy the passer-by

# Cos I wanna be

# Anarchy

# Anarchy for the UK

# It's coming sometime and maybe

# I give a wrong time stop a traffic line

# Your future dream is a shopping scheme

# Cos I wanna be

# Anarchy

# In the city... #

Actually, I think the Sex Pistols finished in Huddersfield.

America was, like, a delusion.

Lost the vibe, couldn't get that vibe back.

It's kind of, like, "We've had enough of this, and it's all over."

And then, what a great way to go out, you know?

# Is this the MPLA

# Or is this the UDA

# Or is this the IRA

# I thought it was the UK

# Or just another

# Country

# Another council tenancy

# I wanna be

# Anarchy

# And I wanna be

# Anarchist

# An anarchist

# Destroy! #

To this day, the people of Huddersfield mean a real lot to me.

The quiet moment when it had all ended, later,

there were a tear in my eye.

In all of the Sex Pistols, I've got to say, that gig left me

feeling like I'd actually ACHIEVED something.

I don't think there'd be a Christmas as good as that one.

Unless Sex Pistols are going to play this Christmas.

It was actually probably the best Christmas I had,

cos I was actually doing something.

For me, I'm glad that this is now being shown.

There's been an awful long time it's been buried, you know,

in sealed vaults.

But it's kind of appropriate, now,

you gather what it really was we were truly about way back then.

You know, it was always from the heart.

And Huddersfield shows that, I think, really well.

'Appy Christmas, everyone.

I just gotta say, "Yo-ho-ho," everyone, and have a great time.

Oh, just think of Huddersfield and that's Christmas enough.

# Body, I'm not an animal

# An animal

# I'm not an animal

# I'm not a body

# I'm not an animal, an animal

# I'm not an animal I ain't no animal

# I'm not an animal

# Mummy. #